Hi guys! It's me again, I'm not dead! I know I promised to have this up, like within a few days of my last post, but life happened. And I haven't had the chance until now. Anyways, I know you guys wanted Jack's POV, but I went with Julie for a few reasons. Which will be explained at the bottom AN, ok?

And we have reached 50 reviews! Ashley gets a shoutout for being reviewer #50! You rock!

And of course, thanks to everyone else who reviewed and/or favorited/alerted this fic! And to the three people who added me as a favorite author and the one who put me on author alert, you guys are AWESOME!

I do not own Kickin It or any affiliated characters.

Julie

Monday afternoons at the Bobby Wasabi dojo were hectic. In the two years since Jack had disappeared, almost sixty more people had joined—from experienced Black Dragons to awkward little newbies, the dojo had seriously blossomed.

And though I hated to admit it, Jack's appearance—and the publicity it had brought the dojo—had really helped with business.

I worked there on Mondays, as an accountant-slash-publicist-slash-consultant-slash-assistant. I didn't actually enjoy the job, but Rudy desperately needed the help and although Milton didn't technically do karate anymore, it still meant a lot to him.

And at this point, I couldn't just leave Rudy alone with a class full of twenty newbies who couldn't defend themselves at all.

This Monday, however, was different. Despite it being 4:30 already, there was no noise coming from outside my—Rudy's—office. I couldn't even hear concerned mothers hovering outside the doors.

Groaning, I opened the door, prepared to stop whatever harebrained scheme Rudy had come up with and—the bottle of water I'd been holding fell to the ground.

Rudy and Kim looked up, surprised.

Kim.

Kim.

"What are you doing here, Kim?"

Kim glanced at me, hurt written all over her face, and I winced. I hadn't meant for it to come out so harsh.

"Hi, Julie," she said in an overly peppy voice, a fake smile plastered across her face. "I was just leaving."

I raised an eyebrow but said nothing, not caring too much why she was here or when she was leaving—No, scratch that. I didn't care about Kim at all.

But then I looked over at Rudy, whose eyes were wide with surprise and—hope, I think—and suddenly I wanted to know. Not because I had any real interest in Kim or her friends, but—Milton had looked like that. At the movies, at school, all last week. He'd looked lost and confused, like there was something far more important that he should be doing—it was like I was losing him.

I sighed. "Actually, Kim, I've been meaning to talk to you…"

There was a pause. Kim looked at me curiously. Even Rudy, who spent most of the time off in his own, twisted little world, looked confused. Or worried about my sanity. I didn't really blame either of them. Kim kissing Milton—which really had been a big deal, despite the fact that I'd told Milton that it was fine—had driven a wedge between us. Then Jack disappeared, and she stopped talking to Milton. And by extension, me.

"Rudy, if you wouldn't mind…" I waved my hand towards his office, smiling pleasantly. He left.

Cue the awkward silence.

Finally, Kim spoke. "So…what'd you want to talk to me about?"

I frowned at her. "This," I said curtly, waving my hand towards Rudy's office. "That."

"What is 'this, that?'"

I glared at her. "Whatever you've been talking to Rudy…to Milton…about."

Kim laughed. I thought it sounded fake. "Oh, that? I was just…thinking about re-joining the dojo, and I…wanted their input!"

She was too bright, I decided, and her lies were too obvious. "Right. Now seriously, you better have a good reason for making Rudy a half hour late for his meds, and I mean really good."

Kim winced. "…Meds?"

I nodded curtly. He hadn't actually been late in taking them today—actually, they were the one thing he was responsible about—but Kim didn't know that.

"Yeah, meds. Cops thought he was behind it all, you know." I paused. "No, actually, you wouldn't know, since you just quit once Jack was gone, right when Rudy needed someone with their head on straight."

Now that was meant to sound harsh.

Kim just glared. "Except I didn't have my head on straight, Julie! Which, oh, you would have known if it had ever occurred to you to give a damn about anyone other than your boyfriend!"

Silence.

Finally, I turned on my heel and stalked away. Not towards Rudy's office, but towards the door.

"I don't really give a damn about you and your stupid lies," I snapped as I reached the door. "But I pray to god you're not doing anything that could…well, tip the scales, if you catch my drift."

I turned to face her, suddenly feeling a bit guilty. "And Kim? You're not the only one who needs Jack here."

She shot me one more unreadable look, and I left.


The sun outside was burning. The day seemed too hot for early spring, and I almost turned around to head back into the dojo.

I knew I couldn't go back, but I also couldn't leave Rudy alone for so long. I had meant it when I said that Kim could tip the scales for Rudy—and sadly, I got the feeling it wouldn't exactly be in a good way.

The thing about Rudy was, after Jack's disappearance and the investigation into him and his dojo, things had gotten rough. For a while, before things began letting up, the dojo and him got lots of bad publicity. No one wanted their kids training with the man who was thought to be behind an innocent boy's disappearance, after all. Of course, once his name was cleared, people began trickling back.

And that was when Rudy started showing the signs.

I knew them by heart by the time I actually saw them—confusion, anger, mood swings, voices. Rudy was losing it, Milton had said, but he couldn't be there to help him and he couldn't trust any of the others to handle it. Too close to the situation, he'd said, and I had agreed.

Eventually, the odd babysitting job I had morphed into one of management, and I started a few publicity campaigns to get the dojo back up and running. I even used Jack's disappearance a few times, which was a bit too close to home for some people, but eventually people started signing up and the dojo slowly but surely came back to life.

And Rudy just drifted farther and farther away.

He got the meds after I found the scars on his wrists. I like to think I saved a life that day, but as Milton had once pointed out, from what?

Maybe I had just condemned him.

Wow. That was a much darker ending than intended. But I like it-actually, I personally feel like Julie and Milton were my best chapters yet. Anyways, I did have reasons for using Julie instead of Jack.

-This chapter, particularly the bit about Rudy and Kim talking and Rudy's...condition, guess, are important for later on.

-Jack is still a confused nerd with no knowledge of anything, so I can't write from his POV without it being a filler chapter or filled with meaningless Leyla/Jack sibling fluff. Or without giving away the plot-I actually tried, and I almost posted a chappie that basically gave everything away.

-And finally, I needed to take a look at this whole mess through the eyes of someone who is not deeply ingrained in the situation. Jerry wasn't chosen for that because...well, see reason 1.

So, I hope you enjoyed reading, and thanks for reviewing! I hope to see you next chapter with Kim again!