Part IV. Broken in the Dust Again…

"Kim? Kim!" Kim woke up to see her mothers concerned face. "Your alarm has been going off." Kim shook her head, trying to rid herself of that floating sensation.

"I'm sorry mom…I guess with all the nightmares, I've been having, when I didn't have one, I kinda…went to sleep hard."

"Well, that's to be expected." Her mother said, smiling and gave her a kiss on the cheek. The last two days had been very odd, Dr. Possible had to admit. Kim had alternated between exhausted and bouncing off the walls. Ron hadn't been able to come over, and in fact, the family had spent the weekend in—her husband had nearly punched out a photographer who had offered him 1000 dollars for any candid shots taken from the hospital… But now it was Monday, a school day, and hopefully, she prayed, that this week would sign a new start. Kimmie had suffered enough.

"Hey Kim!" Ron shouted and ran over to her. Kim squealed and gave him a hug that got somewhat more…personal, until Mr. Barkin, handling front duty, gave a tiny cough.

"That's enough, Stoppable." Ron blushed and relinquished Kim.

"You look better…" He said,

"I'm great!" She grinned, "Look at the homework I got done!" Ron pulled it out and grinned.

"That's my KP…and I'm probably getting another F." He finished, reading it and concealing his shock. Ron was no scholar…but some of the writing here looked like a 3rd graders, other parts looked fine, and some parts weren't even on the page.

"Oops! There's the bell," Kim said, and Ron noticed that she was practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. Heading up the walkway, Ron had to trot to keep up with her. Way too much energy. He thought.

The rest of the day was like that. In ever class, Kim was all over the place, practically unable to sit down. Answers to questions came out fast—sometimes jumbled. Ron frowned.

Then, right after school, right before Cheerleading practice, Kim seemed to deflate. Ron came out of the bathroom, finding her leaning on the side of the hallway, trembling.

"KP…what's wrong?"

"Nothing, Ron…"

"Right…." Ron said, and Kim glared at him.

"OK, if you must know, in addition to everything else, it's my time of the month." She said, "Hold this." She continued, giving Ron her books as she walked into the bathroom.

Inside, Kim went to the furthest stall. Right now, there was nobody in the room, but she didn't want to take a chance. Sitting down, she opened the purse, and went for the small plastic bottle…the one with the pills.

"Why is it wearing off…" She said. It hadn't lasted as long this time. She needed to…

Kimmie. It was his voice. Kim looked around wildly for the source. He was dead…she'd heard he was dead, even if her mother didn't want her to know all the details. He couldn't be alive. Could he? And how had he known where she was… Kim shook her head. She couldn't think with her head all full of cobwebs. She needed the clarity the pills brought. So what if it was a little early, she could take the tranquilizers if she needed to sleep that night. She popped the pill in her mouth…and waited for the rush.

It came, but not as fast as it had before…she felt strong, proud…but not as indestructible. There was still the feeling of fear in the back of her mind, that voice, that hateful voice, and the worry that there were others. She should…maybe she should take one more… Kim waited, pulled a pill out…and then put it back.

No. Not right now. Maybe later. She was fine. She would handle it. She could do it.

Cheerleading practice was next, and Kim managed to keep the day going well, although her precision was way off. She giggled at that and confessed that she'd been off on her training lately. Bonnie and Tara were at opposite ends of the team, but suddenly both looked at her, hard. Ron was also trying his routine, but honestly, he just wasn't in the "Maddog, mood" right now. Something was wrong with Kim… really wrong. On the way home, Ron talked to Kim, trying to keep her on one subject for more than a second.

In the middle of a word, Kim suddenly whipped around and looked behind them.

"Ron, did you see that?" Ron blinked and took a look at the empty street.

"What, KP?"

"Nothing... I guess."

This isn't working. Ron thought, and then when they stopped by Kim's house after Bueno Nacho (where Kim had, amazingly, eaten more than Ron), he took the opportunity poised by Kim's using the bathroom to speak with her mother.

"Dr. P…have you noticed anything weird about Kim?" Dr. Possible frowned. Ron was certainly being obtuse.

"Beyond being buried alive?" Ron shook his head.

"That didn't come out right—but recently…she's either full of energy, or… I don't know, just gone…and her mind seems to be, well…random." Dr. Possible stopped and stared at the door Kim had vanished through.

Those could be symptoms… her doctor's thought, but she steeled herself. No. It's not that—Kim is having mood swings because of what she's been through. You've seen it enough. She said as much to Ron, who nodded, especially when Dr. P asked him about the Cheerleading squad, definitely putting an end to the subject. Ron frowned even more.

Dr. P…you're not seeing what you don't want to see.

Ron stayed as long as he could, but before eight, Kim was wilting, and she looked at him with a tired smile.

"Ron… I think I need to hit the sack… I may have overdone it today."

"Hey, no problem, KP… good to see you getting back in action!" Ron said, waving and doing the "stupid Ron stunt" out the door, which got a laugh, even as Kim headed to her room.

But before he got to his door, Ron was bent over, thinking…a frown on his face. When he got to his house, he made a decision, and turned on the computer.

"Hey Ron." Wade said. Ron smiled—Wade had been in and out helping Kim keep track of her work while she was hospitalized—even come out to see her physically, although Ron hadn't been around then, so Wade was still very much a "virtual" partner.

"Wade… I need you to do a data search for me."

"Sure. What on?" Ron paused, "any missing drugs in the Middleton area, like uppers or downers." Wade paused and then looked at Ron.

"This is about Kim, isn't it?"

"How do you know?"

"Because I can't think of anything else you would worry about."

"Well, it is…but I can't be sure, and I don't want to get her in…trouble." Ron said, "Dr. P doesn't think there's a problem, but I… I don't know, I'm worried." Wade smiled.

"If Dr. P doesn't think there's a problem, there probably isn't, but I'll do it anyway. Don't worry Ron."

"Thanks." Ron said. Then he paused, "And one more thing."

"What?"

"Can you get me Shego's phone number?"

Drakken's Lair was quiet. When they'd returned, after disposing of a certain individual, Drakken had started work on a new doomsday device…but it was a strangely haphazard job. He'd work, stop and think, and work a little again…but his mind wasn't on his work.

Shego was frowning, holding some DVD's and scrolling down the internet.

"What is that, Shego?"

"Our genius recorded his exploits." She said shortly. "Both what he said and he did."

"How long did he have her?" Drakken said, surprised, "he couldn't have taken that much time."

"He didn't—he had at least five minicams. He was proud of himself…"

"Have you…"

"I fast forwarded through most of it." She paused, "Now I'm making certain he didn't make any more copies—and if any fatboy puts these online, he's going to have a little problem with breathing." Drakken sighed.

"And those?"

"I… I don't know." Shego said. "Part of me thinks that her parents need to see this, it might help Kimmie…but the other part says they shouldn't see this, ever…I wish I hadn't seen it…or heard it." Abruptly, she made a decision. A flick of her wrist and the disks vanished down the disposal slot. "Kimmie's parents are smart—they don't need a movie to realize their daughter went through hell." Drakken nodded.

"Why are we concerned?" He said, more thoughtfully than he often sounded.

"It isn't as if we've put her in death traps, fought her, tried to beat her." Shego looked up at him.

"But never… like that." She paused, "It was always by the rules…"

"Yes." Drakken said. "I'm getting tired of this you know." He turned and walked over to his doomsday device.

"What do you mean?"

"What if we won, Shego? What if we conquered the world? I thought about that on the way back here…and I didn't have the answer." He paused. "I sometimes wonder if the point was our fights with Kim Possible." He frowned. "But in any case… I've been thinking about putting some of my inventions on the open market."

"Dr. D, there's the little matter that we're both wanted…"

"True, but there are ways around that." He looked over at Shego. "And I noticed that you haven't explained your interest in Possible." Shego paused and looked, surprisingly, nervous.

"I…I think she reminds me of me, before…all this. When I was with my family…" Her voice trailed off. "Never mind. Hopefully, we'll be back to the old grind… I hope." It was then that her phone rang. Shego blinked and picked it up.

"Yeah? Stoppable? What is it… I see…. Oh crap. I… I can be there in an hour. No, don't worry—you and Kimmie did get all our secret lairs in Middleton. I'll call you then." She flipped the phone off and tried to look angry, but succeeded in looking disturbed.

"What is it, Shego?" Shego sighed.

"I think we'll be a while before we get back to the grind."

In her room, Kim paced, occasionally moaning softly, putting her hands to her ears. What had gone wrong? The pills weren't working well anymore—she'd run out of steam half way through the day, then right before Cheerleader practice, and had to take a new one each time. Every time, it seemed like the duration grew less…and when the feeling ended, she felt like she could barely move.

Well, you could just die… She pressed her ears with her hands tightly enough to hurt. HE kept talking now. It had to be her imagination, It just had to be. But she could have sworn she saw him, out of the corner of her eye as they were walking home.

Maybe Ron helped me set you up…or your mother…can you be sure?

"Shut up, Shut up, Shut up!" She hissed, remembering at the last moment to keep her voice down.

Sorry… or maybe Bonnie the slut set you up…she wants your place remember…maybe she decided to speed things along. You can see it in her eyes…she hates you. Kim sat down on her bed. It couldn't be Bonnie…but they'd always… and some of the things she did. What about her mother… her mother should have come and gotten her, or called…why didn't she?

"No. This is crazy." She said to herself. Why was the room so small and confined? Kim went to her hiding place and got the box of tranquilizers. She'd already taken one, but for some reason, even though she didn't have the energy… it hadn't put her to sleep. She would take another one. It was over the dosage, but just this once. Just this once. Kim thought, putting it into her mouth. Just this once. She thought again, as she lay down, shivering.

But as she slept through the night it was not a restful sleep. Kim kept twitching and flinching, reacting to unheard gibes and comments…

To be continued….