a little something i had to crank out for class tonight, i thought i'd let you guys have a look at it too. grade me will ya? )
Ever wonder how James and Anne met?

normal boring disclaimer: i don't own any Kim Possible characters *Dr. Drakken voice* blah blah, blah blah blah.

enjoy the ride...

James adjusted his thick glasses, his world focusing into view again. His dark hair, normally immaculately parted and slicked toward his right ear, was mussed from him fussing with is while he did his research, up the avenue in the university's library, where he was working on his doctorate. It had been a stressful day, and he was going to have to go home and read about black holes so that he could add to his thesis even though it was only noon—

He was getting stressed again. He needed to relax. Tugging on his tie a little bit to loosen it, he focused on ordering his coffee.

"Welcome to Starbucks, sir. What can I get you?"

He studied the menu for a second and then he sighed. He might as well. "I'll have one of your caramel mochas please, venti, and no whip, thanks."

"Alright, your total is seven dollars and two cents."

He waited for his coffee rather impatiently. Outside, the snow banks were mostly gone, and the small trees planted on the sidewalks were starting to look green a little bit. The occasional car zipped by, and he studied the store fronts across the street. A bridal shop, a chocolatier, a small market. He wanted to go to the chocolatier and buy himself something, but he knew he had to get back.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, he inhaled the fresh spring air. He started back toward the library and was still studying the stores and shops when his shoe caught on a crack in the sidewalk. With a yelp, he stumbled, trying to regain his footing. The problem was, that just because it was spring here in Colorado, did not make it warm, and that the snow banks were finally melting into the drains did not mean that some of that cool water didn't make it onto the sidewalk as ice.

His arms flailed desperately, and his huge cup dumped scalding coffee on his neck... and his new white shirt and light tan jacket. In an effort to regain his footing, he stepped back. When he stepped back, he stepped back into air. The sidewalk ended there, and what was left was the curb and the street. Down he went, dumping the rest of his coffee all over himself and cringing as the oncoming car screeched to a halt about a foot and a half away from him.

He gritted his teeth in embarrassment. He knew he was clumsy, and he should never have attempted walking and drinking a hot drink at the same time. Why, oh why did this happen?! He thought.

"Are you alright?" The owner of the car that nearly flattened him opened the door and approached him. He noticed that the driver was rather calm for someone who nearly ran over another person.

He didn't want to look up. He was too embarrassed, especially because the voice that was speaking above him belonged to a girl. Way to go, James. Impressing the ladies is something that just comes naturally to you, doesn't it?

"Hey... are you okay?"

"Never better," he muttered in response, carefully standing and taking inventory of his body. Fortunately, his pride was more wounded than anything else.

The girl helped him steady himself on his feet, and he finally took the chance to look at her. She was... stunning. She was about a head shorter than him even with her smart pump heels, and her eyes were the most indescribable shade of blue he'd ever seen anyone have. Her hair in the sun was like lava, and it flowed to about her shoulders in loose waves. She was wearing a lab coat? Her name tag read Anne McClellan, MD. MD? "You're a doctor."

She nodded. "I know a lot of people say that I'm too young to be a doctor, but I started college rather early."

"I think that's actually... really great," he breathed.

She just chuckled. "Come on, hop in. I'll take you to the dry cleaners, see if we can't clean your shirt and jacket."

He followed her the few feet to her car, somehow remembering his manners and closing the door behind her before he slipped into the passenger's side.

They drove in silence to the dry cleaner's, and after dropping off his shirt and going home to grab a new one, the after noon found them seated in a small cafe.

"You know, you've driven me around everywhere today and you don't even know my name. That's not exactly safe." Specially not for a beautiful girl like you.

She shrugged. "That's fixable," she said placidly

"Oh yeah? How's that?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"What's your name?" She asked with a grin.

"Uh... James. James Possible."

For the first time in their entire adventure, for lack of a better word, he saw her look something other than cool, collected, and prepared. She was blushing. "Annie McClellan, pleasure to meet you," she said quietly. "See? Problem solved," she added brightly.

She was adorable, and found himself wanting to know more. "So, where are you from, Dr. McClellan?"

"Annie, please," she said in that quiet voice, and her cheeks went from light pink to deep red. "Dr. McClellan sounds so old."

"Which you are... not," he finished with a chuckle. He rubbed his neck awkwardly. Duh, Captain Obvious, he berated himself. Way to go.

She just smiled. "No, I'm not old. Anyway, I was born here... but my dad is Irish. How about you?"

"Oh... you know, just a regular American. No foreign roots here. My granddad was in World War II and all that."

"That's... sorta cool."

"My mom was in the Navy, too. She was a nurse."

"Very cool."

"Yeah. She's tough... but fair, you know?"

"So you aren't going to tell her about spilling coffee on your shirt."

He shook his head, his hands waving dramatically in front of him. "Ohhhhh no. No way. She's still my momma, and she'll take me out back and spank me." It wasn't exactly true, but he liked seeing her laugh so much that he'd make a fool of himself any day.

"My parents are tough too. But I'm glad for it. They are the reason I'm at where I am today."

"Same. My mom and dad, as tough as they are, they're the reason that I'm here, studying my butt off."

"What are you studying?"

"Oh, I'm finishing my doctorate this year, in Astrophysics."

"Wow, that's really impressive. I just finished my post-doctorate in Neurosurgery a few months ago."

"So you can like... operate on people's brains and stuff now? And you think being an astrophysicist is impressive," James mumbled.

"The central nervous system isn't just your brain, you know," she said with a smile. "It also includes your spinal chord. So... you know, if your back turns out more than a little bruised, you can look me up," she said with a wink.

He laughed. "I definitely will."

They talked for several hours, laughing and joking about his catastrophe, talking about her family and her goals. When they glanced out the window of the cafe, the sky was already colored pale orange and dark blue from the sunset.

"You're a nice guy," she said sincerely. Then she grinned. "Clumsy, yeah. But nice."

He puffed up his chest in mock arrogance. "Please. I meant to do that. It wasn't clumsiness at all, I assure you. It was skill."

"Yeah okay," she laughed, her voice colored with disbelief. "It was dumb luck that you fell in front of my car; my reflexes are on point today. Anyone else would have made you into a road pancake."

"I really did mean it," he protested with a laugh. "It's um... it's like dumb skill, right?"

"Yeah," she chuckled. "Dumb skill. I think we can work with that."

He smiled brightly. "Yeah, I think we can."

She sighed and looked down at her wrist where a delicate gold watch displayed very bad news for him. "I've got to get going," she said. Her voice was quiet and calm as it had been most of the day, but he could detect that she didn't exactly feel happy about leaving their little bubble, either.

He heaved a sigh too. His time with her was drawing to a close, and he felt like he only just sat down. They only barely met each other, and he didn't want to leave. He knew he needed to see this girl again. He needed to know her more.

When she dropped him off at his dorm, she smiled at him. "I had a great day today."

"Stay for coffee?" He asked.

Annie's smile was impish. "I don't think so. I need my lab coat to be immaculate this week."

"I'll never live this down, will I?"

"Nope," she giggled. Her eyes always sparkled when she giggled like that, he observed.

He wanted to see her again. Badly.

"Okay, not coffee. Just... transparent, not-staining water."

She laughed. "It was a pleasure meeting you, James," she said with a flirty smile. "It was especially a pleasure to experience your dumb skill," she added with another cute giggle.

He just shook his head. Before he got out of the car, she pressed something into his hand. "See you around," she said with a smile. Then she pulled away.

He unwrinkled the piece of paper in his hand. It was the dry cleaner's note, and on the back was written:

Anne McClellan
(720)-555-3956

Yup, He thought to himself, dumb skill.