AN: Good day all. My apologies for the delay in this chapter. Life's been a little crazy. I've been meaning to reply to the reviews to say thank you, but it's just been difficult finding the time. I would like to take this moment to just say thank you so much. I'll reply in kind individually at some point, but for now – know that they are appreciated.
I was asked to make the chapters longer, which is the ultimate goal. Generally I'm more comfortable around 5k-7.5k. However, due to my schedule and I'll confess difficulty writing I simply post the pieces when I feel as if I have some semblance of a chapter. When it all becomes a bit easier, I promise I'll try harder and give them a bit more substance.

Chapter 9

"It's really not that bad, Monique," Kim was saying. "Really, I think my mom just, sort of, over reacted." She shrugged. "I should be able to go back to school next week. I wanted to today, but..." She trailed off and rolled her eyes, something she rarely did when it didn't involve Bonnie.

Monique found it somewhat troubling. If she had to be honest with herself, she found a lot of things surrounding her friend somewhat troubling.

"Well, girl, don't worry about it," she said cheerfully. "I've got your homework, as usual. The teachers aren't worried, so nobody will ream you when you come back. You get away with a lot more than we would." She watched as her friend smiled half-heartedly and fiddled with the compression bandage on her head. She had explained that it had been placed over the wound to stop it from filling up with fluid underneath the skin and causing a bump. Monique suspected that it was part of the reason Kim hadn't gone back to school yet despite being released from hospital two days before.

"Thank you for the trouble, Monique," she said humbly. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Ron is really bad with this sort of thing." There was an edge in her voice that Monique couldn't quite place. Having sat down at the foot of her friend's bed when she came in, she decided to shift upwards and took her hand for good measure. Kim stiffened at her touch, then relaxed a little.

"You know, Ron doesn't know what to do with himself when you're not around," Monique pointed out, watching Kim's face. "He's been trudging around the corridors, hardly touching his food..." Her friend gave her a look which made Monique smile embarrassed. "Well," she pointed out. "Hardly touching my food. You know that boy and his appetite, but he's still not eating as much as he used to. If it wasn't for Eric distracting him…" She trailed off when Kim frowned.

"Eric?" She asked. "Eric Lubbe? I didn't think they saw eye-to-eye."

Oh yes.

Monique grinned suddenly. "Girl, it is time for you to come back to school." She pointed out. "We have a new student. Eric's our age, I guess. Or… You know, he's in our year. He looks a bit more mature, but hey – I'm not judging." She watched as Kim struggled with this a bit, her features suggesting that she was becoming tired.

"Bonnie must be all over him," she pointed out dryly. "Especially with her and Brick…"

"Oh," Monique interrupted her. "They're… on again. I think. He's like so the best boyfriend at the moment." She made a gagging sound and smiled when Kim's features brightened a little.

"So…" Her best friend said haltingly. "He is friends with Ron? Is he like… super geeky?"

Shaking her head, Monique grinned. "You know, you would think that, but no," she said. "I mean… He's built a little like a quarterback. But he's soft spoken, he seems to enjoy Ron's company. Or tolerates it politely. I think he's a little shy, to be honest. Which makes him super hot."

This time, Kim's grin was bright and amused, making Monique feel as if she had ultimately achieved what she had set out to do for the evening.

"I didn't think you noticed these sorts of things, Monique. Or that it mattered." Kim laughed when she got the evil eye. Monique pretended to glare at her intensely, then wiped her hand in front of her face.

"I might be a strong, independent woman, who has absolutely no wish to take anybody to the prom," she pointed out. "But this face can appreciate eye candy when it sees it." She smiled. "I think you'll like him, Kim."

Whatever her friend was going to say was interrupted by a knock on the attic's door. They both turned to see the hatch open and Mrs. Dr. Possible stick her head through the gap in the floor. Monique doubted that the Possible's noticed it but, to the outsider, they had all begun to look a little bit more harassed in the past few weeks since Ann Possible's kidnapping. It was as if that violation of their family had shaken the foundations of what had been a very carefree group of people. Monique couldn't help but wonder whether Kim's mother's 'over reaction' to her getting injured was seeded in that event.

"Hey, girls," Dr. Possible said politely. "Are you finishing up?"

Monique could read a hint when it was all but thrown at her.

"Yes, Dr. P," she said quickly and smiled at her. "I need to start getting home." The woman didn't say anything to that, but met her eyes and nodded, disappearing again as she did so. When Monique turned back to Kim, she noticed that her friend looked a little exasperated.

"I'm sorry, Monique," she said softly. "I don't know what's gotten into her."

Laughing as she pushed herself up, Monique shook her head. "You're just finding out what it's like for the rest of us," she said. "Don't worry, Kim. I understand. And she's right, you need the rest." She bent down and picked up her backpack from the floor, then hesitated as she turned back to her friend.

"Kim, is everything alright between you and Ron? I mean you…" She struggled suddenly, not sure what to say and could tell that, although she was onto something, she wasn't going to get any answers tonight. Her friend's pale face went stoic as she nodded.

"Of course, what makes you say that?"

Clutching the straps of her backpack, Monique shrugged half-heartedly. "He just… I dunno. I thought he'd be here tonight." She shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "Was he the reason you got hurt?"

The darkness in her friend's gaze came as a bit of a shock, yet – she could tell immediately that Kim was honest when she shook her head. "No, Monique," she said sadly. "That was all me. It wasn't on him. I was… stupid. I let my guard down." Her face twisted with a pain Monique had not seen there before yet now that she witnessed it so clearly, she realised suddenly that she had felt it before. "It won't happen again. I won't be… that stupid again." The ginger sniffed and looked away, leaving Monique feeling cold. On impulse, she stepped closer and leaned in to hug Kim, a gesture the teen did not return. Feeling a little silly, Monique drew back slowly, then realised that Kim was struggling not to cry.

"Oh, hun," she whispered and touched her fair skin. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."

Sniffing, Kim shook her head gingerly and swallowed. "I just… I don't feel well, Monique. I'm sorry. Thank you… for everything."

Wishing that she knew what to say, Monique nodded slowly and turned to the hatch. She felt very small suddenly, inadequate to deal with the world her friend faced every day.

"Kim, maybe…" She hesitated, then swallowed. "You know, before I moved to Middleton I was on the cheering squad you know? Like… I was one of… those girls. But see, one day I just realised that I wasn't enjoying it anymore. And my mom, my mother, she told me that: If you don't enjoy it, stop. Life's too short to do something you hate." She turned back to her friend. "If going out there and fighting all these crazy people is becoming too hard for you, stop. You don't have to do this."

Kim didn't meet her eye, bit looked away out of the window to the darkness that lay beyond them.

"Monique… this is not like cheerleading," she whispered. "If I stop… They can't just bring another person onto the squad. It's not that simple. There are things that… if I didn't do them, they wouldn't have been done. They weren't being done until I started."

Having somehow expected her to say that, Monique sighed softly and nodded.

"Just… It's not all on you," she said. "I don't know what it's like out there." She paused and steeled herself. "But Ron does. Keep that in mind. He sees everything you do. And he goes out… with you every time." She shrugged and knelt down to open the door.

"I don't think I'd have been that good a friend."

They watched the young woman leave, her shoulders hunched and narrow in the darkness of the street as she tried to make herself as small as possible. Although she passed them, she didn't even bother looking in the car's direction, her mind clearly on other things. Dr Elizabeth Director watched the young woman and wondered whether she was trying to steel herself against the darkness that had touched her friend's world.

Did she understand what was happening?

Did any of them?

Motioning to her guards to stay, she opened the car and slowly walked up the pathway to the Possible residence, steeling herself against the reception that she might receive. She didn't expect to see Kim, didn't want to, but she had to be the first to confess that she didn't know the other Possible very well and that this meeting could go in any direction.

A light knock was all she needed to attract the house's attention and the door opened swiftly.

"Monique, did you…?" Ann Possible trailed off and stared at her. "Kim is resting. She's not seeing anybody at the moment."

Dr. Director smiled politely and shook her head. "I'm not here to see her, Dr. Possible," she pointed out. "Would you mind if I come in?" She watched as the woman's fierce need to protect her daughter danced across her features. Although Ann Possible was a slight woman, the way she suddenly squared her shoulders seemed to make her fill the whole doorway.

"I think if you have something to say, you can do so right here," she pointed out. "I can hardly imagine that we have a lot to say to each other, correct?"

Elizabeth smiled gently, but stood her ground. "I think I would like to come in," she said. "In my line of work, it's not always safe to say what I have to in public. Please, Ann." A myriad of emotions crossed the older Possible's features, but then she sighed and stepped aside, motioning the director into their living room. They weren't alone, their two young boys sitting on the floor, not playing exactly but putting together what looked like a very big rocket. They looked up when she entered, their eyes going wide in recognition.

"Hey!" The one exclaimed. "You're that lady from Global Justice!"

"Can I see your eye?" The other one piped in, raising his voice to be heard above his brother's when Ann clapped her hands together.

"Jim, Tim, upstairs," she snapped. "Now. And don't say another word. I don't want your sister coming down."

Twin expressions of rebellion started in their features, until they took one look at their mother's face. Something in her eyes made the boys deflate a little and, looking at each other in silent communication, they picked up their rocket – one on each side – and disappeared upstairs. Ann watched them leave, then looked to Betty in silent command. Dr Director complied when her hostess pointed to a chair and bid her to sit down. The woman didn't look at her again, but disappeared up the stairs and from view.

Betty followed her ascend, then got up when she couldn't see the woman, choosing instead to go to the fireplace where a series of family pictures were on display. She allowed her gaze to scan through them, hearing what sounded like a door being pushed open upstairs.

"Kimmie," Dr Possible's voice was barely audible. "Can I bring you anything to drink?"

She didn't hear the reply as her eye caught sight of a big leather bound journal. Picking up the A3 book, she flipped through a few of the pages. It was pretty clear what it was after she perused several entries of newspaper clippings and web articles, most headlines claiming some kind of heroic feat from the world's favourite teenage hero.

"My husband's work," Dr Possible spoke quietly behind her. "He's very proud of Kim. Of everything that she does. Can I make you some tea, Dr Director?" Betty glanced around to meet Ann's gaze before she shifted hers back to the book. There were several entries of cheerleading competitions the ginger and her team had won as well.

"I'd prefer some coffee, if you are making," she pointed out. "Where is your husband, Dr Possible?" She closed the book and put it down just in time to see Ann turn her back on her and move to the kitchen. After some deliberation, she followed her.

"He works late these days," Ann spoke quietly, a hint that she should do the same. "He has a very important project that he is working on it seems. He'll… be by. When he remembers where his home is." The last was not said with ire, but with a deep affection that made Elizabeth Director understand instantaneously that the female Dr Possible was the anchor around which the house turned in the storm that was their lives. She wondered what effect the woman's kidnapping had had on that stability that she provided to the rest of her family.

She nodded, thinking about the other Dr Possible's work. Project Hephaestus was going to be one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs of the decade, if he could get it right. Her team had high hopes for the technology and its applications. They had considered pulling the good doctor in to work on it in one of their labs but, after some deliberation, they had decided that he would be better off working in his own lab, happily oblivious to the potential military uses of his pet project. The man had enough imagination to believe that his could make the world a better place instead of conquer it.

Hearing the kettle boil, Betty looked up to see Ann making her a cup of instant coffee. The woman wasn't trying to impress her at all. She didn't dare show her slight amusement at this, but accepted the cup graciously and slipped into the breakfast nook the kitchen had. Ann, making what looked like some camomile tea, hesitated for a moment, then joined her. She didn't look at Betty as she sat down, but wrapped her hands around her still drawing tea and stared at the faint steam rising from the surface of the cup. This close, Dr Director could see the faint age lines nature had painted on her features and found herself wondering how many of them were new.

"How are you doing, Dr Possible?" she found herself asking. "Have you… recovered from your ordeal?"

Ann's eyes didn't meet hers as she took a sip of her drink. "You're here to talk about my daughter," she stated calmly. "What did you want to say?"

Ah, Betty thought. You haven't. She allowed the woman her silence.

"It is more like a few questions that I want to ask," Dr Director pointed out carefully. "I am concerned about her. I know… the past few months have been very stressful. For all of you."

The good doctor said nothing, but finally looked up and met her eyes. It was surprisingly hard to read them, something Betty wasn't used to. Surgeon's eyes, she thought. Those eyes used to talking to people through a mask. Eyes that don't let you know how high the stakes on your life really is.

"And now she got injured on this mission…" Betty trailed off. "I just… I'm concerned, Ann." She got the idea that the woman didn't particularly like her calling her by her first name. Which was strange because on the odd occasion that they did meet before this, there hadn't been this tension. Still, the surgeon did nothing but look at her in expectation, still waiting for her to get to the point. Having not expected the Possible to make it easy for her, Betty sighed softly and shrugged.

"I wanted to know if you have seen anything in Kim's behaviour that troubles you," she pointed out. "As I understand, she has had two unsuccessful missions these past few days. And, we have reason to believe that Shego came to see her in the hospital…" Her sentence came to an abrupt end when the blue eyes of Ann's eyes flashed to hers.

"What are you implying, Dr Director?"

Knowing that she had to be careful, Betty carried on calmly. "You have to look at it from our perspective," she said. "These are the facts, all coinciding with her first mission against Drakken since she ran off with Shego. They too had gone to the Bermuda triangle, to make some kind of deal. Our sources day that they had seen the same man that Drakken had gone to see when all this went down." When Ann looked as if she wanted to jump up, her lips white with fury. Betty reached out and grabbed her wrist.

"My daughter…" Ann began, surprisingly keeping the frame of mind not to shout her down. "My daughter is not…"

"A traitor?" Betty's features softened. "I know that Ann, but you also have to understand that I stand before a system. A bigger purpose that are served by a lot of people like me. People who have been watching your daughter as I have. And they are asking these questions. I am here to protect Kim. I am here to…"

Ann pulled out of her grip and stood up.

"If you were here to protect my daughter, you wouldn't be asking these questions of me," she hissed. "If you were here to protect my daughter, you wouldn't be here but rather out there…" she raised a shaky hand to the world beyond the kitchen, "protecting her from all the villains that have become too powerful for her to stop. She shouldn't be out there, Elizabeth. She should be dealing with normal things. She should be having a normal life." In her fury, Ann's voice had risen several octaves, drawing the attention of a new comer.

"Honey!" A voice echoed from the other side of the house. "What's going on? Are you in the kitchen?"

Ann looked at the door bewildered, her features still ashen white. Betty watched as she battled to gather herself, bit her lip hard in the act and took a deep breath.

"James," she called – her tone a little more level. "Keep your voice down love, Kim is sleeping."

The door opened, revealing a rather dishevelled looking man in a stained lab coat, hinting that he might have had some pizza on the way back home. Dr James Possible was normally a rather agreeable man but one look at his wife made his face go stoic.

"What is this?" He asked. "Dr Director?" There was no love lost in his eyes either. Betty suspected that he too remembered that they couldn't help him find his wife when she was taken. I should have fought harder to let us interfere, she thought suddenly with the bitter clarity of hindsight. We lost more there than we would have lost in human resources to find the good doctor.

"She was just leaving," Ann was saying, her voice a little hoarse as she fought for control. "She just came to find out how Kim is."

The man reached out his hand and, as if by magnetism, Ann moved towards him, allowing her body to be drawn to his. They stood there, facing her together – a visual representation of the barrier that was slowly forming between Global Justice and the Possibles.

Betty watched them, then stood up slowly. "Ann," she said quietly. "James. I have… just come to say that I will make sure your daughter gets the rest that she deserves. We will… handle the world. I will talk to Wade about it."

Ann didn't reply, but James' hand tightened around her. "That would be appreciated, Dr Director," he spoke crisply. "I think it is time that Kim focuses on the rest of her year – it is almost drawing to a close. There are a lot of things that need to happen between now and her Senior year. I would rather that she is not distracted anymore."

Knowing that she had no other choice than to leave, Betty inclined her head at them and headed for the back door. They didn't stop her, but stepped aside and watched her go. As she passed them she took a moment to stop and glance back at them.

"If there is anything that you are concerned about," she said quietly. "Please do not hesitate to contact me. My number will be on your phones." She looked at Ann in particular. "Anything out of the ordinary. Anybody that you are worried about. Please. Let me know."

Ann's eyes were cold when they met hers. "I'm sure you'll know anyway," she said. "Good night, Elizabeth."

Realising that her time with the two was well and truly over, Elizabeth nodded and left the house, the kitchen door closing behind her without much ceremony. As she walked away, she glanced back once – catching the silhouette of the two people in the kitchen through the curtains. The two shadows had become one as James Possible pulled his wife into a hug. She allowed the image to linger in her mind, then turned to the shadows – signalling to her people that she was ready to go.