Kim Possible: Another Sitch in Time
By Eoraptor
Kim Possible and all related characters © Walt Disney Corporation 2002-2007. This work is not for profit and solely for the enjoyment of the audience. Rated PG-13 for language and adult content. Reproduction or distribution of this work without the author's consent prohibited.
AN: This fic ignores the events of So the Drama and Season 4. Your might see an occasional 'borrowed' plot point from S4, but in general; assume that Ron and Kim never admitted their feelings, Kim never fought Warmonga, and Shego never became Miss Go.
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"mmmmmrrrphhhhh…" She ran her fingers over her mouth. Her lips felt dry and rubbery, both to her fingers and her face.
Bright white light. That was never a good thing. That usually meant she was waking up in a hospital. Well, she was definitely sore all over. Her mouth was dry, so she'd probably had been given pain killers then. No good trying to remember anything now, in that case.
She waited for her vision to clear up a bit. Bright white light slowly began to resolve itself. Very slowly... Finally a few shapes began to form into matchsticks, and then into roughly people-shaped blobs.
"Miss Possible?"
Mmmmmmmppppphhhhhhh… Mmhmmm?"
"My name is doctor McCoy. Can I get you anything?"
'funny name for a doctor… I bet he hears lots of jokes.'
"Miss Possible? Can you hear me?" a light shaking on her shoulder.
"mmhmmm... water?"
A cool, but not cold, cup of water was pressed into her hand. She drank all of it down quickly, swishing the last bit in her mouth. As usual, they never gave you enough water to actually cut the thirst. Still, it helped.
Olive eyes blinked and things started to resolve just a little more. 'Dr. McCoy' began to solidify. He had a good amount of gray in his hair… Must be early to mid-fifties. He was sitting, but she could tell that he was in very decent shape, only a small gut was visible under his ubiquitous lab coat.
"Better?"
"Yes, thanks."
"Miss Possible. We have a few basic questions for you. I'm sure you're familiar with them. We just want to ensure you don't have any neurological trauma."
"Okay… shoot."
"Do you know your full name?"
"Kimberly Anne Possible."
"When is your birthday?"
"April third."
"What's today's date?"
Here was the tough one. How long was she out? Well, she could move everything, and she didn't feel really weak, so couldn't be more than a few days. She took her best guess.
"July twenty-seventh."
"And the year?"
"2007"
"Okay… that about covers everything brain-wise. Any double vision, nausea, tingling in your extremities?"
"Nope, no big. So, my turn, how did I get here?"
"I- I think… I think I'll let someone else handle that… now please Miss possible, you've had a very big shock to your system… try not to panic, okay?"
Panic? Why would she panic? Okay, so she was in a hospital… it had been a few days… no drama, right?
Doctor McCoy motioned for someone to come in. It hurt to turn her eyes that far to one side, so she waited for the new person to come into her field of vision. Finally they did. They were moving a little slower, a little hunched over.
Hmmm, a black man. A big black man, actually. He looked like he'd been majorly muscled when he was younger. Despite carrying a cane, he didn't seem to lean on it very much, and he moved with confidence. There was silver and iron in his hair, what there was of it. His clothes were just a little odd though. Not what she was expecting. The man moved like a line-backer, but he was dressed expensively. The style of the suit was very modern, very posh… cutting edge even.
"Hey Kim… how are you feeling?"
He smiled warmly at her. He'd been crying, it looked like. His chocolate colored eyes were very bloodshot. But they seemed… familiar. Well, Dr. McCoy said he was going to let someone else tell her what was going on, so this must be the guy.
"Um… lil dry yet, Doctor. But okay I guess… not to beat up, right?"
"How did you know I was a…? Oh! You think I…!" He laughed softly and shook his head. He sat down next to her bed and patted her on the hand, squeezing it a bit.
She looked from his hand, which had thick, obviously arthritic knuckles, up to his eyes again. That was a very familiar gesture for a doctor. "I think you're the staff counselor here to give me some bad news. Am I wrong?"
"Well, yes and no Kim. I am here to give you some news… probably bad from your point of view. NO, I'm not from the Hospital though. Um, Doctor McCoy, could you go see how my wife is doing?"
"Of course Mr. Loade. I'll give you two kids a few minutes." He chuckled softly and exited before Kim could turn to consider him more.
'Mister Loade?' Was this guy related to Wade? That would explain the eyes at least.
"Um… Okay. So, I guess it's your show then. Fill me in." She sat back in her bed a bit and studied the man closely. Lots of money. That's what the suit said; and the cane, which she could tell now was real ebony.
"Kim. Did Doctor McCoy ask you what year it was?"
"Mmhmm. It is 2007, right? I didn't sleep through my first freshman semester I hope?" She sighed softly and shook her head. He wouldn't ask if it was '07. "I did, didn't I? Okay, what year is it Doctor Loade?"
"Well… Somewhere in the multi-verse, I suppose it's still 2007."
Olive eyes rolled irritably. She didn't need physics jokes right now, just answers. This guy was supposed to provide them. "Hardy har har. I can see where Wade gets his sense of humor from."
There seemed to be a blossom of sadness across the older man's face. She guessed he must be in his early sixties from the lines and the iron in his hair. Why was he sad? Oh no! Something must have happened to… That was why she was in here! Darn pain killers! She still couldn't remember why she was here specifically.
"Where's Wade? And Ron? Are they okay?!" Panic started to kreep into her voice now. Something must have gone wrong, horribly wrong.
"Kim… I'm sitting right in front of you. I'm…" The man took a deep, shuddering breath and ran a hand through his thinning hair. "It's me… I'm Wade."
"I mean my Wade… Wade Junior?" She frowned firmly. She was getting what Ron called the freaky-wierdy feelings in her tummy. Wade wasn't a Junior… Who was this Wade?
"I am… I was your Wade. Kim… It's 2068. You've been in nano-cryonic suspension for fifty-nine years."
"Nano… Cryonic… I was…"
"Frozen. After a fashion." Doctor Loade shook his head and squeezed her hand.
"No… Not possible… so ferociously impossible!" Kim shook her head furiously, squeezing her eyes shit and trying to make the world go away. Something blinked in her brain. Basic math. "Sixty-eight minus fifty-nine is is nine, not seven! You're lying!"
He sighed again, a few more tears at the corners of his dark eyes. "No Kim, I'm not lying. You were in a coma for two years before your mom agreed to this."
She narrowed her eyes at him angrily. How deep would his lie go? "I see. Why, pray tell, was I in a coma for two years?"
"You don't remember, do you? That morning? Okay then… tell me the last thing you do remember." 'Wade' sat back and rubbed the top of his cane, watching her eyes with concern.
She frowned and pursed her lips. She remembered… Darn! She didn't remember much. Kim started rubbing the bridge of her nose, concentrating as hard as she could.
"It's okay Kim… it'll come."
"I don't need help, thank you very much Wade." Her voice held venom, and maybe just a little uncertainty as she tried to think.
"I remember… We were in Massachusetts. Dad was taking me to Yale to tour the Law Library." She looked up. Yes, That was it. She was going to tour another darned school. "There was this really long highway, I wanted dad to take it so I could see some of the old farms.
'Wade' nodded in agreement with her assessment so far. He squeezed her hand again, but she pulled it away. Who was this man to keep touching her? Did Drakken hire him? Or Dementor? Was this a world-domination thing? Would Shego or giant mutant wiener-dogs pop out of the wall?
"Stop that. Anyways… So we're driving through the country… big winding roads… some forest… We came around a curve. Something was in the…" Kim started screaming suddenly, shrieking with no outward provocation as everything flooded back. "Dad! Look out! There's an Elk! Dad!!! NO!!!"
Kim threw her arms in front of her and assumed crash positions at the imagined sight of an animal dead over six decades. After a long moment, she slowly lowered them, trembling, and covered in sweat, her green eyes wide, pupils dilated as adrenaline flooded her system at the vision.
It… It wasn't true… It couldn't be! She tugged at the sheets, trying to pull them closer, trying to use them a shield against reality.
"I'm- I'm sorry Kim." Wade squeezed her hand again. Finally he leaned over and hugged her tightly. God he was just as strong as he looked. Finally, after several minutes, he moved back and sat down again.
"Wade… is my dad…?"
"He… He died at the scene Kim. You did too, actually, but they brought you back, twice that day. You were just so damned strong."
"But, the airbags?"
"Don't work so well at seventy-five miles per hour. Not when a four-hundred pound animal comes through your windshield." Wade squeezed her hand sharply, and sniffed slightly.
She gave a shuddering sigh, not wanting to accept it. Finally, her eyes still squeezed shut; she asked the next in what were probably going to be a long and horrible series of questions. "Where's Ron?"
"I… I don't think I should… not today." The elderly Wade looked away, obvious pain in his eyes.
Kim scowled. She reached over and squeezed his shoulder, leaning out of the bed. Then she shook him, sharply, surprising them both with her post-coma strength. "Darn it Wade! Where the heck is Ron?!"
"Dead. Three years ago, of a heart attack." Wade seemed to deflate completely at the admission. He wouldn't meet her gaze, even after the words sank in and she stopped shaking him.
"No…" it was a whisper. A trembling, shocked whisper.
She wanted to scream to whatever god there was that it wasn't real. Ron couldn't be dead. Her dad couldn't be dead. This couldn't be the future. But all she could do was hiss out one whisper before collapsing into a pool of tears in her bed.
Wade stayed with her for several hours. Finally, though, he had to leave. Visiting hours ended, and Kim showed no signs of coming around from whatever personal hell she was in. Doctor McCoy came back, and injected a sedative into her support system.
Kim fell quietly into slumber, despite her continued tears and trembling. No one had ever been woken up after this long in nanny-sleep, and he was hesitant to give her sleeping meds, but she'd cried for hour's non-stop. That couldn't be good for her either.
Out in the hallway, Wade and Dr. McCoy spoke quietly.
"I really wish you'd not told her about her friend. It was far too much. Maybe I should have called the sleeper counselor like I wanted."
"I'm sorry Doc. I couldn't not tell her. I know you're not old enough to remember what she was like back then."
"Dr. Loade, how old do you think I am? I was six when Miss Possible was in her prime, yes, but I'm also very familiar with her psych and historical data."
"Okay. Then you know she is… was… the girl who could do anything. I thought she could take it. Besides, Ron was as much her brother as James or Tim, maybe more. She wouldn't have stopped asking until someone did tell her."
"Well, you thought wrong. Telling her about her father had to be done, since the two of them were injured at the same time… but the rest could have waited."
"I know… now. But please, don't call those quacks. Kim is my friend. She deserves to hear about the world from her friends and family, not some shrink. Besides… are you saying BN's money is not good enough, or is my money not good enough?"
"No, Doctor Loade. The funding BN and you yourself gave us made her revival possible. Erm, no pun intended. I just don't want that hard work undone if she snaps and goes into cryocide."
"She's Kim Possible, Dr. McCoy. She's not going to drop dead because of her pain and suffering."
"She was Kim Possible, sixty years ago. Now she's just a very scared eighteen year old girl who's woken up to a world where everyone she knew is either dead, or decidedly not the people she knew before her accident. She wouldn't be the first resilient person to suffer cryocide. Do you know how many Marines from Cuba II cryo'ed out when they woke up? Marines Dr. Loade… people every bit as strong as Miss Possible ever was."
Wade just shook his head softly. Knowing Kim's data, and knowing Kim, were apparently two different things.
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Author's Notes Additional: And there you have it… the first chapter of "Another 'Sitch in Time." Please don't expect this one to update as regularly as my other fics do. It's a lot deeper, perhaps deeper than The Darkness Without. Therefore, I'm going to take my time with it and get it all right.Please, questions and Comments are welcome, so Review Away!
