A/N:Thank you all so much for viewing/following/reviewing. To chemkate, I have not seen Timer, but have seen the preview -which is actually where I got the idea for this. A huge thank you to everyone that has reviewed and followed and bothered to read this at all.

I don't own Kim Possible in any way, or Timer, or even the Timer premise.


What Lies Beneath

Kim's bedroom, Possible Household, Middleton

The fake smile she had conjured up stayed glued to her face the entire plane ride home, and when Ron asked her if she wanted him to stay and finish with the party, she politely declined feigning tiredness. All the while she kept repeating the name that wasn't Ron's and held back her impending tears. Something had to have gone wrong; this had to be a mistake. She was meant to be with Ron; she was certain. As soon as the cab from the airport dropped her off at her house, she waved goodbye to Ron with a half-hearted smile, and slipped into her house silently. Most of the lights in the house were off, but Kim was too occupied in her own misery to be concerned with what might have happened to her party and guests.

As she trudged up the stairs to her room, the wave of tears finally hit and she had to bite her hand to keep her sobs from making too much noise and attracting any unwanted attention. Carefully closing and locking her bedroom door behind her, Kim threw herself on her bed and clutched a pillow in order to muffle her crying. After a few minutes, she heard some knocking at her door, but remained in her bed.

"Kimmie, its mom. Can I come in?" Ann Possible questioned through the locked door. There was a pause in which only Kim's slightly labored breathing and hitches in breath from her tears could be heard. "Well, I'm here-if you want to talk about…anything," Mrs. Dr. Possible finished. Kim heard her mother's steps retreating down the hallway then the light that had crept in through the crack underneath her door went out.

This has to be a mistake. I have to find out what went wrong and fix this. I'm supposed to be with Ron. Hastily, Kim retrieved her Kimmunicator and flicked it to life. Wade will know what to do. He can hack into the Database Center's files. He can fix this. She hit a few buttons on the device and Wade's face lit up the screen. He was dressed in pajamas, but seemed strangely awake for this time of night.

"Your eyes are kind of red. What's up Kim, did everything go okay with the mission?" Wade questioned.

"Yeah, everything's fine-I got some sand in my eyes, so did Ron. A lair in the desert isn't really the best place for releasing sharks equipped with lasers," Kim responded, discreetly wiping her eyes.

"So what's going on?" Wade questioned.

"I just…I umm…I wanted to let you know that Drakken's lair exploded so we lost the sharks and the lasers. Sorry, Wade," she answered back hesitantly. Nobody can know about this yet. There's no reason to tell Wade, really. I can handle this. I can handle anything, right?

"I understand, Kim- it's not your fault. If anyone should be apologizing it should be Drakken, or well-Shego; she is the one who stole the lasers," Wade attempted to reassure her. Because she's a thief. She has no respect for the people who actually work hard to make the world a better place. She's barely even human, really.

"Thanks Wade," Kim said, as she turned off the Kimmunicator and watched his face on the screen fade to black.

Kim tossed the device onto her bedside table, and then proceeded to crawl under her bed sheets. Tomorrow will be better; tomorrow I'll figure everything out and Ron's name will be on my wrist and all of this will have been a bad dream.


The first thing Kim noticed upon waking was that she really needed to invest in a good pair of ear buds. The tweebs had obviously concocted some sort of amateur plan involving robotics, high pitched screeching, and cake from what she could make out from her father's yelling.

The next thing she noticed was that the name, the name that wasn't Ron's, was still there. It was still June, and the weather was still unbearably hot, but she had to cover it up-somehow. She had no wristband, because those were given to matches that were bonded, that didn't have to hide the name but preferred the intimacy of it. I can't wear long sleeves, because that would be a dead giveaway that I'm hiding something-that something is wrong. I don't wear make-up, so I can't use that to cover it up. So there's no way to hide it, but I obviously can't let-

Knock knock knock

"Kimmie, Kim its mom again; can I come in?" Ann Possible questioned from outside of the locked bedroom door.

"No," Kim responded evenly. If Anne didn't come in her room, she wouldn't see the mark, or question why Kim was wear long sleeves during a heat wave. Although keeping her out attracted the same sort of suspicion.

"Is…is something wrong, sweetie? Are you hurt?" Ann asked, concern lacing her voice.

"I'm fine," Kim responded from her still curled up position in bed.

"Well, since you don't seem to want to let me in and you don't seem very excited about venturing out, how about we talk through the door? Would that be alright?" Ann inquired hopefully.

"I don't really feel like talking," Kim murmured back sadly.

"Then how about I talk, and all you have to do is listen," Ann promised in an attempt to soothe whatever was concerning her daughter.

"I…I guess that's okay." Just as long as you don't see my wrist.

"Okay, then I'll start," her mother said, settling to sit behind Kim's bedroom door.

"When I was sixteen I wasn't like you. I was smart, very smart, but I wasn't a cheerleader and I didn't try to save the world. I was pretty nerdy, actually. But I was extremely happy and very in love. You might not know this, but I never thought for a second I would be with your father until I met him. I had a fantastic boyfriend, back then. He was smart, genuine, handsome, even. I can remember thinking I was so lucky to have found my soul mate before either of us had turned eighteen. The only problem was, he wasn't my soul mate, and your father was. I was young and in love and so angry that day I received a call from the Database Center. I thought, 'how dare they try to tell me that the boy I'm meant to be with, the boy I love, isn't meant for me.' I wouldn't come into the Center for weeks. Eventually, because of how angry I had become, Charles, the young man I was seeing, encouraged me to visit the Center- if only to make sure."

Kim got up from her bed and moved over to her door, so she could more easily hear the story her mother was telling.

"Even as upset as I was, I knew something had to be done about the situation, because there was some poor eighteen year old boy, James they told me, that thought we were meant for each other and he deserved to find someone, like I had found Charles. I flew out to California from Maine to see what could be done; maybe he had simply found the wrong girl and there was another Ann Cassidy Kane meant for him. Isn't that insane? I was so convinced that I was meant to be with Charles that I had given up on any possibility of anyone else. The chances of this James having another soul mate with my name were exceedingly slim, yet I still hoped."

"You mean…you didn't want to be with dad? The Database Center forced you to break up with Charles?" Kim spoke up for the first time.

"Oh, no honey. The Centers never force anything. I chose your father like I chose to be with Charles or I chose to have you and the boys," Ann explained reassuringly.

"But you were with Charles," Kim argued back defiantly.

"I did, and I loved him- I truly did. But…when I met your father, there was no question that he was the one for me. He was handsome and smart, kind and funny- in his own way. Your father was everything Charles was, but he felt like more than my best friend, he was my soul mate," Anne finished.

"So the Centers are always right?" Kim questioned doubtfully.

"The Centers are simply a way to find people. They're brick buildings with employees and computers. That's all. You are who determines who your soul mate will be," Anne explained softly.

"So could the name change?" Kim asked hopefully.

"It's not impossible, it has happened before, but I wouldn't get your hopes up sweetie. That sort of thing only happens when it's needed. Do you know how many teenagers I've seen come through the emergency room and lose their arm because of a car accident or a stupid choice? Those poor kids will never have the chance to see the name of their soul mate appear on their eighteenth birthday; they have to completely rely on the hope that their name appears on someone's wrist and they can be found. I'm not telling you what to do, or who to love, I'm just saying think about it. Give this name on your wrist a chance," Ann concluded knowingly.

Kim wiped at tears that had made their way down her face, then posed the question that had haunted her since she had first seen the name, "What about Ron?"

"Ron will be okay. Charles was, and so is every other individual that thinks they've met the one before the name appears. He will find the right one, Kimmie, I promise. You'll be alright too, you know? Everything will work out."

"I just never thought this would happen to me. We were supposed to be together; we've been best friends since pre-k, and now there's this name on my wrist and I don't know what to do about it," Kim confided.

"Do you want me to drive you to the Database Center in Lowerton? I know it's a lot to go through alone Bubble-butt," Ann said lightly.

"No…I can take care of this. I think I need to do this by myself."

"Well, I'm really glad we talked about this, but there is something else to address, sweetheart," Ann added.

"What?" What else could there be? After the tsunami of emotions I've already had to deal with and the awful conversation I might have with Ron, what else is there?

"Yesterday you ran off on that mission so fast, you didn't have the chance to open any of your birthday presents and I know your friends wanted to speak to you about…everything."

"They did? Are my presents still here?"

Ann got up from her sitting position from outside of Kim's door, "I have to get something, but I'll be right back alright?"

"Okay," Kim sat patiently and sure enough her mother returned in less than a minute.

"I was wondering if you were more willing to let me in. I don't need to see…anything; I just wanted to give you my present."

Kim thought about her mother's speech then agreed, "I'll unlock the door, but you have to give me some time before you come in."

There was no sound from behind the door, so Kim unlocked it then crawled under her comforter, wrapping the blanket around her thoroughly. The only parts of her body that could be seen were her head and neck. She looked down at her body, swathed in blanket, making sure she was completely covered.

"You can come in now," Kim relented, allowing her mother inside. Her head stayed down, but she heard her mother open and close the door then sit at the foot of her bed.

"Kim, I know this must be hard and I can't make this situation any less difficult for you, but I do have something that might make carrying that mark less noticeable. Ann looked down to her hands where a brightly wrapped box sat. Kim looked up but didn't reach for the package, too afraid that even a move with her right hand might give away the secret of the elegant script on her left wrist.

"It's not much, but your father and I did get you something else together. I just thought that it might be easier to have one of these, at least until you find a better replacement," Ann commented, before standing up and exiting the room. The door clicked softly behind her and Kim could hear her mother's footsteps echo down the hallway and down the stairs.

Sure that there was no longer a risk of her mark being seen, Kim reached out for the bright little gift and carefully ripped it open. Inside was a thick white bracelet, made of what appeared to be some sort of shiny plastic. Despite the bracelet being so sturdy, it was still able to stretch around her wrist. Carefully covering up the name, Kim decided that she would take her mother's advice and find out more about the Sheyenne Gomez she had so recently discovered and hidden.