Blue Eyes, Shining - Intermezzo 3: Two versions of the truth.
Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The original lyrics to the song referenced in this chapter and the music are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
Please refer to chapter 1 of Blue Eyes, Shining: Intermezzi if you have questions regarding this concept.
Enjoy! Please read and review.
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Intermezzo 3: Two versions of the truth.
Story: occurs during Blue Eyes, Shining
Time stamp: this series of events occurred during chapter 9, on day 17, in the afternoon.
When: after the network tests were completed.
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Wade and Joss are walking back to the bunker after lunch when…
"Wade!"
"Yes, Kim?" and Wade turns around to see Kim running towards him, an angry look on her face.
"Wade, who told you to move my web site?" and she stopped just short of him, and her green eyes were dancing angrily.
"Kim, we've already talked about this," Wade reminded her. "The site's not moved, yet, and we just completed the test on the move this morning: there won't be any problems. Besides," he grinned, "I told you, before I left, that Mom wants most of the equipment out of the house, so a lot of things were gonna move."
"Wade, we need to talk, NOW!" and Kim pulled him into the bunker. Joss stood, stunned at her cousin's actions and reactions, and then ran into the bunker to find out what was wrong with Kim.
- - - - - - -
What Joss saw was not the beige of the entryway and lobby into the bunker that she had left only hours ago:
The entry hall and lobby were decorated and filled with multi-colored balloons and streamers hanging from the ceiling, and there was a giant cake in the center of the room. Signs were draped across the room, and the room was filled with people: it looked to Joss like the entire Middleton cheer squad was here (well, except for Bonnie and the Queen's entourage), and Joss recognized some of the others by reputation: Monique, Felix, and Zita; and there were lots of other people that Joss had only seen in pictures. There was also some older guy there that Joss didn't recognize, but everyone seemed to be avoiding him for some reason.
The biggest sign was across the ceiling: a gigantic
THANK YOU, WADE!
Kim had Wade by the collar, and Ron was standing in his chef's attire in front of the cake holding two huge knives.
"Well, Wade?" Kim had changed her timbre to a much softer sound than Joss had heard on the way into the bunker.
Silence from Wade, then a loud yell from the people there filled the room:
SURPRISE!
And all of the people surrounded Wade, thanking him and congratulating him and slapping him on the back, and Joss was confused and felt left out. She started to back out of the room, silently, and Wade caught her movement out of the corner of his eye.
"Joss!" and Wade pulled free of Kim's grip and ran to her.
"Are you ok?" he asked.
"What…What is this?"
"This, young lady, is a group of students from Middleton High thanking Dr. Load," the older guy followed Wade over to Joss, and he spoke in an authoritative voice, but then he mellowed a bit as he continued. "And, can I assume that you are related to Kimberly?"
"That's right, Mr. Barkin, and she's also my girlfriend," Wade responded, and pulled Joss to his lips and kissed her. Joss didn't complain, and she kissed him back.
Loud whoops came from all of the students; someone yelled "PDA!" and Mr. Barkin shushed them.
"This is not a school event, and Dr. Load is not one of my students," he responded. "He, however, has yet to introduce the young lady to me," and he smiled, but only for a second.
"Sorry. Jocelyn, this is Mr. Steve Barkin. Mr. Barkin, this is Jocelyn Possible, Kim's cousin, Dr. James Possible's niece, and my girlfriend," Wade concluded, and Joss smiled. Steve Barkin smiled back, and he knew what to do….
"A pleasure, Miss Possible," and Steve took Joss' hand, bent over, and kissed it.
The kiss immediately generated two events: a loud WOOOOOOOOO from the students, and Joss turning a deeper red than her hair.
"PEOPLE, PEOPLE," Steve called out, "Have you no manners?" and the noise dropped.
"Cuz, what's going on?" Joss asked Kim, still perplexed at the gathering, and she reached out and took Wade's hand. Wade smiled at the gesture as he relished her touch
"Miss Possible, the students are here to thank Dr. Load – Wade – for all he's done for them and their friends, Kimberly and Ronald. It was Kimberly's idea," Mr. Barkin added, and Kim walked over to Wade.
"Wade, you've been a part of my live, all our lives, for the last four years, and I thought that, since most of the people that you've touched have never met you and owe you their thanks, I'd arrange a little party for you.
"Your talents and skills have helped Ron and I and so many other people, and your patience with Ron and Algebra," and several students laughed, Steve grimaced, and Ron just looked sheepish, "is legendary across the school. Most of my friends have seen you on the screen in my locker and have never met you, and they all jumped at the chance to come up here and meet you…that, and Uncle Slim's promise of swimming hole access and 3 free days of accommodations and food," and the cheers came from the crowd.
"But, Wade, the real reason that they are here is because they care about you."
"But, Kim, I don't deserve this," and Wade struggled as Joss, sensing that something was wrong, grabbed his hand tighter.
"What do you mean? Of course you do, Wade: You've done so much for me and Ron, and several times what you've done helped keep the school and the town safe."
"Kim, you don't understand, it wasn't about you!" Wade yelled, and the room suddenly became sound absorbent.
- - - - - - -
Kim stood, stunned, and stared at Wade.
"It was never about you, Kim," Wade repeated, but only a bit quieter.
"Kim." and Wade stared directly at her because he felt that he at least owed her honesty. "Kim," he repeated, calmer now, "I should never have given you most of the equipment that I handed over to you. You both could have died lots of different times," and Kim gasped as did several other students, "risking your lives with untested gear, and I never could or would have forgiven myself for what I'd done." Wade pulled his hand out of Joss' grip, and pointed at Kim.
"I prayed, every time that you and Ron went out on a mission with the equipment, that you would come back alive," Wade said, and Joss was watching him and holding him mentally, because Wade couldn't have her touch him while he was saying this.
"I did this because you paid attention to me, and I needed someone to pay attention to me. Who would have paid any attention to a pre-teen, overweight, African-American genius, unless they needed something? You needed a website, and I delivered it. You needed a hair-dryer grappler, and I delivered it. You needed a battlesuit, and I delivered it." And, by this time, Joss had crept back over to Wade and was touching his back, and she could see Kim's face: shock and sadness were fighting for ownership, and fear was in the struggle, as well.
"I gave you what you wanted, and you paid attention to me. We had an unwritten contract, Kim, and I broke it because I started to like you as a person and care about what happened to you and what you thought of me." Wade turned to face Joss, and she saw the impact on his face: tears, fear, and self-loathing all had overcome him.
"Joss, we need to leave," and Joss grabbed Wade out of self-defense. Then, she felt another touching her, and looked up to see Kim.
Kim had come over to Wade and Joss, and she reached out her hand to touch Wade on the shoulder. He flinched visibly, and turned to stare at her in rage thru his tears.
"Are you happy now?" Wade snarled, and Joss flinched and Kim stepped back. "Made the little kid cry, did you? And, in front of your friends? Aren't you all soo special! See, you can do anything, Kimberly Ann Possible, even make me cry!" and Wade turned back to Joss, tears streaming, and whispered to her "I've got to get out of here NOW, Joss!"
"WADE!"
- - - - - - -
Wade turned, and saw Kim holding up her hand to stop him. She walked over to him, and knelt at his feet, a single tear was falling from her right eye.
"Wade, I took advantage of you," Kim said softly, and Joss looked at her cousin in horror.
"I took a little kid with a genius IQ who desperately needed to cling to someone and something, and I used you. That was sick and wrong, and I knew what I was doing, and that made even more wrongsick," and the single tear was joined by its cousins.
"You gave me things that I needed, and I knew that most of them weren't tested, but I didn't care: The rush of the first difficult missions kept me going, and you fed my rush with more gear," and Kim looked at him with sadness and love and fear.
"I fed your needs with more and more requests and work and attention, and I knew what I was doing, but I didn't care, because the rush I got was soo good; at least, that's how it started," and she wiped more tears off her face.
Ron came over sans knives, and placed his hand on Kim's left shoulder.
"You never got any more than a 'please, and thank you' or a 'you rock, Wade,' from me, and none of it meant beans coming from me," Kim added, and Joss continued to stare at her cousin in horror.
- - - - - - -
"BUT, if you had really hacked into my encrypted on-line diary, Wade," and she smiled through the tears, "you would have read the rest of the story. You would have seen how I realized, when you and Ron went to the Amazon for me, that I had realized how much of a fool that I had become," and Ron squeezed her shoulder. "I had treated the two most important men in my life, besides my father, like crap and they just kept taking it and coming back again and again for more abuse," and now, Kim's tears were flowing freely.
"I used you and Ron, Wade, and I had never realized it until then. Well, I took matters into my own hands and fixed the sitch with Ron," and she looked up at him and smiled: he grinned in return, generating a "TMI!" yell from the back of the group of students, "but I had not fixed it with you."
"Then, the Diablos came, and you came through for me big time with the battlesuit, and you saved me, Wade," and she tried to choke back the sob in her voice: other students behind her were less successful.
"You saved me, Wade," she repeated, even softer, "and you saved the world. Shego would have killed me if I hadn't had that suit, and I didn't realize that until well after the fight. And, Wade, you found the frequency to shut the Diablos down, and you never took any credit for any of it." Kim paused for a moment, and then she continued…
"Joss, this is my hero," and Kim kissed Wade on the cheek, their tears mixing on the two sets of cheeks. "If not for him, I'd be dead," and she bowed her head.
Ron squeezed Kim's shoulder.
"He's my hero, as well, Joss," Ron said quietly. "Wade has never laughed at me; well, not a lot of times," and Wade grinned thru his tears. "Wade always laughed with me. He took my silly comments and ideas and carried me through missions so many times; that's why I was shocked when you told Kim that I was a hero. I knew that you didn't know who the real hero was.
"Joss, Wade here has suffered from severe agoraphobia for years, and he barely made it to any classes for his college and post-graduate work without suffering severely," Ron continued, looking at Wade, who nodded his agreement for Ron to continue. "The fact that he went on any missions, virtually or otherwise, forced him to call on strength that I don't think even he knew he had. He's my hero, Joss," and Ron smiled through his own tears.
"He's been getting better over the last year, but this trip was going to be the turning point, Joss: If he made it here for any more than 2 days, I'd have been shocked. The fact that he's been her for over 2 weeks has been nothing short of a miracle, Joss, and you are completely to blame for it," and Ron grinned.
"You both are my heroes: Wade for all that he's done, and you, Joss, for pulling him out of his room, and out for the rest of the world to see. Besides," and Ron grinned big, "there's a lot less of him to see, now, and who's fault is that, Jocelyn Possible?" and Joss blushed, and the rest of the students applauded.
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"Wade," Kim broke the applause, looking up from where she was kneeling in front of Wade, and the sound immediately disappeared, "I would understand if you never want to see me or speak to me again after what I've done to you, but…
"Do you think that you could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?" Kim begged. "Please, Wade, answer me, I have to know," and she broke down, and Ron grabbed her before she fell.
The only sounds in the room were heartbeats, the air circulating, and Kim's sobs.
Joss looked at Wade.
The rage was gone in his face.
In its place was confusion.
"Joss," Wade called, quietly, and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly.
"I'm here, hero," she whispered into his ear, and held him as he flushed his rage and anger and self-hatred from his system with his tears.
"Kim," Wade turned to face her after he finally regained his composure and made his decision, and Kim looked up with hope.
- - - - - - -
"Kim," Wade repeated and smiled, and that was all it took: Kim stood and stepped over to Wade and hugged him, and the two of them shed more tears, this time of reconciliation.
Joss stood, silently, and Ron walked over to her and put his arm around her shoulder.
"Is this a normal day for high school students?" Joss asked.
"Pretty much," Ron replied, Steve groaned, and the rest of the friends cheered and all gathered around Wade and Kim.
- - - - - - -
"Hey, BFGF, save some of that 'Wadeness' for me," and Monique pulled Kim away and hugged Wade herself.
"Way to go, 'stud:' you've got an 'imPossible' task ahead of you," Monique punned into Wade's ear, and Wade groaned.
"And, I'm so jealous of her and what she's going to go through with you, Wade. You're a very, very, special man," and Monique pulled back and kissed Wade on the cheek. "That's for taking care of my BFGF, Wade," Monique added.
"Hey! No kissie my boyfriend!" Joss grinned, and she hugged Monique.
"Channeling Shego, are we?" Monique asked, and Joss squeezed her tighter.
"GF, call me when you get into Middleton (and I know you'll be in Middleton real soon!), and I'll hook you up with some Club Banana just right for you that'll rock his world," Monique whispered to Joss, "and I'm Monique: Mon, to my friends, like you," and she squeezed Joss and then let her go.
"Thanks, Mon," Joss grinned. "We'll have a spankin' good time shoppin.'"
Wade had only one comment when he heard Joss' comment to Monique:
"Oh, man…."
"PEOPLE, PEOPLE! LET'S CUT THIS CAKE AND GET BACK TO THE GOOD TIMES!"
"Yes, Mr. Barkin," was the response in unison.
- - - - - - -
'I love it when a plan comes together,' Steve thought as he took a bite of another Ron Stoppable desert sensation.
"Are you ok, KP?" Ron asked his BFGF who was now standing and devouring a piece of his cake.
"Mmmmmmm," she moaned.
"KP! Please! Not here, Barkin will just give me more homework!"
"School's out, Ron. Besides, this cake is heavenly," she replied as she took another bite and moaned, only softer this time.
"So, what do I get for pulling all of this together?" Ron asked with a Zorpox-like smile.
"Remember the bathing suit that I told you about, Ron?" and Kim's voice was like nothing Ron had ever heard come from her before. "The white two-piece?"
"eep." Was all he could get out, and he felt dizzy.
"I brought it with me, and tomorrow, after the switchover, I thought that maybe we could 'test it out,' BF."
"aaa." And Ron almost passed out, but Steve caught him before he fell.
"Stoppable! What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, Mr. Barkin, nothing at all," and Ron grinned in anticipation. "I just got a little out-of-sorts: too much parachuting over the past few days, I guess," he added.
"Ahh, jumps," and Mr. Barkin thought of his days on tour while Ron thought of his days to come.
"Wade?" Kim called to him and held out her arms, and Wade gladly accepted another hug from a Possible women.
"I love you, Wade," Kim whispered into his ear. "But stay out of the diary, or I'll have your ass."
"I love you, too, Kim. You Possible women are going to be the death of me…seriously," Wade chuckled, and he and Kim laughed with each other as they separated.
"Thanks for the party, Kim," and Wade hugged her again.
"It's the least I could do for a full member of Team Possible, Wade."
"A full member, Kim?" and Wade's voice went up a bit with that comment.
"Wade, you've always been a full member of Team Possible, as important as Ron in my life, just without the 'benefits,'" Kim grinned, and Wade pouted. "Seriously," and his pout turned right-side up into a smile.
"And I want the world to know that, so we're going to make a few changes to the web site: the name's gonna be Team Possible, and you'll get full mention, just like Ron and me."
"Kim, I appreciate it, but I can't go back on my promise to Joss," Wade reminded her.
"I understand, Wade. I'm not the only Possible woman in your life, anymore," she said sadly, and she gave him the puppy-dog-pout, full force.
Wade just laughed.
"Been there, had that, won't work on me anymore, Kim: I have the enhanced version to deal with, now," and he looked over her shoulder at Joss, and winked.
"We cool, Kim?"
"Cool as the bottom-"
"Can I finish that sentence, Kim?"
"WADE!"
"Can't blame a guy for trying," and Wade and Kim laughed and hugged again while the cake disappeared.
Joss stood, watching Wade and Kim, and she was certain, now, that Kim would never be a threat to her and her relationship with Wade.
'I've got my hero for the rest of my life,' she thought, and then she smiled and the possibilities for the future.
Ron came over to her, joined by Steve.
"Are you all right, Miss Possible?"
"I'm fine, Mr. Barkin. I'd like for you to meet my dad, if you have some time. He's also a Doctor Possible, like Kim's dad, but most folks just call him 'Slim,'" Joss stated calmly, and Steve Barkin's response shocked the room as he yelled:
"SEALIE!"