Blue Eyes, Shining
Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. The lyrics to the song quoted in this chapter are the property of the respective author, artists and labels. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….). This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.
To everyone who continues to read and review: Thank you, and: You're spankin'!
An unsolicited plug: Mating Games, by campy, is an outstanding piece. Read and review: you'll enjoy it, trust me (and, no, I'm not selling weather machines).
Enjoy! Please read and review.
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Chapter 6: Goodbye, we're parted
(From the archives and logs of Dr. Wade Load.)
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"I remember lots of different disconnected things, but I've been thinking about them and put them in the order that I think I remember them happening," Joss replied to Betty's question, and she became more agitated as she mentioned each item:
"A large needle;
"momma tied to a chair; she couldn't move her hands or feet;
"bad men and women around me and her;
"me shaking her for a long time and her not moving;
"momma's blue eyes, unmoving, staring at me;
"gunfire everywhere;
"Betty: you scooping me off of the bare, bloody wooden floor, wiping blood off of my hands, and carrying me out;
"Fire coming from the building that we were in."
Joss calmly ticked these items off like she was checking off a grocery list. Each one of them was a knife in my heart: how could she have lived with all of this?
I looked at Slim and Betty: Slim recoiled at each phrase, and Betty just sat there, but tears were fighting her face to escape, and they were about to win.
Joss was quiet for a few moments after she finished the list. She looked at me, a single tear came down her cheek, she squeezed my hand even tighter, and then her dam exploded, and out came the flood of tears.
"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY MOMMA?" she screamed and squeezed my hand even harder.
- - - - - - -
This was not how Joss was supposed to end up in my arms.
I had already planned it in my mind: a candlelight dinner, music from a jazz orchestra, her in her beautiful red dress, me in my white tux and tails, us dancing, and me holding her in my arms.
NOT:
Me, holding Joss as she released the flood of tears, with Slim and Betty sitting across from us and both of them looking "rode hard and put up wet." Your mother kidnapped, tortured, dead, and you as her daughter remember it? That isn't sick and wrong, it's wrongsick on so many levels.
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Joss finally calmed down enough to realize where she was, and she blushed a bit as she tried to pull away.
"Hush," I whispered, and squeezed her. "I'll be here if you want me to, or I can leave."
"Don't go," she whispered back. "I need you to help me get thru this, Wade. I can't do it alone, and I couldn't bear to hear this without you."
"I won't leave you, Joss," and I kissed her forehead. "I'll stand with you through all of it."
"Thank you, Wade. You're my hero," and she pulled back enough so that I could see her smile defeat the emotion ninjas fighting inside of her.
Joss squeezed me one last time, then turned to face Slim and Betty, our hands together, and announced, in a clear, strong voice, "Dad, Betty: tell us."
Betty looked at Slim, then turned and faced us again: her face wore the sadness smile, and her tears were barely dry. Slim's face had sorrow etched into it: he was about to voluntarily gouge open wounds that had taken him almost 10 years to heal.
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Slim began:
"Sweet Tea: first of all, you were a pistol even back then, and your mother loved you so very much…."
"This all happened while we lived in London. Your mother and I loved it, and you were enthralled by the strangest combinations: the changing of the Royal Guard, Scotland Yard; Big Ben and afternoon teas. You were three, but you were already ahead of all of the young'uns your age.
"Your mother worked for a large multinational firm as an analyst and cultural attaché; she was actually involved in 'other activities' that were more critical before the collapse of the Soviet Union. She had been studying future possible threats and had done her dissertation on that subject; she had caught the eye of someone in the relatively-new organization named Global Justice: GJ was still in its infancy back then, easily overshadowed by the likes of an Interpol.
"I had not foreseen any problems, but she had.
"One morning, she left to walk you to school and to go to work. I was so glad that I had kissed you and her and told y'all that I loved you before you left…
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"'Mr. Possible?' The three men at the door, all in dark suits, showed me their GJ IDs; they were either real or excellent forgeries. The lady in an Air Force uniform showed me both a GJ and a USAF ID. 'May we come in? We need to talk to you about your family.' And the four of them stepped into the flat almost before I could say yes.
"'It's Dr. Possible, and what in the heck is going on? I haven't seen my wife or daughter in six days, and the police have no information: they suggested that she ran and took my daughter, and I'll tell you now that that's bull hockey.' I was ranting as they ran a bug sweep of our flat. When they finished and were satisfied that nothing was there (nothing unexpected, at least), they told me that someone had found Sheri's purse and your backpack in the tube station near South Wimbledon. I told them that that made no sense because you went to school only a bit from here, and Sheri worked in Central London.
"'We know, Dr. Possible, that's one of the reasons that we're here.' He then told me that both the purse and backpack were covered in dried blood. They asked me for your blood types (which I gave them, even though I knew that they already had the information on our entire family) and told me that there would be someone posted near the house in case anything happened or someone came by.
"'Why would anyone want to take my wife and daughter?' I asked. They then told me about this group of individuals that were targeting American women and children; they thought that they were planning to sell them on the markets in the Middle East, but there was also some indication that they were also targeting Americans to try to force the US out of Middle Eastern political affairs.
"Before the gentlemen left, the leader of the group looked at me and smiled. 'I'm impressed that you didn't indicate that you knew Major Director,' he stated. 'Most civilians would have done so.'
"'If you were doing your job, you'd know my background,' I smiled, 'and you know that I wouldn't.'
"'Yes sir, Dr. Major Possible, I do. We'll do everything that we can to get your family back. Major, I assume that you and the Major will want to talk, so we'll leave,' and the gentlemen left the flat and closed the door. I turned and faced Betty.
"'What the heck is going on here? First, I get three greenhorns in suits showing up at my house running bug sweeps, and second you're with them.'
"'Slim, we think that they've been kidnapped, but we don't expect them to be returned alive.'
"Silence, then I asked:
"'Why would anyone do that, Betty?'
"'Do you remember her dissertation? I think that it's somehow related to that. My superiors disagree with me, and they and GJ both think that she ran and took Joss, so I asked to be placed on loan back to my inter-agency assignment until this is resolved; since you were Navy, we can investigate and not hinder GJ.'
"'Betty, you're a saint: Sheri would tell you that, if she was here, and Joss would' – and my veneer finally shattered, and I broke down. Betty grabbed me and held me as the seven day's worth of emotions escaped all at once.
"'I'll bring them back, "Sealie," I'll bring them back, I promise,' she said as I tried to remember how Sheri Nicole and Jocelyn smelled."
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"Joss, your dad was a rock during this entire time, believe me," Betty stepped in as Slim was barely able to talk or even look at us. I knew what the percentages were: the fact that Joss was here at all was a miracle, since very few victims of kidnapping are recovered alive after three days, let alone seven.
"We received a lead a day later from an informant that was dying from a car wreck in Paris, and she told the police there that the two of you had been taken by high-target drug dealers and had been taken to the United States, somewhere in Texas or New Mexico. We updated out bulletin and sent it to the Texas Rangers and the New Mexico State Police; we immediately got a response: one of the dealers had been arrested and had made reference to prisoners that he was willing to trade for his release.
"Slim and I flew back to Dallas with the GJ team and had a 'conversation' with the dealer: he revealed that you would be dead in two days if he wasn't released."
Joss almost squeezed my hand off, and I couldn't help but sit there and take this in.
"After a 'short but lively discussion,' he told us the location. You and Sheri were being held in a ranch house in a small town in West Texas; we immediately left on high-speed choppers with three GJ teams, and flew into Goodfellow AFB, the military base nearest the ranch, and met with DEA and Border Patrol agents to coordinate our activities. We had planned the rescue along the way, and finalized it after we landed.
"We went in at 2 AM after cutting all of the communication lines to the ranch house. There were supposedly six people inside and the two of you, and we were able to neutralized four immediately. The fifth triggered an explosive before we got him; that started a massive fire in the house before we had located you, so we had to work quickly. The last room that we hit had you and your mother in it and we knew that you were locked inside a cage. The last man was in the room; he fired blindly at us after we tossed in a flash-bang through the window on the other side of the room, and four agents returned fire, killing him and spattering blood all over the room. He was one of the only two casualties of the operation
"I was right behind the first group in, and one of the agents shot the lock off of the cage and opened it just as I reached it. You were lying in a heap of filth, next to your mother. Sheri was strapped into a chair with an empty IV bag connected to her.
"I checked Sheri first: she was cold, and there was no pulse. I tried to close her eyes, but failed.
"I called your name, Joss, but you didn't move, at first. I went to you and shook you, and I was rewarded by my wildest dream come true: you moved, and then you opened your eyes a bit. I grabbed you up, wiped the blood from your face and hands, and carried you out of the cage, handing you to an agent who then began to check you for injuries and administered one of the antidotes that we had brought after another agent confirmed that the biological agent that we were dealing with was poisonous mushrooms; we had been concerned that we might be dealing with anything and were prepared for the worst case.
"I turned back to the cage and saw my wildest dream turn into my worst nightmare: your dad was standing next to your mom, stroking her hair, saying her name, and visibly shaking."
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Joss was doing well until that last sentence, and then she buried her head into my shoulder, and the tears began again. I happened to look up after a few moments, and Slim and Betty were holding each other as Betty cried.
"I failed you, Slim. I promised you I'd bring them home, and I failed you," Betty was saying thru her tears.
"No, Betty, you didn't fail me, you didn't fail me. You gave me gifts of infinite value. I had answers, I had my daughter, and I was able to say goodbye to my wife," was his reply.
I heard Betty whisper, "Thank you, Slim."
"Momma wouldn't let them hurt me," Joss said quietly thru her tears. "The bad men wanted to hurt me, and Momma made them stop. That's why they tied her to the chair: so she couldn't hurt them anymore," Joss whispered, and Betty and Slim looked up in surprise.
"When they first had us, Momma tried to stop one of the bad men when he tried to touch me, and he hit her, and Momma kicked him, and he didn't get up," Joss had sat up and was facing me, telling me what happened. "Two more bad men came, and they cut Momma real bad, and they cut my arm. They blindfolded us, and they put us in a car, and we drove to an airport: I remember hearing the planes real close. They put a rag on my face, and I felt sleepy, and then I went to sleep.
"The next thing that I remember was waking up on the floor, and I couldn't see Momma. I called, and she told me she was all right and that I was all right, they had a mask on my face so I couldn't see," Joss was remembering things from 10 years ago and a three-year-old girl's perspective. 'Anything was possible for a Possible,' I guessed, but I didn't say anything.
"They wouldn't bring us any food, they told me that they were feeding us from the bag, and one of them pointed to the bags on the hangers. I didn't like it because when they fed me they would tie me down on a bed with wheels. When they took the mask off of me, I could see Momma. She was tied to a chair, and her hands and feet were tied down so she couldn't move any of them. She was being fed thru a bag, as well.
"Once, when they all left the room, I crawled over to Momma's chair and held her hand. She helped me stand up, and – DADDY, I REMEMBER! – she told me that she loved me and that to tell Daddy that she loved him!" and she buried her head in my shoulder again, and I could feel her shaking as she poured out emotions. I felt arms around me, and I looked up to see Slim and Betty holding both of us.
When Joss finally stopped shaking, she was even quieter. "The last time that I crawled over to Momma, she didn't answer me when I called. I pulled myself up, and I saw her, but she wasn't moving. I shook her, and she didn't move. I pinched her, and her arm was cold. I looked at her, and her eyes were staring at me, and there was dried water on her face. I sat down and then crawled back to my bedpile and lay down and cried; somehow, I knew that Momma was gone," and Slim squeezed us, and I heard Betty's sob into my ear.
"The next thing that I remember was someone shaking me, and I looked up and barely opened my eyes and saw something or someone, couldn't tell. I was real sick, and I didn't know if I was dreaming or awake. I felt the shadow pick me up and carry me out of my cage. I thought I smelled Daddy, but I couldn't tell. A nice man talked to me, and he gave me a shot, and he told me I would be sleepy for awhile, but I would be all better."
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"The next thing that I remember was seeing Momma lying down, all pretty, in a box that had all sorts of cushions in it. There were flowers everywhere, and there were really big men standing around her like they were guarding her, and they all looked very sad.
"I remember the people talking about Momma, how brave and kind and caring she was. I remember the singing, and I remember you, Daddy, and Betty trying not to cry where I could see you.
"I remember them closing the box and carrying her out of the church, these big men all in uniforms with tears on their faces. I remember holding your hand, Daddy, and you telling me that everything would be all right. I remember you, Betty, holding my other hand as we walked in the grassy field.
"I remember the big men in uniforms holding large guns pointed in the air and shooting them: the noise scared me, at first, but I got used to it and missed it when it stopped.
"I remember a man walking up to Daddy and handing him the thing that was covering Momma in the church. It was folded in a triangle, and he said something like 'thank you.'"
She looked up at Slim. "Daddy, how did you live through all of this? You must have been devastated, and you had me asking you stupid questions all the time."
Slim looked at her thru his tear-streaked eyes and replied, "I lived thru it, Sweet Tea, because I saw your Momma every time you smiled, every time you pouted; I heard her every time you laughed, and I touched her every time you held my hand.
"And, I remember her every time I look at your face, look into your eyes. I remember my Sheri Nicole, Jocelyn, and I won't ever forget her, or you," and Joss smiled at him. The wounds were beginning to close.
"Did you know that, with all her style and grace, she was a country-western music fan?" Slim said to no one in particular. "Some of the new stuff, sure, but she especially loved the 40s and 50s styles. Her favorite song was the Roy Acuff original recording of Fred Rose's "Blue Eyes, Crying, in the Rain;" he hit the remote, and the scratchy recorded music came from the huge Klepp speakers, and then Roy began to sing:
In the twilight glow I see her blue eyes crying in the rain
When we kissed goodbye and parted I knew we'd never meet again
Love is like a dying ember only memories remain
Through the ages I'll remember blue eyes crying in the rain
Now my hair has turned to silver all my life I've loved in vain
I can see her star in heaven blue eyes crying in the rain
Some day when we meet up yonder we'll stroll hand in hand again
In a land that knows no parting blue eyes crying in the rain
"She's always with us, Sweet Tea, but we'll meet her again, some day," and I moved aside and let Slim and Joss have time without me.
Betty motioned for me to follow her, and we went to the other couch and sat.
"You done good, Wade, you're my hero tonight," and she kissed me on the cheek. Glad she couldn't see that blush!
I didn't realize how much I had cried, or that I even had cried, during all of this.
I was drained, exhausted, and just from listening to this.
Kim and Ron didn't realize how lucky they had been and how blessed that they were: the worst thing that they had to deal with was a mutant octopus and Li'l Diablos. They had both of their parents.
How Joss had survived this, I didn't know. How she had not grown up raging at the night, I could only thank Slim for helping her.
Slim! He'd had to live through all of this and never told tell Joss. He was stronger than Hego ever dreamed of being. I wondered if Mr. Dr. P knew the whole story, or knew how lucky he was.
Betty! She'd spent this entire time believing that she'd failed.
Any doubts that I had about helping Joss were gone, forever buried deeper than deep.
She was my hero.
"I'm no one's hero, Betty, but I have three new ones now: Slim, Joss, and you," and I reached over and hugged her. It didn't feel the same as it did the very first time that I hugged her, but it felt right this time.
We looked at father and daughter; I looked back at the Major sitting next to me, and I thought about how lucky Kim and Ron and I had been, so far. Kim and Ron, they were my heroes, as well.
Luck was going to be buried tonight, as had been my innocence:
They deserved the best: all of them.
All of my heroes deserved the best.
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Slim and Joss stood up and walked over to us. We stood and faced them.
"Betty," Slim started, "I told you before that you didn't fail me. You've done more for me tonight than I've ever dreamed: you've given my daughter a chance to exorcize her demons. I don't know what I can do to ever repay you," and Slim grinned as he grabbed Betty and pulled her into a passionate kiss, complete with dip!
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When they finally came up for air, Slim smiled and simply said, "Thank you, Betty."
Betty looked frazzled for the first time that I'd ever seen her like this, and then she replied to Slim, "Now I know what Sheri Nicole meant when she said you were a smokin' spankin' smacker. Now, I wonder why I waited this long…."
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I looked over at Joss, and she had the same grin on her face that Slim had before he kissed Betty.
GULP!
"Wade, you didn't have to go thru this."
"Yes I did, Joss. I told you that I came up here to make sure, when you started, that you'd be safer than Kim and Ron were when they started. I promised you that, and I never break my promise."
"I know, Wade, but you didn't have to do it; you chose to do it," and she KISSED ME ON THE LIPS!
"And that's why you're my hero," and Joss blushed a deep red and took her dad's hand.
Slim just stood there, smiling. Betty had that Cheshire Cat grin on her face. Joss was smiling. I could use more of those smiles, I thought.
Me? I just stood there, grinning like an idiot, and thinking that I needed to be careful in what I wished for.
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"I think that we all need to go to bed."
Betty grinned even bigger, Slim sputtered, and Joss turned even redder. Then I processed what I'd said, and -
"NO, THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEANT!" and Betty grinned even bigger, and Slim grinned, and Joss just stared and captured Betty's Cheshire Cat look.
"What I meant was, none of us have had more than a four-hour nap since we started, and I think that we all could use a good night's sleep." WHEW, NOW WAS IT A SAVE?
"You're right, Wade," Joss agreed with the smile. SAVE!
I started my goodnights by first walking to Betty and hugging her, shaking hands with Slim, and then standing directly in front of Joss.
"Joss?"
"Yes?"
"You're my hero," and I hugged her and, when I let her go, I stole a kiss. "Good night, hero," I smirked, and then turned and walked towards the exit door.
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I left the building and wandered on the ranch aimlessly for about 15 minutes, finding myself back at the front of the dining hall, where I ran into Ron.
"Ron! You look lost."
"Wade, you look like you went 12 rounds with Monkey Fist."
"Long story, Ron." I grinned. "Where's Rebecca Jane?"
"Wade, you've got a volunteer."
"?"
"Rebecca Jane wanted more of me than I was willing to give. I told her that Kim and I were getting real close, and she accepted that. Then, she wanted to know if you needed a full-time hand on your team; she said she something about being able to, and I quote, "shovel loads of imaginary Tornado output," whatever that means.
"What do you think, Ron?"
"Well if she's as good with her hands as she is with her lips,... Ron grinned wickedly.
"Ron, do I need to tell Kim about Rebecca Jane?"
"Only if I need to tell her about you and Joss, unless you've started a new habit of applying lipstick to your cheeks," and Ron's grin was even bigger. "Wade, welcome to the world of young love: you've been branded!"
I reached up and felt my cheek, then looked at my hand. It was true. Then I had a truly evil thought…
"I don't know, Ron, it looks like Betty's color," I replied.
Ron's jaw went about four feet underground.
"Don't worry, Ron, that's likely going to be Slim's problem, from now on," I said, jacking his jaw up to ground level.
"Slim? Mr. Dr. P and Dr. Director?" He was quiet for a moment, and then I knew that Ron was in the house:
"BOOYAH!" and his fist shot up to touch the sky.
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A/N
To my readers:
I'm going to close this story line out after a few more chapters, and I'll pick back up in a new line. Currently, I'm planning to start the next story with the assembly of the new team, training sessions and the first missions of the new "Team Possible II." When Joss tells me the new name, I'll let you know.
We're answered several of the questions from the end of Chapter 3, but there are still some questions outstanding, and the new ones are coalescing nicely.
Here's what we know, so far:
Do Betty and Slim know each other? Well, yes, they do!
What did Betty do to Wade; she seemed to approves, so everything must be ok, right? Things are much better after the last few chapters: Betty has blackmail material, and she's also seen Wade grow up in the span of an hour.
Is Wade going to have all of the Drs. P and Kim and Ron and the tweebs and Rufus to deal with while he's "working"? Kim's cooking: break out the Hazmat suits and alert the National Poison Control Center (and say a prayer for Nana Possible)!
What is Joss really thinking? She likes Wade, but does she likelike him? Even more importantly, she knows he's got her back now.
What happened to Joss' mom? We've seen that.
What about Mr. Dr. S? What is he going to think of this? Slim is ok with this, and even more so after this chapter.
Wade knew that this wouldn't be easy, but just how hard is it going to be? Pretty darn hard…but it looks like it's going to be fun, as well…
What we don't know:
Is Ron still scared of Tornado? Are Kim and Ron going to have a very happy summer?
How far is the impact of what's she has remembered going to push Joss and Slim and Betty?
What about Ron and Rebecca Jane Casey: Is she going to cause problems for Ron and Kim, and is Kim going to go medieval on both Rebecca Jane and Ron or only Ron?
What is Slim going to tell Squirt and Anne about what he's learned today?
What is Betty going to do (and, more importantly, What will Global Justice do) with this newly-learned information?
What about Slim and Betty?
And, even more importantly, will Betty stand up DuffKilliganFan this weekend for Slim?
Stay tuned for chapter 7: Meet Up Yonder, and please read and review.