Ok, so I was in the Criminal Minds/Kickin' It crossover archive a few days ago, and as I was scrolling down the page, I was like "Hey! Needing Them isn't here!" so I came back and realized that I didn't save the changes that I made when I made this a crossover fic with Criminal Minds. Hopefully it's in the right archive now. :)

And lookie lookie! I Win has made an appearance after almost a month of suspended animation. You can't be better than ever if you were never good in the first place. ^^ On a lighter note, how's Kevin? I miss that kid.

Onto a different subject; how many people saw the new Kickin' It episode? It was so funny, I almost died laughing.

Disclaimer: Still not any different from last time.

Kim's POV

I groan in frustration as I get up from Jerry's side on the bench and start pacing again for what must be the millionth time. "What's taking so long?!"

"Kim, we'll be extremely lucky if the trial is even finished by the end of the day. A trial can last anywhere from three days a couple of weeks, maybe even a month," Milton says.

I groan at the news. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Unfortunately, no."

I sigh. Milton, Jerry, and Eddie had all come to be present for Greg's trial, only to find out that we weren't allowed inside. Why? I have no idea.

"It's all good, though," Jerry says. "We can just chill out here."

"Well, we've been 'chilling out here' for an hour and a half!" I snap at him. When I see his hurt expression, I apologize.

"Let's just try to look on the bright side of things, you guys," Eddie says, trying to be optimistic.

"What bright side?" I ask.

"… I don't have a solution for everything," he huffs. "Just be glad I contributed." I laugh a little even though he was completely serious.

"Kim, you're gonna drive yourself insane if you keep pacing like that, and probably even the rest of us as well," Milton states, shaking his head.

I sigh, thinking back to when Jack arrived here with Kiara and his mom a while ago. He looked really freaked out, which meant that he had figured out what he was here for. I'll (guiltily) admit that I'm the one that suggested not telling him that he was being brought here, because he probably would have refused to come if we did otherwise.

"Kim?" he said upon seeing me, looking betrayed. "You knew about this?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry," I said to him. "It's the only way you would have come here."

"You don't know that," he replied. I stared at him for a few seconds, and he sighed. "OK, maybe you did. But I don't wanna see him again, Kim. I… I'm scared."

I'm not sure if I'd ever heard him admit that before. Maybe I had, but what did it matter? The fact that he even thought about saying it was enough. I pulled him into a hug right then, letting him rest his chin on top of my head as he sought comfort from me. We stood there like that for a few minutes before Mrs. Andserson came over and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"It's time, Jack," she said softly.

He slowly separated himself from me, his eyes closed and his expression unreadable. He takes a slow, deep breath. When he opened his eyes, I saw the familiar glint of determination within them, and I smiled faintly. He started walking off with his Mom.

"I'll be waiting," I say quietly as he disappears into the court room.

That was ages ago… ok, fine, an hour and forty-five minutes ago, but still. God, I wish they were finished already.

I go back to the bench and sit down again, resting my head on Milton's shoulder, as my mind wanders. What might Greg be saying in there? What evidence could he possibly bring forward that would prove his innocence? It's not like he can say that Jack is lying…

… can he?

I frown, wanting to ask Milton but at the same time not wanting to. I sit there debating the pros and cons of asking him, before realizing that there are no cons.

"Milton?" I call, suddenly aware that he had lightly rested his head on top mine at some point. I smile at the gesture; besides Jack, Milton's the one that I'm the closest to out of the other Wasabi Warriors. He's pretty much the brother I never had, always there to offer me advice and worry over me like my mother does. And then there's the fact that he and Kiara are two of the smartest people I know, so any question involving factual information will, 99.9% of the time, be answered by one of them.

I frown again when he doesn't answer me, and move my head slightly so that I'm looking up at him; he's asleep. I blink, get out my phone, which was in my jacket pocket. I've been sitting here just thinking about whatever for about thirty minutes.

Ok, then.

I sigh and decide to follow his example, bringing my legs up next to me on the bench and closing my eyes.

Jack's POV

The ride home was completely silent. Again. There was no radio, no mindless chatter, no nothing. The court trial was absolute torture. He was found guilty, so I'm glad for that, but when he was talking… Greg described precisely what he wanted to do to me. In exact detail.

As if just seeing him wasn't bad enough.

And the worst thing? He was looking directly at me as he spoke, with this horrible smirk on his face, like he knew something that I didn't. I'm surprised I didn't bolt out of there.

I think I unconsciously put on some kind of mask to hide my emotions as I walked out of that courtroom. Kim and Milton were asleep, and Eddie and Jerry were both watching something on Jerry's iPhone. The two of them stood up as we walked out.

"He was found guilty," Kiara said softly.

"That's great!" Milton, awakened when Jerry stood up, said. Kim, on the other hand, was still sleeping soundly. She deserves it, too. She really had been trying to make it up to me, and the stress of the week has been enough to keep anyone awake. at night.

I feel myself untense a bit as I watch her sleep. I walk over to the empty space next to her on the bench. Milton gently lifts her off of him and leans her against my side. As if trying to help, she snuggles into me and buries her face halfway into my arm. I smile tiredly, resting my head on top of hers.

"Aww," Kiara coos, "how adorable."

I playfully glare at her, and she laughs. Unfortunately, the sound wakes Kim up.

"Wuzgoinon?" she asks sleepily.

"Court trial is over," I reply. I feel my slightly improved mood darken again as I remember the past few hours. "Greg was guilty."

"That's great," she replies, but she doesn't smile."So why are you all depressed?"

Even when she's half asleep, she can still read me like an open book.

"Nothing!" I say a little too quickly. I stand up, taking care to make sure she doesn't fall from the abruptness of it. "Come on. Let's go home."

I start walking down the hallway towards the exit.

Kim's POV

"…and Catherine told him off. We had a good laugh about it later," Mom says, chuckling. Eddie's mother makes a dismissive sound.

"Please. He had it coming," she says offhandedly, but still giggling.

The other mothers in the room laugh. I roll my eyes and sigh. Mrs. Martinez, Mrs. Krupnick, Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Brewer, and my mom had all gathered in the Brewer living room and were all gossiping about whatever came to mind. Apparently, since the court trial had come and gone, everything was all fine and dandy now. The others, with the exception of Jack, are all at the dojo. I had decided to stay with Jack…

…wait a second.

Stay with Jack.

Why the heck haven't I gone upstairs? I could have been hanging out with him in his room this whole time. I really hate dumb blond jokes, but I think that was worthy of a jab at my hair color.

"Mom, I'm going upstairs," I say, standing up off the couch.

"Ok," she says in an 'I'm-not-really-paying-attention-so-do-whatever-yo u-want' tone as she laughs at something that Jerry's mom said.

I smile, before jogging over to the stairway and going up the stairs. I find his door opened just the smallest bit, and I push it open.

He's on his bed, with one leg drawn up to him as he writes in a book that I recognize as his journal. His back is resting against the wall next to the bed.

"Hey, Jack," I greet him, stepping into the room.

He looks up. I see a flash of a pained expression before it disappears, and he smiles. "Hey, Kim. What took you so long to get up here?"

Ok, now it's official; something's up. I can hear it in his voice.

I go over and sit down in front of him, pretending that I don't suspect anything. "It took me a while to realize that I didn't have to stay down there."

We both laugh, before I get serious. "Ok. What's going on?"

His fake confusion would have convinced anyone but me. "What do you mean?" The way that he draws his journal close to him and closes it does not escape my notice. I scoot over so that I'm next to him, resting my back on the wall behind us.

"Jack. Come on. I'm your best friend. We've been through a ton of crap. Are you really gonna hold back on me now?"

He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, looking away from me. "…he said… the worst things…"

I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that "he" is Greg.

"It doesn't matter what he said, Jack," I say. "He's going to jail now. He can't get you anymore."

"You don't know that," he whispers, his voice wavering. I sigh in frustration and cup his face in my hands, turning it towards me. I ignore his slightly puffy red eyes and the tears streaking down his face.

"Yes, I do know that. He's in jail. Forever. He can't get you."

"But—"

I lean forward and press my lips against his, letting my eyes slide closed. He seems shy at first, tentative as he brings up a hand and cups my jaw. One of my hands move down and hook on his neck, pulling him a little closer. The other one moves down to cover his free hand, which is resting on my leg.

"Kim…" he murmurs when we break apart slighty for air, our foreheads touching.

"Shh, it's ok…" I whisper back, staring into his half-lidded chocolate brown eyes. I push my lips back against his, tracing my tounge against his bottom lip lightly. What ever confidence he seemed to lack about thirty seconds ago suddenly appears. He pushes against me a little harder and tilts his head, letting me deepen the kiss.

I rest my head on his chest when we break apart again, both of us panting slightly. He stretches out his legs and pulls me into his lap, hugging me close to him. I'll be perfectly content to just stay in his arms like this forever.

Sadly, fate doesn't wish for that to happen.

"Hey, Kim, we're going home," I hear Mom's voice say. Judging by how close her voice sounds, she had poked her head into the room.

I make a whining sound and hide my face in Jack's chest, as if he was going to protect me from my mother. I can feel his chuckle more than I can hear it.

"Kim, go with your mom," he says. "You can see me at school tomorrow."

I groan. I had completely forgotten about school. Why should we have to go to school? Why the heck is the world continuing on like normal when Jack ISN'T?

…

Ok, I'll admit, what happened to Jack isn't exactly breaking news because it happens a lot, but still!

I realize that I'm sulking when I hear Mom laugh and say something about letting me stay over. I feel my mood brighten immediately. "Yay!"

She chuckles again and retreats from the room, muttering something about how adorable we are.

I huff. "I am not adorable."

"You are when you're indignant."

Ok, bad ending to a long overdue chapter. I don't think Jack would ever say the word 'indignant.' Sowwie! ^^ I still love you guys! But I have a life too, even if certain people (I Win) might say otherwise.

Hopefully I can update next week.

Until next time,

~BP