Chapter I.

Kim lay in her bed. This was unusual. It was just after school, and so she might have been at Bueno Nacho, or cheer practice…but not here. Not laying, looking up at the ceiling.

Not like this. Her Kimmunicator lay by the computer, on…but no mission alerts came down from it. She wasn't taking missions anymore. Not now.

She will come back. Kim thought. Mom will come back. Or I'll find out who has her and rescue her.

Please. The FBI was still looking, but they'd started being a little…less desperate.

Kim knew why. There were other cases, and the statistics on the survival of kidnapping victims after the first week, to say nothing of over a month, were… bad.

No. Mom was alive. Kim thought, biting down on her knuckles to keep from moaning aloud. She had to be alive.

Had to be. Her website had been taken down and changed, and she'd called in every favor she'd ever made, and people had responded. Has anyone seen a red headed women in her thirties, last seen heading to work, before she vanished into thin air.

There had been responses—her website alone kept a team from GJ busy, separating out the cranks, the confused and the tips that might have something too them.

But nothing. It was as if Kim's mother had vanished from the face of the earth, and that concerned everyone. Someone was either very, very good….or….

Or there was another type that often caused people to vanish into thin air. Serial killers—wanderers who often left no pattern behind, at least not until they'd produced enough missing persons cases. If she'd been taken by one of those, Kim's mom wa-

No. Don't think of it. If you don't think about it, it can't come true.

The others had helped, even Bonnie…in fact Bonnie had helped more than anyone except Ron. When Bonnie had first found out she'd offered to help, then burst into tears.

But nothing. All the fliers, the appeals on national news, the calling in of favors from everyone from the Mossad to the CIA…nothing. The Tweebs were with Dad's brother, and Dad wasn't home yet…. Off at another meeting with the private investigators.

Kim rolled over and grabbed her Pandaroo and held it to her.

"Mommy…." She whimpered into the soft fabric.

When the car stopped, It got out. The feeling of clothes was odd, since things like It were not permitted clothes. Those were only for humans. But It was pretending to be a human now, and so It had to be able to fool the others.

But there would be questions about where It had gone, and God had explained to It, in small words, what It was to say and do. Sometimes It had been confused, and so God had punished It, but the physical pain had barely registered, since It had to be presentable. The mental pain of failing God was far worse. But It would not fail now. Everything had been explained.

It walked to the phone, a pay phone, and picking up the phone waited for a tone, and then dialed 911.

"911, is this an Emergency?"

"I'm Dr. Ann Possible…and I've just been released by my kidnapper. Could you send a car, quickly? I'm afraid he might return." It put just a hint of quaver into Its voice, nothing more. God had been clear on that. Ann Possible had not been a coward… in fact, God had expressed surprise at how long her willfulness had lasted before she'd given in. He'd shown It the film of her willful defiance, and final fall. It had been happy that finally, that bitch had given in and let It come to exist in the perfect servitude that was Its blessing.

Kim had just rolled over when there was a hammering on her door.

Ron? She'd asked for some her time, and Ron had agreed…probably the first time in the month that he hadn't been hovering over her. Kim had hoped that he'd use it to rest—Ron's hollow eyes and quiet voice showed that he, just as much as Kim, was not able to handle this helplessness. Kim got up, and ran down, since she was still in her school clothes. She looked through the peephole first, and saw Agent McConnel standing in front of the door, one of the FBI protective detail assigned to them.

Oh God. Oh God no, please… The only reason he'd be here…had they found her? Had they found mom in some dumpster or land fill… Kim moaned and then McConnel shouted through the door.

"Kim! She's alive! She called in to 911, and she's Alive!" Then Kim was frantically fumbling at the door, and pulling it open, crying and trying to ask questions. For the first time in her life, she was so hysterical that the agent actually had to help her to the car.

Mom. Alive. Mom… Free. McConnel was saying other things that jumbled together in her mind. That Ron as going to meet her and her father at the hospital, that her mom seemed to be suffering from exhaustion, but nothing else, that she didn't remember much of her captivity… But all faded into the single fact. Mom was back.

In the hospital, It kept Its eyes closed. The fabric was soft, unlike the concrete of Its kennel, but there was not the comforting presence of God here…even the absence of the black could not compensate for that terrible gulf in Its being. Nurses and doctors had done things to It, checking It, but they would find nothing. It had told them that It didn't remember much, and was very tired, so they let It sleep. As God had predicted.

"Mom?" A weak voice struck it. It knew that voice. IT smiled.

"Dad…see? She smiled!"

"I know, Kimmiecub." Another voice it recognized. It also knew what it should do.

Something else started trying to struggle up, some sign that It was still not the perfect servant God deserved. Some part that refused to admit to Its duty. It felt Its face twitch, and the two voices became quieter.

"Kimmiecub… I think we should let her sleep…the doctors said she should wake up naturally in a few hours, but she fell asleep in the ambulance over here."

"Ok dad." Then the sound of the people leaving, while It was struggling against that terrible failing.

Besides, why should It have any concern at all. God had commanded It. Kim Possible was to die, and the information from her communicator sent to God…

And besides, It didn't understand. Kim Possible was an enemy of God. Why should the fact that she was the daughter of Ann Possible cause It any concern?

TBC.