When Heroes Fall
Book Two
Kim Possible has faced many life changes. Friends have come and friends have gone, new and old enemies will surface.
But Kim has yet to face the toughest challenges in her life and the only thing that stays with her thought out it all, is her Lotus Bloom necklace and the love of her friends and family.
Chapter 11
Many Happy Returns
Today was Kim's thirty-fifth birthday…and just like any other day, she was working late. She was not really in any hurry to go home. She didn't have any plans to celebrate, and hated to go home to her empty apartment.
With Kim's parents retired in Florida, Monique in New York to showcase her new fall designs, and Yori back at Yamanouchi, she wasn't expecting any birthday surprises. Besides…being the director of Global Justice made it really hard to surprise her, anyway.
Just like any other night, Kim left work and stopped at Bueno Nacho for a quick take-out dinner on her way home. She followed this routine so deeply; her mind was on 'auto-pilot' from the moment she left her office until she reached the restaurant's second 'drive-thru' window to pick up her food.
As she finished her nightly journey home, Kim reflected on life. Somehow, this was not what she envisioned she would be doing on her 35th birthday.
"Careful what you wish for…"Nana used to say, "…you might just get it and find out having it isn't anything like you thought it would be."
'I knew I would be running Global Justice someday,' Kim thought, 'but I really thought I would have Ron at my side, and with Will and Sheri watching my back…then come home to some 'Ron-shine' and spend time with our…children.'
The very thought of children brought Kim close to tears. It was, by far, the most regrettable sacrifice she made to satisfy her over-active ambition. With her brain once again seemingly on 'auto-pilot', Kim parked her car in its designated space. She started to weep as she sat in her car, thinking about all the changes in her life and the events that occurred which forged her into the woman she became…
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
At 30, Kim became the youngest person to ever hold the position of director of Global Justice. It was an accomplishment that made her very proud.
Her mother's 'Interim Director' status lasted for over 9 years until she decided it was time to retire. During her time at the helm of GJ, Anne implemented sweeping changes at Global Justice. Its priorities shifted from mere 'crime fighting' to anti-terrorism missions and peace-keeping efforts.
Global Justice still assisted in crime prevention and investigations. The very mention of its name still emptied the roughest bars and villain lairs anywhere in the world.
With the capture of Gemini in the Philippines during the rescue of Dr. Quest, the WEE organization fell apart. Most of their operatives were ether in prison or in hiding.
After finally receiving his pardon, Dr. Drakken changed his name back to Dr. Drew Lipsky. He began working with Wade Load as a full-time research assistant at G.J.'s Middleton branch.
Wade and Drew made a great team, coming up with all kinds of inventions for Global Justice that saved the lives of their field agents on countless missions.
Professor Dementor quit villainy and became a professor of physics at the University of Stockholm. There, he finally achieved respect in the academic community.
Kim's brothers graduated college and moved to opposite sides of the country. Jim got married and moved to Florida. A father of two, Jim helped with development of NASA's first manned mission to Mars.
Tim moved to California and became an instructor at Cal-Tech. Despite encouragement from Kim and Jim to 'look for Miss Right', Tim adamantly chose to live alone. He figured that if Kim and Ron, of all people, couldn't make their marriage work, there was no way he would ever get married!! He resolved to never go through all the pain and suffering Ron endured after 'tying the noose', as Tim referred to marriage.
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Brushing back the last of the tears, Kim retrieved her mail from the mailbox. She scanned through it quickly, hoping to see a birthday card from Monique, Mom, Dad, or even the Tweebs! She laughed at herself for referring to Jim and Tim by that moniker after all these years.
Sadly, Kim had only received a few catalogs and some other junk mail.
She really didn't expect a card from any of them ever since she and Ron got divorced. Jim was just too busy with his own life to take the time to call her, beep her, or even try to reach her. Tim refused to even talk to Kim anymore, placing the whole debacle squarely on her shoulders. The more she thought about it, the more she thought Tim was probably right.
"Oh great, Possible." she said to herself. "Now you've just made yourself even more depressed. Happy birthday, you dummy!!"
She then realized she had been talking to herself a lot lately.
As Kim reached the door to her apartment, she fumbled in her purse for her keys, all the while trying to juggle her mail and the food. Just as she was about to unlock the door, she noticed it was already open…and she could hear noises coming from inside.
The hair on the back of Kim's neck stood on its end. She knew that nobody had a key to her apartment, and all of her friends were out of town.
Setting her packages down in the hallway, she drew her gun, eased the door open, and silently slipped inside.
From the hallway that divided her kitchen from her living room, she could see that her T.V was on…and someone was sitting on her couch.
She didn't recognize this intruder at first. All she could make out was the top of a head, its jet black hair streaked with bands of shocking white.
As Kim tried to control her breathing from her hiding place, she racked her brain, thinking of anyone she knew with that hair color and the unmitigated gall to break into her apartment and act so casual about it.
The only one Kim could think of was…No! She did not dare to believe it could be her
Gripping her gun tighter, Kim silently crept up and pointed the gun at the back of the intruder's head. She got the shock of her life when the person on the couch finally spoke.
"Well," the intruder said, "it's about time you got home Princess. It seems like I've been waiting in this dump forever"
With slow, calculated movements, Sheri rose to her feet. She turned to face her friend with that cocky smirk Kim had come to know so well all those years ago.
Kim's mind was in a fog, as if she was frozen in time. She just stood in place, numb to the bone. She was unable to move…unable to think straight…almost forgetting to even breathe!
It had been nearly fourteen years since Kim last saw Sheri. Long ago, she had given up any hope of ever seeing her friend again. Yet, here Sheri stood—in her living room, just a few feet from her.
"Well, Kimmy," Sheri cracked, "are you going to say something, or just stand there pointing that gun at me?" The look on Sheri's face turned from cockiness to genuine concern as Kim remained in place.
"Kim," Sheri inquired, "are you alright? Do I need to call a doctor?"
Sheri stepped up to Kim and gently took the gun from her trembling hands. She gently placed it down on the coffee table and turned back to Kim.
With her jade eyes locked on those of her old friend, Sheri spoke to Kim in a low, gentle voice.
"Happy birthday, Princess! Are you surprised to see me?"
Tears were clouding Kim's vision. Words had abandoned her. She nodded weakly as Sheri continued.
"I hope you haven't eaten yet." she said. "I thought that maybe I would take you out for a nice dinner."
Clutching at her chest, Kim gingerly reached out with her right hand. She wiped away a single tear that ran down Sheri's cheek.
"Sheri," Kim whispered between gasps of breath, "is…is…is…that r-really y-y-you?"
Sheri gave Kim a warm smile before she reached out and touched Kim's face.
That simple touch struck like a bolt of lighting, sending Kim to her knees. She wrapped her arms in a tight grip around Sheri's waist.
"Oh MyGod!!" Kim wailed. "I can't believe it's you! Oh, Sheri…It seems like I've been waiting aneternity for this moment!"
The two of them held each other tight while they wept. Kim cried long and hard…
…she cried for the joy of seeing Sheri again…
…she cried for all the years of lost time…
…she cried because long ago, she ceased to dream this day would ever come!
Most of all, Kim cried because of all of the pent up emotions she had been holding inside for so long—so many lonely nights…so much heartbreak…so many hard, sad, and hopeless times!
After Kim felt like she finally got all the crying out of her system, she untangled herself from Sheri. She found a box of tissues, and motioned for Sheri to join her on the couch.
Kim looked at her friend's tear-stained face and couldn't stop herself from releasing a chuckle and a small smile.
Sheri took notice, and asked, "What's so funny?"
"You should see yourself in the mirror." Kim answered. "You look like Hell!"
"Well, Princess," Sheri snipped back, "you have the Alice Cooper look 'down pat' yourself—and you still haven't answered my question!"
Kim couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. She laughed so hard, her sides began to hurt. Every time Kim tried to stop, the look on Sheri's face sent her back into another fit.
After Kim finally calmed down, she smiled and said, "I already stopped on the way home and bought my dinner; but if you want, I'll share it with you."
"Yeah, right!" Sheri quipped. "I don't eat that fast food junk, unless I'm starving and there's no other choice.
"Come on, Kim. I have 8:30 reservations at my favorite restaurant in the whole world, and it's going to take about an hour and a half to get there. Go change into something nice, fix your face, and let's get going."
"All right," Kim relented, "I'll go change; but I don't have a lot of dresses anymore. I mean, I mostly just wear my Global Justice uniform."
About forty minutes later, Kim was finally ready to go. She tried on five different dresses until Sheri found one that didn't make Kim look too young or like a librarian. With her watch reading 7:05, Sheri rushed Kim to her car as fast as she could.
"So, Sheri…where are we going?" Kim inquired
"Oh," Sheri chuckled as she floored the accelerator, "to this great little spot I found a few years back—in Colorado Springs, of all places."
"What?" Kim yelped in surprise. "That's almost ninety miles away!"
Sheri rolled her eyes and dryly said, "Duh!! I told you it would take about an hour and a half to get there, didn't I?"
Authors Note: Please review. I need the input!
Just a note, that I have about 100 people following this story fairly closely but only 2 out of that 100 send in their reviews on a regular bases. That's 2 percent returns on all the work that CaptainKodak1, Samurai Crunchbird and myself have put in on each chapter.
Like I have stated before I am still learning this craft and I need to know what I am doing right and what I am doing wrong. The only way I will know is if you the readers tell me. So don't be bashful, I always accept any constructive criticisms and I love it when you heap praise on me!
I also wanted to remind you to please visit Samurai Crunchbird site and check out his stories and I really don't think that CaptainKodak1 needs any introduction on this site his stories are what made Fan Fiction what it is today!
Your friend in all things Possible
Snapbang
