Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or locations from the television series KimPossible, nor do I receive any compensation for their use. I write my stories strictly to pass the time and work my fingers to the bone. I now have ten very bony fingers.

Author's notes: This is a continuation/side story to my Closet series of stories. It takes place after the last one, A New Bonnie but this small ficlet of fan fiction focuses on Tara and her new job. If you haven't read the other three stories in the series, some of this this might not make any sense.

Room Twelve

Chapter 1

The Sitch

"All right, boys and girls," Tara Tesla called out as she clapped her hand to get the attention of the twelve, four year old boy's and girls in the classroom, "it's nap time." She was only one week into her first job as a Preschool teacher after graduating from high school and college in less than two months, all thanks to the Mystical Monkey Powers.

There were a few grumbles and one little girl impishly whined that she wasn't done with her finger painting yet, but the group of kids in the room swiftly followed orders and moved to spread out mats on the floor, grab their blankets and lay down to sleep.

Soon all was quiet in the room and Tara turned off the overhead lights. She casually waved to her teacher's assistant, Tracy, as she ducked out the only door to the room and closed it without making any noise.

Tara stretched, getting the knots out of her sore back muscles and let out a yawn of her own, something that the kids had been doing for the last fifteen minutes, then meandered to the teacher's lounge located inside the front office with her lunchbox in hand. She still had a cold soda stashed away in it and she knew she wanted the caffeine to help her get through the last two hours before Preschool was over for the day.

Tara dearly love her new job as a teacher, molding and guiding the minds and bodies of the twelve children she was in charge of, and wouldn't give it up for the world. It gave her purpose and she just loved working with the tiny tots.

Well that wasn't totally true. She would've love it more if she had a child of her own, but that wasn't going to happen any time soon. She didn't have a husband, let alone a boyfriend, just yet.

Tara was still only seventeen years old and was devoted to the three teens she was living with. Kim and Ron Stoppable had taken her and her friend Bonnie Rockwaller into their home after Bonnie had a major meltdown during cheer practice. Bonnie had practically thrown herself at Ron in order to attach herself to the rapidly rising popularity of the blond boy. Because of her breakdown, Bonnie had spent a week in the psychiatric wing at the hospital and learned that the Food Chain wasn't all it was cracked up to be in. Living with the two young Stoppables and Tara had really changed Bonnie for the better. After Kim and Ron had shared their MMP with Bonnie and Tara, the teal-eyed brunette had promised to help the teen heroes with saving the world and she'd done just that on a few missions.

Tara on the other hand, wasn't interested in helping out with the missions. She only wanted to stay in the background as the emotional support. That was one of the reasons why she took the job here at the Preschool while Kim, Ron and Bonnie were all teaching at Middleton High. But, due to her age and the fact that this was her first year teaching, Tara wasn't allowed to head a class all by herself. That was why she had Tracy to assist her. But then again, the other classes in the school all had both a teacher and an assistant to oversee the fifty-seven students in the school.

Tara got the soda out of her cooler, plopped down on one of the comfy couches in the Teacher's Lounge, popped the top and took a long drink.

"How goes the battle with your horde of Munchkins?" Nancy Bowman, one of the other teachers, smirked as she worked the two knitting needles in her hands. Tara wasn't sure just what Nancy was knitting this time around, but the twenty-five year old seemed to be constantly working on something when she wasn't in her classroom. Nancy had recently announced that she'd just found out that she was pregnant with her first child so Nancy could be knitting either booties or a baby blanket, Tara surmised.

"It's not a battle," Tara giggled before she took a quick sip of soda. "My kids may be a little energetic but you just need to channel that energy into something creative or productive."

"A little energetic?" Nancy incredulously begged with a light laugh as her hands continued in their work, seemingly without any thought or effort. "Your room looks like an art gallery has exploded and it's one of the loudest in the school."

Tara was about to respond with some witty repartee when something caught her ear. It sounded like emergency sirens were headed toward the school. While not totally unheard of in Middleton, police chases were fairly rare in the normally peaceful town. Tara stood and went to the window at the front of the office and peered out. Sure enough, an old, beat up car sped by with two police cars hot on its tail. The three cars careened around the corner and sped off away from the school.

The excitement over, Tara sat back down and finished her can of soda.

"It was probably some idiot who ran a stop sign and didn't want to get a ticket," Nancy nonchalantly announced without batting an eye at the incident.

"I don't think so," Tara cautiously said, her Mystic Powers making the hairs on the back of her neck standing up in warning. She could still here the sirens and it sounded like the chase was circling the block and heading back toward the school. "Something doesn't feel right to me." She stood up and tossed the empty aluminum can in the recycle bin, then turned to Nancy. "Just to be safe I think we should implement lock-down procedures."

"I don't think that's really necessary," Nancy said as she put her knitting away and stood up. The sirens sounded like they were definitely approaching the building again. "But just to be on the safe side..." Nancy walked out of the lounge area over to the public address system, flipped the master switch and spoke into the microphone. "To all teachers and assistants. There is police activity in the area and as a precaution, you are instructed to implement lock-down protocol."

Both women knew what those procedures entailed. All of the teachers and assistants that oversaw the students were to first lock the hallway door, making sure that all of their students were accounted for, and then make sure all of the windows in their rooms were shut and latched so no one from the outside of the building could reach any of the students. That also meant that someone would have to lock the two entry doors at both the front and back of the school.

"I'll get the back doors," Nancy said as she grabbed a key hanging next to the hallway entrance, "and you can get the front." She took off at a leisurely pace down the long hallway to the rear of the building.

Tara took the other key that was hanging next to the exit and went the short distance to the front doors. As she was locking the second door she looked up and spotted the old, beat up car just before it crashed into the chain link fence that surrounded the school property. Tara gasped when she saw a big, burly man dressed in blue jeans, a dark brown windbreaker and ski mask, jump out of the vehicle and race toward the back of the building. She could see that he was holding a stuffed cloth bag (with a huge dollar sign on the side of it) in one hand and a gun in the other.

Tara's first thought was to return to the front office and phone in a report of what she saw to the police. She got as far as entering the office when she looked through the window and spotted two police cruisers come to a screeching stop behind the crashed car. Four of Middleton's finest quickly got out of the two cars, guns drawn, and went in pursuit of the suspect.

Worried for her friend, Tara peeked out into the hallway to see if Nancy had already locked the two rear doors to the building and gasped when she saw the man burst through one of the doors, grab Nancy in a strangle hold from the rear and put the gun to her head.

"Don't try anything funny, Coppers!" the burly brute yelled when he saw the four officers approach the back doors. "I got a hostage now and I ain't afraid to do something nasty to the little lady!"

Using Nancy as a shield, the thug slowly backed away from the rear entrance and tried one of the classroom doors. It was locked. He backed to the next classroom and tried to open that door. It was unlock. The hoodlum swiftly pulled Nancy into the room and shut the door.

Tara let out a small sigh of relief. Room Twelve, where Nancy and the guy had entered, was empty at the time; being a spare classroom. Nancy was still in danger, being held at gunpoint, but at least the children weren't in any danger.

Tara was startled when she heard one of the front doors being jostled. She turned and recognized the police officer trying to get in. Officer Hobble was know and liked by just about everybody in Middleton, being the personable guy he was. The officer spotted her and motioned Tara to come over to the door. "Open the door!" he yelled as quietly as he could so as to not be heard by the suspect.

Tara glanced down the empty hallway to make sure the suspect hadn't left Room Twelve and, satisfied that the coast was clear, raced over to the door and unlocked it. As the officer entered the building, she could see a huge black delivery type van pull up to the front of the school and the Middleton S.W.A.T. team deploy.

"What's happening Officer Hobble?" was all Tara could asked.

"Let's talk in the office," was all the officer hushed. Tara silently nodded, went back into the front office and the officer followed. As soon as they were through the doorway Officer Hobble asked, "Why are you here, Miss Tesla?"

"I just started last week as a teacher," the platinum blond quietly answered as she glanced at the door. "I know my way around the building so maybe I can help you."

"That would be extremely helpful," Officer Hobble said as he peeked around the corner of the door and saw the S.W.A.T. team deploying down the two sides of the hallway. "What can you tell me about the room the robbery suspect is in?"

"He robbed some place?" Tara begged in astonishment. In the peaceful Tri-City area, the term robbery was only heard on the news and it never happened in Middleton.

"Yes," Officer Hobble said, his voice firm and commanding, as he came back in to the center of the room where Tara was standing. "He robbed the downtown branch of the Middleton Bank and shot one of the Tellers so we know he's armed and dangerous. Now, what can you tell me about the room he is in."

"Oh, sorry," Tara gasped at the venom in the officer's voice. "Classroom Number Twelve isn't being used at this time except for storage. There are extra desks, chairs and sleeping mats stored along the inner wall of the room, but the main part has, let's see..." Tara paused as she pictured the room in her mind and counted out loud, "one, two, three... six short table with four chairs at each table. Oh, and all of the window blinds are always drawn to keep the room shaded from the sun."

"That's a very good description, Miss Tesla," Officer Hobble said, impressed with the help. "That means we can't see into the room and find out what's going on in there. Now, what is the name of the woman who is being held by the bad guy?"

"Her name is Nancy Bowman, one of the other teachers," Tara told the officer. "She's twenty-five or twenty-six years old and she told us last week that she's two months pregnant."

"A hostage who's pregnant," Officer Hobble grumbled and, taking his hat off, wiped his brow with the back of his hand. "That's all we need." He put his hat back on and asked, "What about the other rooms? Do any of them connect with Room Twelve?"

"No they don't," Tara informed the officer. "None of the rooms connect except by the main hallway. And just to let you know, the entire school is in lock-down mode. Nancy and I were here in the office when we heard the sirens and decided it would be prudent to take the precaution. We were just locking the outside doors when the suspect crashed into the fence."

"That was a very intelligent thing to do," Officer Hobble smiled at the platinum blond, seventeen year old girl. "Now, is there a phone in the room? Is there any way we can contact the suspect?"

"None of the rooms have telephones..." Tara stated. Officer Hobble's face drooped in defeat, then brightened when she pointed over to the public address system and continued, "...but the school is wired with a public address/intercom system. You can talk directly to any of the room individually, or to the entire building."

Just then one of the S.W.A.T. team members came in to the office and said, "All of the rooms are locked and the teachers are all too afraid to open the doors, Bob. There's no way we can evacuate the kids without blowing the locks and causing mental trauma with the kids."

"Lock-down protocol states that the rooms are not to be unlocked until someone from the school gives the all clear," Tara told the two officers. "That way, there isn't a chance that a bad guy posing as a police officer can get to the children."

"That's an understandable precaution, don't you think, Mike?" Officer Hobble nodded to the other officer, then turned to Tara. "Is there a master key that would unlock all of the doors someplace here in the office, Tara?"

"I very much doubt it," The platinum blond girl answered as she went over to a desk and tried to open the center drawer. It, of course, was locked. "Mrs. Tutor, the principle of the school, is the only one who has such a key and her desk is locked. She left at noon for lunch and a dentist appointment and she always take her keys with her when she leaves. She's not due back until just before classes are over." Tara walked over to the P.A. system and pointed at it. "But maybe the teachers will open the doors if I tell them to follow your instructions."

"We'll try that," Officer Hobble said to Tara and then turned to the other Officer. "We'll evacuate the building one room at a time. You can usher the students and teachers out to the buses that should be arriving at any minute."

Just then, squeaky brakes could be heard from the front of the building. Tara looked out the window and saw two big, black buses with the word Police on the side, stopping at the curb.

"Where should we take the kids?" Officer Mike asked.

"You could take them to the high school," Tara said as she pulled out her cell phone and held it out for the two Officers to see. "I'll call ahead and tell them to get the gymnasium ready. The kids can play in the gym until it's all clear to come back."

Officer Hobble gave his nodding approval before he turned to talk to the S.W.A.T. team member.

Tara walked over to the window and held the phone to her ear, but she didn't dial. She closed her eyes and telepathically called out to Kim and Ron. She knew they were at the high school. Ron was teaching Home Ec. and Kim was getting ready to supervise and participate with the cheer squad. She also knew that Bonnie would be in the middle of teaching an English Lit. class and wouldn't want to be disturbed.

"Kim, Ron, can you hear me?" Tara thought to her two friends who she now lived with.

"Hi Tara," Kim thought back, Tara hearing the redhead in her mind. "What's the sitch?"

"Hey, Tara," the platinum blond girl could hear Ron in her mind. "My class is on standby for a few minute until the student's cookies come out of the oven. What can I do you for?"

"There's a major situation going on here at the Preschool, but the kids are all safe. The police are here, but they'll be sending the students over to the high school in a few minutes. Can either of you two watch over the children until the all clear is given?"

"We can do that," Kim thought to her platinum blond friend. "What kind of situation is going on? Do the police need our help?"

"A bank robber was chased here to the school and he took one of the teachers hostage," Tara telepathically informed her two friends,"but the Middleton S.W.A.T. Team is here and they seem to have things well in hand. They've only asked for my help to evacuate the rest of the building."

"I'll get the gym ready for the kids arrival," Kim transmitted to Tara before she thought to her husband. "Ron, why don't you get some snacks ready for the kids. I'm sure having something to eat will divert their attention for a little while."

"That's a good idea, KP," Ron thought to his wife. "I'm sure my students wouldn't mind donating a part of their Home Ec. projects for a good cause and I have a coupla gallons of milk in the fridge, here in the room, to wash those cookies down."

"Thank you, guys," Tara 'said' to her friends with sincerity gushing from her thoughts. "I gotta go. I think we're ready to start evacuating the building one room at a time, so I need to get over to the P.A. system."

"You know how to get a hold of Ron and I if you need us," Kim thought as she moved to the gymnasium doors to go and find Mr. Barkin and let him know what was happening.

Tara closed her cell phone, like she'd ended the call, then moved over to the P.A. system where the two officers were standing. "Alright, let's get started." Tara smiled and let out a giggle at using one of Kim's signature lines.