Kim and Jenny looked, and sure enough there was a man in his mid-twenties standing at the counter. Behind it a scared-looking brown haired girl was rigid in shock. They caught a glimpse of something metallic in his hand.
"Kim, I'll handle the gun, you take care of the perp," said Jenny.
Kim turned towards her. "Jen--" but she was gone, silent as a ghost. Kim caught a glimpse of pink hair disappearing between some racks.
"Mon, walk, don't run, and get security," said Kim.
"Uh, right, Kim. Be careful," said Monique, and turned away.
Kim stepped closer to the glass doors, out of direct sight of the man, and waited.
Jenny passed quietly between the racks, nary a rustle of clothes in her wake. She finally got behind a rack near the back of the store, and looked cautiously around it. Perfect. She had a clear shot at him.
"...and make sure you give me ALL the money, girlie, or I'll..." said the would-be robber.
Jenny threw three hexes at the gun, and with uncanny accuracy, all three hit it. Neither of the duo at the counter noticed.
"Yessir, yessir!" Said Marcie, stuffing a paper bag with money. "Please, don't hurt me,
just take it and go!" She held the bag out to him.
He reached for it, and suddenly heard a loud CLINK! from the region of his gun hand. They both looked at it in time to see the gun literally fall apart. Every screw, every fastener,
even the welds, just let go. The pieces littered the counter and the floor, and he found himself holding the trigger guard and part of the frame.
"What in the world...?" he said, then looked at Marcie. She was just as surprised and confused as he was. He grabbed the bag of money, and ran for the entrance.
His flight was cut short by a sudden kick to the belly, followed by a fist slamming into his face. He spun around, and landed heavily on the floor, out cold.
Kim stood over him and looked up to see Monique, followed by security officers, approaching.
Jenny was suddenly by her side. "Please don't say anything about me. Meet you at the food court." And she was gone.
As the security people gathered up the unconsious robber and Kim gave a statement, Monique was trying to calm down a hysterical Marcie. Just then, Ron arrived.
"KP, what happened?" he asked, looking over the scene.
The guards were far enough away so she could tell Ron the real story without them hearing.
"Hey, Ed, look at this," said one guard squatting down to look at the metallic remains of a gun.
"What on earth happened to it?" asked Ed.
"I dunno. It looks like the gun just fell apart. But look at this; even the slugs separated from the casings," said the other.
"Just his bad luck to get a badly-made Saturday Night Special, I guess," said Ed, and began collecting the pieces.
Her part in the event over, Kim and Ron said goodbye to Monique and Marcie, and headed for the food court. They found Jenny sitting alone at a table away from everybody. Her odd appearence made passers-by stare at her momentarily. As the teen heroes approached, they could see tears in Jenny's eyes, and a miserable look on her face.
"Jenny?" said Kim, pulling a chair over and sitting beside her.
"What's wrong?" asked Ron, doing the same on the other side.
Rufus jumped from Ron's pocket, and patted Jenny on the arm. "Wrong?" he asked.
Jenny looked at the tabletop for a long minute, then said in a low voice, "I- I almost. god, you're going to hate me..."
"It'll be okay, Jen, just tell us," said Kim, putting an arm around her shoulders.
"When I got here to the food court, I wanted another smoothie. Then I remembered I don't have any money. I saw that ATM over there, and- and-" she said, and tears ran down her face, "I almost hexed it."
"What would that do?" asked Ron.
"It would have given me all the money it had, and I could have bought anything I wanted.
I'm so sorry," she said.
Kim handed her a napkin. "You didn't do it, though, did you?"
Jenny shook her head. "No. But it would have been so easy. I could have done it and been gone long before you got here." She wiped at her eyes.
Jenny's pink eyes looked into Ron's brown ones, Rufus' black, beady ones, then Kim's emerald green ones. "And you know what stopped me?"
Kim shook her head.
"You did. I realized that you were trusting me. You trusted me when you took off the cuffs,
when you left me alone in your room, when you let me show you my hex powers. You trusted me when you let me handle the gun, and let me come here to wait for you," she said. Her head dropped. "I'm bad luck, pure and simple. And yet you three, complete strangers, still trusted me, even knowing my background." She started crying again.
"Jenny, I'm so sorry," said Kim, pulling the girl into a hug. "This is all my fault."
"How can it be your fault? I'm the bad-luck criminal," muttered Jenny.
"Less than ten hours ago, you were pulled out of prison against your will, and dumped into another universe with no way back. We've been dragging you around all day, never giving you a chance to catch your breath and figure things out," answered Kim, "You're alone, frightened, exausted, and uncertain, regardless of how we've treated you, and it's finally catching up with you. Let's go home, and you can rest."
"Home..." said Jenny, "I have no home."
"Yes, you do," said Kim, firmly, "With me. It may be a surprise to you, but I trust my instincts too. And I trust Ron's and Rufus'. We all feel certain you're a good person, Jenny, and we want to be your friends and help you."
Jenny slumped in Kim's arms. "Okay..."
The ride home was silent, Kim driving, Ron in the back seat, and Jenny in front. Rufus sat on her lap, and she absently stroked the little mole rat, who watched her face with concern.
At Kim's house, Jenny followed them inside, not really looking or caring where she was being taken. They were greeted by Kim's mom, who instantly sensed something was wrong.
"She needs rest, Mom," said Kim.
Mrs. Possible took the unresisting girl into her arms, and led her upstairs to the guest room. "Come on, dear," she said, "I'm sure you'll find the bed VERY comfortable."
When they were gone, Kim turned to Ron. "Quite a day," she said.
"Yeah. I'll check in tomorrow, see how she's doing," he said. Then he looked down to his pants pocket. "Rufus, do you want to stay with Jenny tonight?"
"Hmmm..." said Rufus, appearing to think, "Uh huh."
"Okay, keep her company and take good care of her," he said, as Rufus jumped to the ground.
He turned and looked up at Ron and Kim. "Will. Like Jenny. Want her to be okay." With that, he scampered up the stairs, following Mrs. Possible and Jenny.
They watched him go, then Kim turned back to Ron. She put her arms around him, and gave him a kiss. Neither was feeling very romantic just then, so it was more of a reassurance than anything else.
"See you tomorrow, KP," said Ron, letting her go.
"Okay, good night," she said, letting go in her turn.
The door closed behind her, and she sighed, suddenly tired herself, even though it wasn't that late in the evening. She went up to her attic room, kicked off her shoes, and crashed on the bed in the gathering dark.
A few minutes later, her mother came halfway up the stairs. "Kimmie?"
"Yeah, Mom?" was the answer.
"She fell asleep the moment her head touched the pillow. Did Ronald say it was okay for Rufus to stay with her tonight?" Mrs. Possible asked.
"Yes, he thought it might help her feel better if she had some company," Kim answered.
"That was very thoughtful of both of them," said her mom. "I've told your father and brothers about her, and made sure the boys understand not to disturb her."
There was a long moment of silence.
"What's going to happen with her?" Kim asked.
"I don't know, Kim. I've never seen anything quite like this. Maybe you'll get an idea after you talk with her tomorrow," said Mrs. Possible.
"Well, I have the beginnings of an idea already, but it depends on how things shape up.
Just have to see," said Kim.
"Have a good nap, hon. Are you hungry?" said her mom.
"No, just tired. Thanks, Mom," answered Kim, and rolled over to take a nap.