Author's note:

Hey, everyone, I hope you're all ready for another instalment of And You And I cos I've got a whopper of an instalment for you all. While it is only three chapters long, the word count exceeds 32K! So, grab a snack, get comfy and let's get started.

First things first and I'm starting to sound like a broken record with this one, thank you all for sticking with this story and for all the reviews you guys leave me on each update. I really appreciate all the support.

Ok, before we get into this update, I need to make a quick point in regards to the last update and the character of Quinn. From reading some of your comments, it is clear that some of you think that she is supposed to be Harley Quinn and after I re-read the two scenes with her and checked out the outfits the character wears in the new Birds of Prey film (I've not seen it), I can see why. While I am a massive Harley fan (especially modern Harley after her split from Joker), that was not never my intention. I actually came up with the name Quinn Phy-Knight as a play on infinite and for a parody of Kim that I was playing on a message board RPG back in march (to scratch the itch I felt to write actual Kim). Unfortunately, no one wanted to play with my little firework of sass and so just ignored my posts. Anyway, when I realised I needed an OC freelancer, it just felt right to use Quinn. Alas, I decided to dress her in an outfit I pinched from another character of mine called Bonnie and her hair colour from another called Anna (both of them from my Threads of Life series). Hence, combining the name, outfit, her crazy personality and her calling Betty 'Betts' (an unintentional play on Bats) and I can see why some of you think she is supposed to be Harley, rather than an OC. Ultimately, if some of you still want to think of her as being Harley for now, then that is entirely up to you. However, please don't be surprised if she does some un-Harley like things when she next shows up, as she is definitely an OC.

Right, moving on and this chapter title: ...and daddy loves you too, is taken from the exact same song as the previous chapter title: Mother loves her baby..., and is, in fact, the second half of the same line. Lol, I do like it when I find a song title or lyric that I can split over two back to back chapters. And I don't think I need to tell anyone that it is referring to the fact that this chapter is going to be about Kim and her dad. So, without further delay, enjoy.

P.S. I forgot to mention this last time, but this story has now surpassed the 300K word mark and is only 5K away from the 350K mark!

##

Chapter Eighteen: ...and Daddy loves you too

It had not been a fun morning for Kim Possible. After Shego had left yesterday afternoon, she had spent the rest of the day on the sofa; watching TV and eating junk and take-out food, all the while under the influence of codeine. She'd finally answered one of Wade's calls, acted shocked at the news that Shego had escaped and said she'd only go after her when she next popped up. Or at least she thought that's what she'd said; the memory of last night being a little bit hazy. Regardless, she'd planned on going out on a mission that morning and been less than enthralled when she'd woken up at her normal time of six am to find her back still more than a little sore. Unfortunately, things had only gone downhill from there. After dressing in her training gear, she'd reached for the pill bottle to discover she only had a single tablet left. Cursing her bad luck, she'd taken it and headed out for a light jog rather than her normal run. However, after only fifteen minutes, she'd felt the discomfort and against her normally stubborn nature, heeded the warning signs and walked home; the memory of what had happened to her the last time she'd been injured still fresh in her mind. While her mom was not on hand to incarcerate her within the Possible residence this time, she had no wish to aggravate the injury and side-line herself for another extended period. Back home she'd taken a long soak in the tub to try and ease some of the stiffness and put her pyjamas back on after she'd gotten dried.

Gingerly, Kim sat down on the sofa and picked up the TV remote. I never realised how quiet it gets when I'm here by myself. Heh, if I've ever been home long enough to notice. Nevertheless, without the background noise caused by Ru-Ru; be that his munching on something, the TV blaring, his unintelligible cursing when something irked him or his ridiculously loud snoring, her apartment was eerily quiet; sterile even. Like how it felt when you walked into a house devoid of furnishings. I never thought I'd say this, given how infuriating the little shit could be, but I think I might miss him a little. Or at least miss having someone/something around. Unfortunately, getting a normal pet is out of the question, given how often I'm away. And I can't just walk into a pet store and buy one that is smart enough to look after itself when I'm not here. She sighed, I guess I'm stuck by myself. Heh, if mom found out I'd thought about getting a pet, I'd probably get home to find she'd foisted the Tweebs onto me… indefinitely. She shuddered at the idea of having her brothers stay with her; even just for a single night. Never going to happen!

A somewhat sour expression began to form on Kim's face and she slouched ever further down on the sofa as episodes of Pals began to blur into one another; she wasn't paying much attention. A lock of hair drooped down in front of her face and she irritably tried to blow it away. Urgh! This completely sucks! Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall, and it's only the back-of-ten! She felt the urge to simply screw her back and go out on a mission anyway. I've got an extremely high threshold of pain and have suffered through worse than this… her gaze returned to the TV as another episode started. She'd seen it before and it royally sucked, Shego's right, this show is way too mopey. Picking up the remote, she changed the channel and found herself face to face with an episode of Captain Constellation… fuck this! I'm going out on a mission. Kim got to her feet too quickly and almost doubled over as her lower back spasmed and pain shot through it. "Fuck!" she cursed and staggered forwards a few steps before she managed to straighten up. Taking slow, deliberate breaths, she stood still for a moment or two as she allowed the pain to ebb. Ok… not going to lie, that hurt like hell. I guess it would be downright idiotic of me to even attempt to go out on even a light mission. However, I'm bored stiff and it's still only just after ten! What am I supposed to do for the rest of the day? She didn't even want to think about the possibility that she'd still be too sore to go back to work tomorrow.

Kim was about to sit back down on the sofa when the answer to her question arrived via a polite knock on her front door. Taking care not to twist her lower back, she crossed the main living area to answer it. Heh, at least it's not possible for it to be as shocking as when Ron visited me last week, even if it's Shego! She let out a light laugh at that thought, but it quickly died when a memory of the Cellblock C Sirens nightmare floated through her mind. She'd had it again last night and it had woken her at three am; the laughter of the jeering inmates ringing in her ears and the image of a triumphant Captain Books, who held her by a fistful of her own hair and towered over her, burned into her retinas. Her sleep had been restless for the remainder of the night. In hindsight, she should probably count herself fortunate that Kimmie had not appeared inside her head that morning to chastise her further for breaking Shego out. I'll deal with all that later, she decided as she unlocked her door and opened it.

"Dad!" Kim exclaimed, her tone a mix of confusion, happiness and guilt. Her father having been an unfortunate victim of hurricane Kimberly, as it had stormed around the Possible residence for two weeks solid.

"Morning, Kimmie-Cub," her dad replied in a cheerful; upbeat manner and showing no signs of residual storm damage. "Mind if I come in?"

Kim looked at him suspiciously, why isn't he at work? She then promptly poked her head out into the hallway and glanced all around as she asked in a tone that matched her expression, "is Mom with you?"

"No, your mother has brain surgery scheduled in less than three hours … mind you not that she ever has any other kind of surgery planned… except for that time she somehow wound up doing tree surgery… not a fun day for her."

She ignored her father as he rambled on and cast her gaze around once more; lingering on the elevator and the stairwell, before saying, "come on in, Dad."

Her father crossed the threshold and she promptly closed the door behind him; locking it just to be on the safe side. "Please, make yourself at home," she said and indicated for him to sit down. The man took up residence in the armchair, while she returned to her perch on the sofa.

"So, how's my favourite daughter doing? I heard you were quite busy the other week."

"I'm fine, Dad, great even," Kim replied with a little too much zeal and a forced smile, aside from the fact I've hurt my back, recently discovered I'm a lesbian, have had a nightmare the past two nights about being sent to prison, oh and there's the small matter of me having just broken my nemesis out of said prison.

Her father looked her up and down. "Well, you do seem a lot calmer… you are calmer, right? This isn't just some façade you've put on to lure me in here so you can scramble my brain and…

"Dad!" she exclaimed, cutting him off mid-hairbrained-notion. "Have you been watching Supervillain Spotlight on HeroTV again? The last time you did that you started seeing supervillains at Smarty Mart," granted there have actually been supervillains in Smarty Mart.

Her father looked slightly shifty as he replied, "of course not, your mother banned me from watching that show, remember? And you know I never want to get on the wrong side of your mother."

She gave him a piercing sideways look and folded her arms. "Really? So, you haven't stayed up after the Tweebs have gone to bed and mom's still at work to watch it?"

The man's eyebrows began to twitch and she could see a sweat drop form on his forehead under the intensity of her stare. "Ok, ok, I've been watching it when your mother's surgeries have been running late into the night. But can you blame me? They recently did entire episodes on Professor Dementor, Dr Drakken and Shego…" he stopped abruptly after saying the supervillainess' name. "…um…"

Kim laughed, "it's ok, Dad, I've worked through my anger issues in regards to Shego. In fact, I've worked through most of my anger issues." To emphasise her point, she gave him another smile; this one less forced.

A look of relief, like he had just been spared being thrown to the lions, spread across her father's face. However, he then caught her off guard by asking, "so, does that mean you've forgiven your mother?"

In an instant, her smile transformed into a scowl. Well, if that isn't opportunistic, I don't know what is. "No, I'm still angry at mom for what she did." She saw the hopeful expression on her father's face fall, however, still continued, "she crossed a line, Dad, and…" she paused when her brain reminded her that she had done the exact same thing, albeit only for one night, with Shego. Damn, even though it's hypocritical of me, I just can't bring myself to forgive her. Is it as much to do with the fact she's been going behind my back and talking to Wade, Monique and even Ron? She didn't know the answer to that question. In fact, with everything else that she'd had going on recently, she'd not spent much time thinking on the subject, bar when she'd been desperate to talk to someone and considered ignoring her feelings and giving the woman a call. "…I can't forgive her so easily… I just can't," she said with a hint of regret.

Her father looked dismayed and she got the impression that part of the reason he'd come over had been to convince her to get over the anger she felt towards her mother. Why is it everyone seems to have an ulterior motive when they talk to me? And why do I always smell mom's hand in it somewhere? She felt a flash of anger at that thought and towards her father for what he had just attempted. However, she forced herself to swallow it. Dad suffered the wrath of hurricane Kimberly when he didn't deserve it. So, it would be most unfair for me to blow up at him over this. Call it time served or whatever.

"Your mother loves and misses you, Kimmie," her father then said sincerely. "She just wants to know that you're ok."

"Well, you can tell her I'm fine," Kim replied, forcing herself to keep her tone level.

Unfortunately, her father did not take the hint and instead pressed on, "I think she'd much rather hear it from you personally."

Her scowl darkened as she said in a biting tone, "tough. I'm not phoning her. She can get the latest news about me second hand, like she's been doing for the past couple of months." Kim felt her anger slowly rise to the surface again and it was a struggle for her to keep a lid on things.

Her father looked slightly wary now, like he had just poked a sleeping dragon. However, his courage and resolve remained strong enough for him to say, "your mother cares about you deeply, Kim. And she'll always be there for you if you change your mind."

Electing to take her father's last comment on the chin and consider the subject about her mother closed, Kim decided to move the conversation on with a relevant question, "why aren't you at work, Dad?"

The man let out a forced laugh as he said, "funny story that. Some of the boys at the lab have been working on a new type of rocket fuel, however, it's extremely volatile at the moment. Unfortunately, yesterday, someone accidentally ignited it, blowing part of the roof off the building. So, the whole place is closed for a day or two while they clean up and assess the damage."

For the second time, Kim looked pointedly at him. "Did you lean on another leaver again?" she asked. I wouldn't put it past him. He's got prior when it comes to doing that, having launched a rocket a week early and de-pantsed Ron.

Her father suddenly became all shifty again and uttered quickly, "they always put those things in the most illogical places."

"You leaned on a lever and blew the roof off the lab," Kim said matter-of-factly. "the classic Possible phenomenon strikes again." Well, that explains why he's not at work. But why come over to see me? Surely it wasn't just to plead mom's case. She sighed internally, urgh, listen to me. I sound completely paranoid! Do I honestly believe that no one wants to simply spend time with me without either wanting something or to try and meddle with my life? The answer to that question was an emphatic yes. Not since before she had accidentally run into Shego in Spritzers had anyone spent time with her without there being some form of ulterior motive. And she could not bring herself to simply give her father the benefit of the doubt. "So, why did you decided to come over and see me? And how did you even know I would be in?" While she asked the second question, she already knew the answer. Either he hadn't known she would be home or he had been in touch with Wade.

"It's been a while since I spent any quality time with my daughter," her father replied, his voice once more upbeat. "I thought we could maybe have a round of mini-golf, then go for lunch, like we used to. What do you say?"

"I don't know, Dad…" Kim started to say slowly, as she felt a slight twinge in her lower back; a reminder that she'd not managed to kill the pain. However, the moment she saw his face begin to fall, she quickly said, "…you know what, why not. It'll be fun," and smiled at him. I can do this. It's not like he's asking me to scale a cliff-face or try and outrun an oncoming train. It's only some walking and lightly swinging a putter. Besides, I'm bored stiff sitting here by myself. Some quality time with dad might be fun. "I'll go and get changed and then we can go. Feel free to make yourself a coffee."

The moment the words of agreement left her mouth, her father's expression immediately brightened and his eyes sparkled, like she'd just given him a pot of gold. "It'll be just like old times; promise," he said.

"Just like old times," Kim said with a nod and headed off towards her bedroom. Yeah, just like old times; you and me, but no mom… When growing up, she had always done so much more with her dad than her mom. The Little Rockets Space Camps, the Middleton science museum, trips to the ice cream parlour and, of course, playing mini-golf, which he'd used to teach her about geometry and Newtons laws of motion. Mom was always working such erratic shifts that she was rarely with us, let alone us spending time just me and her. I guess that's why on that mother's day we were both desperate for something to come up so that we didn't have to spend the day together; we had absolutely no idea what to do.

Kim cast the thought from her mind as she stripped off her pyjamas and found a pair of comfortable, baggy black jeans, a pink t-shirt and a thin pale blue zip-up hoodie in the wardrobe. She dressed quickly, paying her lower back no heed when it started to twinge. After lacing up her sneakers, she went to the bathroom and rooted around in the cabinet for packets of Tylenol and Advil. She swallowed two of each with some water, then slipped the two blister strips into the leg pocket of her jeans; just in case. Exiting her bedroom, she elected to bypass her workroom and leave her Kimmunicator on the desk. Even if there was some sort of global crisis, she was in no fit state to deal with it. If anything happens, GJ will just have to deal with it. Besides, I'm not at the world's beck and call.

"Ready to go?" she asked when she returned to the main living area.

Her father smiled at her and stood up from the sofa. "Ready to get your little tush kicked by your old man?"

She laughed, "in your dreams, Dad. By the time we reach the windmill, you'll be hitting the six-stroke limit on every hole."

"Care to make a wager on that, Kimmie?" her father asked with a daring grin.

"You're on, Dad," she replied quickly, unable to resist the bait of a challenge. "What do you have in mind?"

"Matchplay rules; whoever wins the most holes wins," her father replied.

"In other words, it won't matter when you hit six at the Eifel Tower, Sphinx and Colosseum," Kim chuckled. "Ok, bring it on. What're the stakes?"

"If you win, you get to pick where we have lunch and I pay for it."

"And if you win?"

The man's face tightened slightly as he said, "if I win, you call your mother and talk to her for at least five minutes."

Kim's scowl from earlier returned with a vengeance, however, she'd already agreed to the bet and so her pride would not let her back down. "Fine," she growled, realising her father may have just played her. "But when I win, you drop the mom subject, period."

Her father nodded lightly in agreement and seemed somewhat surprised that she'd not argued the point. "Shall we," he said and indicated towards the front door.

"Fine. You're going down, Dad," she replied, her mood having darkened somewhat. And she couldn't help but feel her paranoia had just been vindicated. Was this his plan all along? Did he know I would refuse to call mom and so deliberately got me to agree to a wager, knowing full well I wouldn't back out once he revealed the stakes? She tried to ignore the thought as she wandered towards the front door and opened it. Even if he had purposefully tricked her, it didn't matter. She was going to spend some quality time with her dad and it would be fun. Kim and her father left the apartment and headed for the elevator.

##

It was by the seventh hole; the clown that Ron had taken umbrage with for supposedly force-feeding him a chicken while he had been a mutated maniac, that Kim realised that she would not have things all her own way. As she would have expected, her father had kept pace with her across the first six holes, resulting in the match being all-square come the start of the seventh. Much to her surprise and horror, she'd then watched her father sink a hole-in-one at the clown and knew it had been no fluke. When she'd quizzed him on his newfound proficiency, it transpired that he'd finally caved to the badgering of his work colleagues and taken up actual golf; meaning his putting skills were now greatly improved. A pointed look had also revealed that he'd cooked up a computer simulation of himself and a set of assisted clubs to catch up on the years of practice his colleagues had over him. At least his latest research grant has been put to good use, she'd thought in annoyance as she failed miserably at replicating his feat and so lost the hole. From that point on, she'd been forced to use her geometry and physics lessons in order to keep up; the joys of playing a physicist.

"See, I told you this would be like old times," her father said with a chuckle, as he sent his ball into the pirate ship on hole fourteen. "Just you and me and the laws of physics and mathematics."

Kim placed her pink ball down in annoyance. "You tricked me into this," she growled, as she lined up her shot. "And all because mom wants me to pretend like nothing happened between us." Just managing to control her swing, she sent her ball along the exact same trajectory as her father's and listened to it ping around inside the ship.

"Kimmie," her father said warmly as he put an arm around her shoulder. "I came over because I found myself with the day off and wanted to spend some quality time with you." She was about to shrug him off when, much to her surprise, he then added, "if it'll make you happier, we can forget about the bet and just enjoy the rest of the game." Kim looked up at the man quizzically and watched him let out a sigh. "I was perhaps being a little opportunistic when I suggested that wager. I just hate seeing you and your mother at loggerheads like this." She could see clearly on his face the pain the issue was causing him.

Her father kept his arm around her shoulder as she led them around the other side of the ship to discover the fate of their balls. "It's not that I purposefully don't want to talk to mom, it's just every time I think about her, I start feeling angry again and I don't like it," she said, the edge to her tone conveying that the subject had indeed caused a bubble of anger to swell inside her. Seeing that her ball was furthest from the hole, she disentangled herself from her father and strode towards it "Ok, so I made a mistake by not getting my injuries seen to sooner and again when I chased after Shego," she continued, gripping her putter to the point her knuckles turned white. "But Mom crossed a line when she put that damn Alcatraz2000 bracelet on me. Not only had she clearly planned it in advance, but she ignored any trust there was between us by not even asking me to stay until I recovered, rather she simply assumed I'd say no and so forced me to stay!" The anger bubble burst and she hit her ball way too hard, sending it screaming past the hole and over the edge of the putting surface into the water.

Kim drew in a breath between gritted teeth, bastard and watched her dad pluck her ball out of the water. The man walked towards her and handed it to her. "I'm afraid that counts as a six, Kimmie-Cub," he said and then headed towards his blue ball.

She humphed on receiving her ball. While her father had said they could forget about the bet, that still didn't change the fact she hated losing. And with her father having four strokes to sink his ball; she doubted he'd need more than two, she was staring down the barrel of going two holes down with only four to play. Lose the next hole the best she'd be able to do was draw.

"While I'm not going to defend what your mother did," her father began as he crouched down to observe the line of his shot, "try and see it from her perspective."

A frown formed on Kim's face as she watched him rise to stand over his ball, however, she held back a retort… for now.

"Not only did you break the promise you made her; to get checked out by a doctor whenever you suffered any sort of nasty injury, but you then missed dinner without so much as a word and left both of us very worried for an entire week." Her father stopped momentarily and left her to digest his words; as he took a few practice swings.

While she felt infuriated at him for looking at the bigger picture, she could not refute any of his points or those that she knew were about to come.

"Then when you eventually did show up, you had suffered several serious injuries, but still didn't consider it a problem. And I don't even want to go into what happened when you went out the following night." The second he finished, her father struck his ball with enough force that it shot past the hole and off the edge of the putting surface and into the water. "Well, would you look at that," the man laughed, "guess that's sixes for both of us." He then smiled at her as he wandered over to fetch his own ball from the drink this time.

Purely from his reaction, Kim could tell that he'd done it on purpose. Is he taking pity on me, or does he think it was his fault that I got angry and sunk my own ball? Or was that an attempt to lighten the mood before he gets serious? She got her answer moments later when he drew up beside her and looked her straight in the eyes; blacks meeting olive-greens.

"Tell me honestly, had your mother not stopped you, that you wouldn't have gone chasing after Shego a day or so after she beat you in that parking lot; in other words, before you were fully healed, and I'll drop the subject and never bring it up again. You can continue to feel angry towards your mother and I won't interfere," her father said in a calm tone that was both caring and serious.

Kim quickly opened her mouth to tell him just that; to lie to him, to put the subject to bed once and for all, "I…" except the words quickly died on her tongue. She sucked in a mouthful of air and found that she could not gaze into those kind eyes and tell a blatant lie to her father. Her eyes found her trainers and she let out a low sigh. "I messed up, Dad," she said sombrely. "Shego made me so angry that the only thing I could think about was finding her and beating the crap out of her. And you're right… if mom hadn't of stopped me, I probably would have gone home the next morning, used my battle suit to mitigate the injury to my ribs and gone in search of her." Even though she had already known it to be true, it was still a difficult admission for her to make. "However, that still doesn't make what mom did right."

"I'm not saying it does, Kimmie; two wrongs don't make a right," her father replied and lifted her chin with his finger until she was once more gazing into his eyes. "But right or wrong, your mother did stop you from seriously injuring yourself. And she did it because she loves you and cares deeply for you, even though she knew it might mean you never spoke to her again."

Whether it had been because her father had inadvertently got caught in the storm that had been hurricane Kimberly, or because talking about the incident out loud had caused her to see her mother's actions from a different perspective, Kim felt a dollop of guilt land atop her. Ok, so I really did mess up with my injuries and then by chasing after Shego. And like it or not, Dad 's right; mom prevented me from inflicting greater damage on myself or worse… only the issue isn't as simple as that. "What do you want me to do dad?" she asked the question, paused for a brief moment and had been about to reiterate her earlier comment about 'pretending nothing had happened', followed by an explanation of the multiple encroachments her mother had made into her life via her friends, when her father calmly cut in.

"I want you to do what I always taught you to; look at every situation objectively and then chose what you think is the right course of action, even if it's not the easiest or most popular one." Her father gave her a warm smile and then said sincerely, "while you might make some mistakes along the way, I've always trusted you to make the right decision in the end." His tone then quickly became upbeat, "now, we'd better get a move on. The Easter Island Mo'ai awaits and you're still one hole down, young Lady."

It felt somewhat refreshing to hear someone tell her that it was up to her how she handled something. Yes, her dad had made it clear that he would like her to make peace with her mom and even made her making a phone call to the woman his prize should he win their game of mini-golf, however, he'd quickly nullified the bet on discovering her displeasure at it and even after getting her to admit her mom had done the wrong thing for the right reasons, still chose not to force the issue. Dad was always good that way. Always being the guiding hand rather than the do as I say sort of parent… unless it involved boys. She laughed internally at that thought and followed her father to the fifteenth hole; the Easter Island Mo'ai.

Kim won the fifteenth hole, lost the sixteen and won the seventeenth. Finally, after a short walk uphill, something that her lower back did not appreciate, they arrived at the eighteenth hole. Her father, whose turn it was on the even-numbered holes, went first. Having obviously learned from years' worth of foul-ups, she watched him play it safe; his ball travel through the Colosseum and to the far side of the putting surface.

"Not too shabby, made it to the green in one," he said with a grin that she knew was daring her to take the risky route to the hole. "There'll be no six for your old man here today."

"I guess zillion-to-one chances have to happen sooner or later," she said airily as she sat her ball down. "However, it's not going to be enough!" In the blink of an eye, she had her mission face on and her gaze zeroed in on the route that led directly to the hole.

"Careful you don't overcook it, Kimmie," her father said playfully, but also as a way to put her off.

Kim turned and glowered at the man.

"Youth and skill are no match for old age and treachery," he chuckled.

"Sorry, Dad, hate to break it to you," she said as her gaze returned to her ball, "but if that were the case," she drew her putter back, "Dr Drakken would be supreme overlord of the world right," she twisted her upper body and struck the pink ball hard as she exclaimed, "n…AHHH!" Kim dropped her putter as her hands immediately grabbed at her lower back, which had gone into a spasm.

"Kim, are you ok!" she heard her father exclaim in alarm and in a flash, he had reached her side.

"Yeah… I'm…" she said through gritted teeth, "…ahhh!" her lower back spasmed again, however, this one felt more akin to an aftershock; a mere echo of the first. She took in a breath and forced herself to straighten. "AHH! Son of a bitch!" she cursed and had to wipe away a tear from her eye.

Her father stood with a worried expression on his face. "You hurt your back again, didn't you," it wasn't a question.

"Yeah," Kim grunted and sucked in a few slow mouthfuls of air. "I landed awkwardly on it two days ago."

Her dad's expression turned somewhat grim and she knew what he was thinking. He wants me to call mom and get her to take a look at it. However, much to her surprise, he simply said kindly and with a trace of what sounded like guilt, "why didn't you tell me, Kimmie? You should be at home resting, not playing a silly game of mini-golf with your old man."

"I'm fine, Dad, honest," she said and gave him a somewhat forced smile. "I hurt it two days ago, took yesterday off and when I went out for a light jog this morning and realised it still hurt a little, I did the sensible thing; walked straight home and then didn't go out on a mission today too. When you suggested mini-golf, I though some light exercise would do it some good. That and I thought it would be fun to spend the day with you too." She paused to consider for a moment, before adding, "I've missed this." Maybe even I need to slow down every once in a while. Even though he occasionally embarrassed me as I got older, I used to love spending time with dad.

A wide smile formed on her father's face and she knew her words had just made him exceptionally happy. Stooping down, he picked up her putter and held it out to her. "Then let's finish up here and go for lunch," he said, before quickly adding, "so long as your back isn't too sore."

"It'll be fine, Dad. I think I just put a little too much into that last shot."

Gingerly, her back still twinging slightly, Kim walked beside her father as they made their way across the short distance to the green. It transpired that they would not need to find out if she could still putt, as her pink ball had worked its way through the Colosseum and rolled straight into the hole.

"Looks like you won, Kimmie-Cub," her father said jovially, a clear indication that she did not get her desire to always win from him. "I guess zillion-to-one chances do have to happen sooner or later."

They both laughed as her father bent down, picked her ball up out of the hole and tossed it to her. Kim snatched it out the air and could not help but feel triumphant, I won! "You know the family motto, Dad,"

"Anything's possible for a Possible," they said in unison. Which turned out to be true for both of them, as her father proceeded to avoid his typical six by finishing up in two putts.

"Ok, Kimmie, you won, so where's it going to be for lunch?" her dad asked as they leisurely walked back to the putter hut.

"I thought you agreed to void the bet?" Kim replied.

"Then consider it my treat for a game well played. So, what's it going to be? Mama Joy's, Cow and Chow?

She pondered for a moment, then gave him a wide smile. "Bueno Nacho."

##

Kim couldn't rightly recall the last time she'd stepped foot inside the Middleton branch of Bueno Nacho, or as aficionados like Ron preferred to call it, Bueno Nacho #582. Indeed, it had primarily been because of her former best friend that she had largely avoided the place over the past two years. Yes, she hardly ever stayed long in Middleton these days; recent history aside, but after they had split up, she'd subconsciously known that Ron too, owing to his abysmal first-semester college results, would sooner or later wind up back in their hometown and so she'd deliberately avoided his favourite hang-out in order to avoid him. However, now that they'd had a conversation that had not involved her walking out, slamming the phone down in anger or slapping him, she felt no need to avoid the restaurant on the basis he might be there. She could see him and be perfectly civil, possibly even friendly, given her current good mood.

Kim walked through the doors to find the restaurant exactly as she remembered it; the exact same as all the other standard size Bueno Nacho's and the original it had replaced after the Lorwardian's destroyed it. I remember Ron ranting at me when I dared to suggest that they all look the same, she laughed internally. He went on and on for over an hour as he listed all the minute differences between all the branches he'd visited. Heh, I recall Mr Barkin was not impressed when we did presentations on our life goals and Ron declared the top of his list was to eat in every single Bueno Nacho worldwide.

"Salad and an iced tea for you, Kimmie?" she heard her father ask from beside her; snapping her back to the here and now.

"Make mine a chimirito and a large soda," Kim replied, drawing a quizzical look from the man.

"I thought you were eating healthy to keep in peak condition?"

She laughed, then her expression morphed into a cute pout as she said, "I'm injured and need junk food to make me feel better." While she was injured, her back had settled down by the time they had got back to the car after the round of mini-golf.

Her father sighed as he chuckled, "whatever you want, Kimmie-Cub," and pulled her into a hug. "Go grab a booth and I'll bring it over."

Reaching up, she pecked her father on the cheek, then wandered over to sit in a booth. She hadn't needed to act all cutesie to get what she wanted, her father would have bought her it anyway, however, it was just one of those things she did when with him. Kim cast her gaze around the room; taking in the other patrons, something she'd become accustomed to doing when going out after she'd turned pro-hero, as though in this post Lorwardian invasion world she expected trouble around every corner. Heh, or maybe I'm just that addicted to the adrenaline rush that I'm desperate to burst into action whenever I step out my front door. It was then that she realised something that she had somehow missed throughout the entire game of mini-golf; the feeling that everyone who laid eyes on her was judging her because of her sexuality lacked the same intensity that it had held a few days ago. While she still felt it when she saw someone look at her, like the woman with the buggy whose eyes had passed over her on her way out of the door, it no longer made her wish she could dissolve into a puddle on the floor and slink back to her apartment and hide. And it seemed that if she kept her mind occupied, like concentrating on her father and mini-golf, she could block it out entirely, hence why she'd failed to notice until now. Apparently, simply talking to Shego; telling another human being that she was gay, had made her more comfortable in her new self.

Speaking of her father, Kim's gaze found his back as he stood at the counter; giving their order to Ned. Why did I not feel self-conscious when I first saw dad on my doorstep? Was it because I got so hung up on the whole mom issue? Or because deep down I believe he won't judge me? That second thought was an interesting notion. From the moment she had discovered that she was gay, she had been terrified of sitting down and telling her parents. Yet she had felt perfectly fine around her father all morning. Maybe telling dad wouldn't be so bad. He's always been understanding and supportive of my life choices. Well, except for the whole skipping college and becoming a pro-hero thing. She'd got both barrels from both parents for that one when she'd told them. Only this isn't a life choice; I didn't choose to be a lesbian, it's just who I am… who I've always been.

At that moment, her father set a tray down atop the table and slid into the booth opposite her. "Here you are, Kimmie-Cub, one chimirito and a large soda. I also got us a side of Nachos to share."

"Thanks, Dad," Kim replied and lifted her lunch off of the tray.

Her father did the same and then said, "I'm actually slightly surprised you wanted to come here."

"Why's that?"

"Well, for one thing, I thought your tastes had matured over the past eighteen months," the man replied with a knowing smile. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you've upgraded your wardrobe from Club Banana to Country Club Banana or that Bang and Olufsen CD player and telephone."

She laughed, "when it comes to food, my tastebuds still have a bit of catching up to do. If I can't eat it cold, microwave it, or if it doesn't have idiot-proof instructions, I don't buy it."

"Still a bit of a klutz in the kitchen?" her father chuckled and took a bite out of his burrito.

"You might say that," Kim conceded. "When I moved in with Ron, I was usually home late and so left him to the cooking. That and he can actually cook. And since I got my own place, I've spent so much time away that I've not bothered to learn," and I'm still convinced that mixer back in home economics was out to get me. At the memory of the offending kitchen appliance, she took an angry bite out of her chimirito. After swallowing, she then said, "however, Ron did manage to teach me how to make pancakes. What's the other reason you thought I wouldn't want to come here?" however, she could already guess the answer.

"Ronald, of course. I assumed after he moved back to Middleton, he would have resumed his near-permanent residence here."

"I figured that much too, hence why I can't recall the last time I was here," Kim replied and found it somewhat refreshing that mere mention of her former best friend did not arouse the anger she had carried in regards to him for so long. "However, Ron and I talked last week and managed to move on from the wanting to kill one another place we've both been in for the past eighteen months." She then looked at him pointedly as a thought came to her and said bitterly, "I would have thought mom would have told you all this, since she's been seeking out all my friends to get the latest news about me."

"Actually, it was Ron who came to see us," her dad replied, sounding as though he was trying to both placate her and defend his wife.

Kim tilted her head in puzzlement. "Ron came to see you and mom, why?"

"Something about Mr Barkin and diablo sauce convincing him to go and see you… I think there were other things in that melting pot too, but you of all people know how hard it is to stay focused on one of his long-winded explanations."

"All too well," she chuckled. So, it was Ron who approached mom, not the other way around. I guess I'll have to let her off the hook when it comes to him. "What did you guys say to him?"

"Well, I reminded him that there was still a rocket waiting to be fired into a black hole that he could easily be put aboard…"

Kim almost choked on a mouthful of her soda as she burst out laughing.

Her father waited until she had managed to take a proper breath before continuing, "…and your mother told him that she thought it was a good idea, as you could use a friend…" he let out a sigh before finishing, "…and your brothers told him that he'd likely find himself in hospital with all two-hundred-and-six bones broken."

"Oh come on! None of the villains I busted two weeks ago ended up in hospital with that amount of injuries!" Kim exclaimed indignantly. "What do those Tweebs think I am, the Kiminator?"

Her father let out an amused chuckle. "Knowing your brothers, if they hadn't of had a taste of your wrath first hand, they would probably have been lapping up each and every one of HeroTV's features on your missions from two weeks ago."

She folded her arms and humphed in response to her dad's comment. She never had liked the fact that after she had turned pro (and the demand for coverage of hero work had boomed), HeroTV bought any and all footage they could get their hands on that showed parts of her missions, paid top dollar for eye witness accounts and then aired the lot with commentary and analysis in prime-time slots. Although, she couldn't help but feel slightly smug that she had continuously topped their hero power rankings since their very inception.

They sat and ate in silence for a little while, before her dad finally asked, "so, what have you been up to lately? You've been out of the headlines since you sent old Drew Lipsky and Shego to jail."

She'd been prepared for this question to crop up at some point during the day and so had an altered version of the truth prepared to tell him. "I had a lot of issues to work through and so decided to take some time off to deal with them. All I've done since I sent Shego and Drakken to jail is a simple cargo escort job for one of Wade's colleagues; only because he asked me for the favour and a short rescue mission, which was no big." She elected not to say that it had taken her four days to find said cargo after it had been stolen and, for obvious reasons, that the 'rescue mission' had been to break Shego out of prison.

She received a warm smile, the kind you get from a parent who is both proud and relieved that you have finally chosen a sensible course of action. In fact, her father's expression had pretty much said as much throughout the course of the day, ever since she had told him she had dealt with her anger issues. And the more she had displayed her calm, happy demeanour and indicated that she'd been thinking things through like a responsible adult, rather than a reckless teenager, the more apparent it became that he genuinely believed that she had turned a corner and was now ok.

"That's reassuring to hear, Kimmie," her father then said. "Sometimes we all need a little time to take stock of things so we can properly deal with our issues." He paused for a moment and then began, "so, does that mean…"

Already knowing the opportunistic question, Kim swiftly cut him off in a light-hearted but firm manner, "no, Dad. I've not changed my mind about college and I'm not going to. I love what I do and make more than enough money to keep a roof over my head," and my closet full of Country Club Banana's latest fashions.

Her father quickly recovered from the putdown, "so long as you're happy, Kimmie-Cub, that's all that matters."

On hearing him say this, Kim found the debate from earlier resurface in her mind. Does that also apply to the fact that I like girls? She busied herself with a handful of nachos in a tactical move that would keep her tongue from blurting out something she didn't intend to say, while her brain fought with itself. Should I tell him? Dad's always been supportive of me in the past. However, he did say to me, quite firmly, that there would be no kissing girls for me, ever. But was that simply him applying his rule about me kissing boys to girls too, or is he against homosexuality? I mean in that very same conversation, he also said that Middleton is a conservative community and that I'd find Mr Barkin's viewpoint prevalent throughout… She ran out of nachos without realising it and was left stuffing only air into her mouth.

"If you want more nachos, Kimmie, I'll go and get you some," her father said, snapping her out of her internalised debate and causing her to physically jerk.

"Sorry," Kim apologised, taking in a sharp breath; her eyes darting around as though she were checking to make sure her thoughts had not been projected for the entire restaurant to see.

"Are you ok, Kimmie?" her dad then asked, which was quickly followed by a concerned, "your back isn't sore again, is it?"

"Yeah, I'm fine; back's good," she replied quickly. "I just got lost in thought." Kim hesitated for a moment, her brain so split down the middle on whether she should or should not tell him that she would have been as well using a coin to decide. If I managed to say it to Shego, I can say it to my dad, she then thought. While it only held true if she trivialised the matter down to the fact that her dad was her dad and Shego her nemesis, it was the best she had to try and break the deadlock without fishing in her pocket for the aforementioned coin. Kim felt her palms turn clammy and her left leg began to twitch nervously underneath the table. Ok, I can do this, I can do anything. "Dad," she began slowly, feeling her heart begin to race inside her chest to the point she thought it might break out of her body and fly away like a bat out of hell. Oh, God, what if he's repulsed by me? She took a slow, deliberate inhale. Surely dad would never feel that way about me… right? "…there's something I need to tell you…" another pause; another slow breath. Ok, Kim, you can do this, you can do anything. So, just come out and say it. "I'm…" gay, while she said the word internally, externally her lips made no sound, as a lump had formed in her throat. The twitch in her leg kicked up a gear, to the point it almost became a violent shake. Oh, God, this was so much easier to say to Shego. She tried to force the word out of her mouth but found it had turned bone dry and thus unable to utter anything. What if this is like the whole pro-hero thing all over again and he tells me I need to be straight? …no, I have to tell him…

While Kim reached for her soda cup to take a drink, her father used her pause as an opportunity to say, "this isn't about a boy, is it?" He raised his eyebrows and gave her the look she knew oh so well when it came to the subject of her love life. "You know how I feel about you kissing boys, Kimmie. No kissing boys until after you graduate from college."

Kim heard the unspoken, "or ever," and just had time for the thought, if he still has an issue with me dating boys, how is he going to react when he finds out I actually like girls? before her mind was thrown back five years to the conversation they'd had the night after Lisa had kissed her. And from the depths of her mind, she heard her father's words, "however, there will be no kissing girls for you… ever," ring in her ears as though he had just said them to her. The colour in her cheeks drained, perhaps a physiological representation of her courage slipping away …I can't tell him, not now. It took six months and my breakup with Ron for us to properly speak again after we fell out over the whole not going to college thing. I can't go through that again, not after today has reminded me of how much I enjoy spending time with dad.

When she failed to answer, her father continued, "mind you, I didn't mind Ronald too much. He was a safe choice; a father's dream some might say. There was no danger of him ever trying to take advantage of you, forcing you to do something you weren't comfortable with or heaven forbid, try to lay a hand on you." He paused and looked ponderous for a moment, but Kim offered up no interjection. "Although, he does have that issue with his work ethic. But I was never concerned that it would rub off on you." Her father nodded his head in agreement with his own viewpoint. "Yep, Ronald was a nice safe option, but he wasn't the right fit for you, Kimmie-Cub."

"Huh?" Kim uttered stupidly, having not been fully paying attention due to her mind having been scrambling to recover from her inability to come out and tell him that she was gay.

"While Ron was the safe choice that almost any father, including me, would approve of their daughter dating, he wasn't the right fit for you," her father reiterated.

"What?" she said in disbelief, completely gobsmacked by her father's admission, given that Ron had been the only boy he had never taken an immediate disapproval to on simply hearing the name of.

Her father let out a long sigh, that of a general who has been fighting a losing battle for a long time and finally decided to surrender. "Whether I like it or not, Kimmie-Cub, you're a fully grown adult now and part of being an adult is looking for someone you want to spend your life with. And while you being with someone like Ronald will make me happy… I don't think that will make you happy."

Well, you're right there, given the fact that Ron's a boy and I like girls, but I'm guessing that's not where you're taking this. Now genuinely interested in what her father had to say on the matter, given the stark contrast between his current and normal attitude in regards to her love life, she momentarily forgot how panicked she'd been moments prior and gave her dad her full attention, to the point that both her heart rate and left knee slowed the pace of their respective rhythms. "What do you mean by that, Dad?" Kim asked curiously.

"You're a very special young woman, Kim. And I'm not just saying that because you're my daughter. You've done things that the vast majority of people would never even dream of and some of them before you were even sixteen," her father began, then paused, looking as though he was searching for the best way to explain his thinking. After a few moments, he settled on, "what I'm trying to say is, that you deserve someone who understands you as a whole, not just the little bits and pieces of you that might reside in a small handful of common interests you have with them."

Kim did not know what to say. While she'd always had a closer relationship with her dad, this was the sort of conversation that she reserved for her mom.

When she again failed to say anything meaningful, her father continued in that way he had a habit of doing, "I mean I understand why you eventually decided to date Ronald. The two of you had been inseparable since per-K. And he knew all about your adventurous side, given that he'd been with you on the vast majority of your missions up to that point in time. But…"

"…but he never fully understood it," Kim finished for him. "While he was with me for so long, he sort of just got dragged into my hero work by virtue of being my best friend, rather than through choice." It was only then, on making that admission out loud for the first time, that she felt what she suspected was some long overdue guilt on that matter. Ron got scared so much of the time when we got into danger, while I was always arrogant enough to believe that I could get us both out of it safely. Yet he would never have been in any of those situations if it hadn't of been what I wanted to do. Internally, she shook her head. There would be time for guilt concerning Ron later. "That's what you mean, isn't it, Dad?"

Her father nodded, "something like that. The point is," he sighed, "I think it's going to take someone who's every bit as special as you to make you truly happy, Kimmie-Cub."

While she'd not really considered this notion before when trying to figure out why her previous relationships had failed and then thrown everything she thought she knew about her tastes and her relationship history out the window upon discovering that she was a lesbian, Kim could not help but feel her dad might have a point. However, that only resulted in a mirthless laugh floating through her mind, and where exactly am I supposed to find someone that fully understands me… no one do… her thought process stopped dead in its tracks. Heh, ok, so there is one person who gets me one-hundred-per cent; Shego. Unfortunately, the subject of her rival was one she had been avoiding thinking about and not just because of the jailbreak. True, she was both anticipating and apprehensive about their next social encounter, however, the feelings she had experienced during their brief make-out session and what they could potentially mean still terrified her.

"So, what was it you were going to tell me?" her father then asked, catching her off guard.

"Oh, um…" Kim stammered, as her eyes frantically darted around the restaurant for anything that might help. Her gaze then fell upon a hairy man with tattoos all down his arms. "…I'm thinking of getting a tattoo," she lied quickly and hoped this was one of those occasions where she sounded convincing.

"A tattoo," her dad replied, sounding slightly shocked. "Kimmie, you know how your mother and I feel about…" he hastily stopped, clearly having realised what he had been in the middle of saying and quickly changed his words and stern tone, "if you're certain that's what you want to do, then that's your decision to make. Just make sure you're absolutely certain and that you choose to get it done somewhere that's spotlessly clean. The last thing you want to get is an infection from a dirty tattooing needle."

She laughed lightly, although it was more in relief at having sold the lie. Given the time she'd had that monkey tattoo, she'd transformed into a real monkey, complete with a tail, Kim had little desire to go and get a proper one. A single bad experience could sometimes put you off an idea for life. However, to placate her father and finish selling the lie, she replied, "don't worry, I'll make sure I'm certain and have Wade vet the parlour for its health and safety history."

A look of semi-relief covered her father's face after she had finished talking, however, quickly changed back to a smile. "So, if you're feeling up for it, why don't we pop over to the Middleton Science Centre? I hear they've got a new astrophysics exhibit that'll blast you right into orbit!"

Kim knew the look of giddy excitement on her father's face well; the same one he always wore when it had been time for the next Little Rocket Boosters Space Camp. "Dad," she began and looked at him suspiciously, "you didn't happen to have a hand in this exhibit, did you?"

Her father let out a jovial laugh and did not attempt to deny it, "well, it wouldn't be much of an astrophysics exhibition without asking one of Middleton's top rocket scientists to make a teensy-weensy contribution now, would it?"

She shook her head and chuckled at his lack of modesty; the moment where she had almost told him her secret and the related mini-meltdown she'd had over it now forgotten.

"So, how about it, Kimmie-Cub? Want to check out the interstellar exhibit with your old man?"

They'd had a fun day together already and Kim could easily tell that nothing would make him happier than to share his work with her in an adult fashion. "You know what, Dad, why not."

The look in her father's eyes somehow brightened even further and he immediately got to his feet. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's get to the car and prepare for blast off!"

Draining the last of her soda, Kim rose from the booth and followed the positively bouncing figure of her father out of Bueno Nacho. While she may have failed in her hastily thought out attempt to tell her father that she was gay, Kim had gotten something equally important out of the day thus far. For the first time with either of her parents, she felt like their relationship had finally evolved into one between two adults, rather than the one between parent and child, which had been growing so wearisome over the past two years. Much to her surprise, she'd found that it did not mean all the fun parts of the old relationship she had enjoyed at various points in time were now consigned only to memory. Rather, it meant they got to find new ways to enjoy them together. And if she could not consider this a serious dent in the dark cloud of problems that had loomed over her ever since the revelation about her sexuality, she had no idea what she could. Kim left Bueno Nacho #582, having completely forgotten about this morning's boredom or her displeasure at having been unable to go out on a mission. She was both content and happy.