Jack was ready to go to the dojo to start punching things out. Ever since Kim told him about the sleepover, he was on the edge. It wasn't simply waiting for the eventual sex, it was also knowing that they would be moving into a very serious stage. It was already very serious between them, but this would be monumental. And it would be Kim's first time, so he tried to calm his own nerves about it.

It was the end of classes and he walked to the lockers hoping to see Kim before she left shopping with girls. He was already on the way, when Lindsay approached him.

"Jack, do you have a minute?" He really didn't want to talk to her, but politeness and residual guilt for the putdown made him stop and nod at her to go on. "I thought we should talk, clear the air, so to speak... I know you are dating now..." Her face looked clam, but the slight flare of nostrils betrayed her opinion on the situation. "And I accept that. I just hope we could remain friends, you know? Since we have so many common friends..." She stopped, looking at him earnestly. A little too earnestly...

"OK. That's good. So, see you around?" He just wanted to leave, uncomfortable with the situation. He was already walking, when she made a move as if to touch his hand and only his glare prevented that. "What?" He said none too politely now.

"Oh, just that you bike is great and it suits you. Must be another gift from your dad?" Lindsay smiled, crinkling her nose and it definitely looked forced. Weary he nodded his head and started to move again, when Jerry came down barreling down the hall.

"Jack! Kim... Sick... Lockers..." He panted and shouted as he kept moving and Jack took off running, heart hammering in his chest and panic setting in.

When he rounded the corner to the lockers, he saw the large crowd and he cleaved through them, blindly pushing people out of the way to finally burst at the epicenter, where he saw an incomprehensible picture: Kim was on the ground, pale and unmoving, her hair a halo around her head, and Milton kneeling beside her fishing through her backpack.

He kept moving, his legs carrying him to them and automatically he called her name. Milton's head whipped up and he started speaking in rapid staccato, "Allergic reaction. Bees. I need her EpiPen. She said her bag."

Jack heard it, but it didn't quite register, so he called her again, "Kim... Kim... KIM!" The last shout got her attention because she opened her eyes and he fell to his knees, pushing Milton out of the way. She was pale, except for two spots on her cheeks that were flushed bright pink and her eyes looked glassy with dilated pupils. But it was when she opened her mouth and the most horrible wheezing, hissing noise came out, that he realized that she was barely breathing. She croaked and sort of exhaled a whispered Jack and then her eyes rolled back and she fainted.

For a brief moment, all noise fell away and he only saw her face, looking peaceful and pretty, her hair splayed in the floor. She must be uncomfortable, he thought distractedly, and moved closer and pulled her head on his lap, smoothing away the hair. "Kim. Kim. Kim" He whispered to her convinced that she would hear him again and would come to.

"Jack, she fainted. She can't... We need that epinephrine right now or she..."

He recoiled as the sound and awareness of the situation rushed at him in one wave and Milton's words lashed through him like an electric current.

"Shut up!" Jack hissed at Milton, who had the decency to look away guiltily.

Just then a school nurse stormed in, oxygen mask at the ready. She immediately put it on Kim's face and then elevated her feet by putting them on Milton's backpack.

Milton, who now held Kim's bag upside down and poured the contents on the floor.

Her beloved books, pens, a wallet, lipstick, and much more fell clattering to the ground. What was missing was the double tube of syringes filled with epinephrine. Jack was holding Kim's cold hand, her head now resting in his lap. His own hands trembling and his eyes darted from her face to Milton, who kept shaking the bag, hoping that there were some inside pockets yet to be emptied.

"Where is that syringe, damn…"

"Doesn't she have an EpiPen? I know she does. It's in her records." The nurse asked disbelievingly. "No matter, I have my own..." She fished out the pen and wrestled one tube out.

She scooted over to the where Kim's legs rested and explained, "I need to inject it in her thigh..." Nurse was uncapping the pen as she spoke and without much preamble, she rammed the needle into Kim's leg, who didn't even flinch.

Nurse held Kim's other wrist to count the pulse. Frowning, she went for another pen and Jack's heart seemed to skip the beat. The second needle went in and once again the nurse checked the pulse.

"Pulse is thready, but its there," she breathed out but still didn't move a millimetre, "I called EMT. They should be here any minute now..."

As on command, he heard loud steps of multiple people and EMT stepped through rolling a gurney in tow.

"Severe anaphylactic shock. Double dose administered. We need to locate the sting site. Bee's venom is an allergen," Nurse was stating matter-of-factly and EMT were putting the IV, pulse check and oxygen check on Kim.

"BP is low, pulse is rapid and thready. Oxygen sat is at 83 percent. We might need to intubate if it drops lower."

She was not breathing enough on her own. He was momentarily shocked to think that something so basic as breathing was beyond Kim's abilities now. He did not want to think what would it mean if she didn't start breathing on her own. He wiped his hand over his mouth, crushing panic coming back. Had anyone ever felt so useless when their loved one was fighting for breath?

He watched the men work over his girl, his ears still buzzing.

One of them pushed Jack gently away and they put Kim on the gurney in a practiced move. They are taking her, the thought flashed through his mind.

"I am coming with her." He said and all of the adults looked at him for a second.

"Sorry, kid. Only next of kin. But, I'll go with her. Don't worry." The nurse said sympathetically and the group walked away in a hurry, leaving behind a mass of agitated teens and two friends still on the floor.

Jack sat there for another moment, hands feeling strangely empty, now that he had no one to hold.

Kim is on the way to the hospital after nearly suffocating. Because she had an allergic reaction. To bees. Why were the bees here?

"What happened here, Milton?" He asked and hardly recognized his own voice, it sounded low and gritty.

"It seems that Kim opened the locker and several bees flew out. She tried to move, but apparently one of them stung her and, well, you know the rest."

"Why..." Jack did get to finish the statement. Someone targeted Kim. He felt his inside turn to ice and the fury that he felt at the moment pumped his heart harder and he involuntarily clenched his fist. Who? Who did that?

"I wonder too. She should have had her EpiPen on her and its strange that bees were here in winter. It seems oddly specific. As if someone knew..." Milton stopped his musings and shook his head, "No. It can't be. That is reckless." He looked at Jack and something in his face must have been alarming, because Milton quickly followed, "Jack, we don't know anything yet. Not why bees were here, nor why her EpiPen was missing. Let's not jump to conclusions."

The excited chatter of students around them broke off, when he heard Julie loudly say, "You what?!"

Both he and Milton got up to look at her to see her squaring off against Frank and Randy, "You put the bees in Jack's locker?" Julie was pointing index finger at both boys and slowly advancing on them, her face flushed and uncharacteristically angry. "Why?"

The two idiots did not get the chance to answer, as Jack simply grabbed Frank by the shirt front and hissed in his face, "Yeah, why?" His despair and helplessness transforming into rage that finally had a focus.

"Dude, it was a joke meant for you... Really, we didn't..." Frank did not get to finish because Jack swung his right hand back and punched him straight on the nose, hearing a satisfactory crunch. Frank grunted in pain and his head lolled back a little, but Jack pulled him back by the shirt front and repeated the action, this time angling for the eye. He did it again and again and again, until Frank stopped making noises and his entire body sagged and Jack let him drop to the floor in one heap.

There was eerie silence in the hall, as if the entire student body held their breath.

His body still buzzing with anger and need for action, he turned to Randy, who stood slack jawed with wide eyes. Jack took three steps in his direction and Randy, apparently the survival instinct kicking in, tried to turn around and leave, but Jerry and Milton stood behind him shoulder to shoulder and when Randy turned back, Jack was already looming over him.

"Listen, Jack. We really did not know she was allergic. It was a joke. For you. Its your locker. We didn't know... Please, I swear, we didn't know. And they said..."

Randy was pleading holding hands up and Jack felt savage satisfaction from this, even as his anger was growing with each stupid word that boy uttered.

Kim could not breath enough on her own.

His hand rose in front and he grabbed the other boy by his throat squeezing it a little. Randy's hands flew to up to try to dislodge it, but Jack held on tight and gave one hard kick the side of Randy's knee, which buckled with a snap and it made him crumple a little. Randy howled in pain and was now half-kneeling and holding onto Jack's wrist more for balance than to actually get Jack to let go.

"Do you think it's funny, Randy? When the air does not come in, no matter how much you try? Do you think she'd laugh at this joke? Tell me!" He shouted into boy's face, giving his throat another squeeze. "Oh, that's right you can't speak. There isn't air to make words. Who told you to put bees in my locker? You are too stupid to come up with this on your own..."

Randy's face was turning redder and his eyes were watery and when Jack relaxed his hold, Randy sobbed out, "It's Donna and Lindsay... They said you are afraid of bees and it would be funny to take a black belt down a notch. Please... It was a joke... We didn't know..." He dissolved into sobbing.

Shock made Jack let go of the sniveling boy, who dropped on the floor holding his knee and gulping air.

Jack turned around in search of the two culprits, but they were not in the crowd and his eyes trained on one of the cheerleaders. "Where are they?" he asked the poor girl gravelly and she stared at him like he was a monster and she was incapable of speech. "TELL ME!"

She jumped up and shook her head, "I... d-d-don't k-k-know..."

With a roar he turned around and kicked the nearby locker making the metal groan and bend.

"Stop that, Jack!" A stern voice made him turn and look at the Principal, who finally arrived a the scene. "You are in so much trouble, young man!"

Jack laughed, bitter and disgusted, the roller-coaster of emotions making him light-headed, "Of course, Principal." He spoke softly and politely, as walked slowly towards the man. "Once you figure out exactly how much trouble I am in, come and find me." Jack stopped toe to toe with the man and looked him directly in the eye. "I'll be in the hospital. Where Kim is fighting for her life, because of these four clowns. But, of course, Sir, by all means, I will wait for your decision."

He turned on his heel and left to go to the hospital.


Jack arrived at the hospital holding himself under control and wishing he could hit someone or something again. He called Kim's dad and hated every minute of that conversation, because Mr. Crawford's voice broke a little when he repeated Kim in disbelief. He hung up on Jack abruptly, not that Jack cared. He was still waiting, when Julie and Milton showed up and he was startled to see Julie's red eyes.

"How is she?" The red head asked and Jack was unhappy to tell her that they wouldn't give him any information so they had to wait for Kim's dad.

Julie sat next to him and simply took his hand, squeezing it hard. "She'll be fine. I know she will be. She is so strong... And she is my friend."

He was embarrassingly choked up and silently squeezed Julie's hand back.

"Uncle Ty is livid. Frank's mom was notified. By the way, you broke his nose and his face is kind of one giant bruise now. And I think Randy's knee is dislocated. At first, Frank's mom and uncle were all in a strop over you beating up Frank, but once they learned what happened... You know that Uncle and Mr. Crawford are sort of friendly. And Uncle likes Kim, knows her very well now. He is torn now. Frank's mom is really worried that Kim's dad will press charges against Frank and Randy. It looks really bad. Even if they did not know about allergies."

Jack's head spun a little: he didn't stop to think about any of this until now. Could he be expelled for apparently breaking other student's nose and beating them up? Could he end up arrested for assaulting two students? He dismissed that as unimportant for now.

"What about those cheer-leading cu.. cows?' he asked refraining from the foul word in the last moment.

Julie recoiled as if she heard the curse word anyway. "Their families have been contacted. The whole school is buzzing. The cheer squad coach is now interrogating everyone on the squad to see who knew what. Milton confirmed that Kim's EpiPen was missing and they checked her and yours lockers to see if it just was misplaced... If they can prove that girls took the EpiPen and told Frank and Randy to set the bees, it is very-very serious matter. Police may get involved."

Good, he thought with vicious glee, let them suffer. They deserve it all for nearly killing Kim.

His violent thoughts were interrupted when he heard a phone ringing. They all looked at their devices, but none were ringing. Finally, Julie pulled her bag out, "it's Kim's.i brought her phone, keys and wallet..." She grabbed the phone Kim's phone, "it's someone called Zoe... Should I answer?"

Jack grabbed the phone and answered it, "Mom," he managed to say and stopped because he didn't trust his voice.

In the end, his mother chose to come as well, because she cared about "that lovely girl, Jack, don't argue with me."

When Mr. Crawford showed up and the three friends explained the situation, Jack was actually amazed to see the transformation of the quiet and somber man into a hard and determined fighter. He marched to the nurse's station and demanded the update. He also called the school and demanded to see the principal about the 'nearly fatal incident that occurred on your watch.' He also warned the school to be ready with full explanation of what measures were being taken against the perpetrators of this heinous attack that almost cost his daughter's life. He looked collected and cold and in some ways reminded Jack of his his own father.

When the doctor came out to talk to them, Mr. Crawford already thanked Jack for doing his part "to teach those hooligans their lesson." Julie did not hold back in describing Jack's punishment of the two idiots. In her rendition, he was an avenging angel, who basically broke the boys and caused tremendous fear an respect in the rest of student population. Julie was sure that no one would even think to look at Kim again with anything other than total respect.

Doctor reassured them that Kim was doing better and did not need intubation. She was still on oxygen mask and her airways were back to normal. She was unconscious, but her vitals were good and she merely was resting now, which often happens after the delivery of the massive dose of stimulant. It turned out she stung in two places on her arm and it made the reaction so severe. They drained both sites. She'd need some antibiotics for where they lanced the skin and to prevent infection.

Kim's father went to see her and the three friends settled again to wait for him to come back. It was then that Jack's parents showed up. He was surprised to see his father, but it became clear why he was there fairly soon. The school contacted him about the events of this afternoon.

"Do you understand, Jack, that if those kids press charges, getting expelled is the least of your worries? That you'd be charged with assault and battery? What were you thinking?" His father was telling him and the disappointment in his face would have been devastating several months ago. Now, now, Jack had very little regrets about his actions.

"I am OK with that. Their stupid prank nearly cost Kim her life. I think they have their own problems now, beside broken bones." Jack said unapologetic and grimly satisfied with the beat down.

"I never knew you to be so... so... impulsive. I was right, this girl is not good for you. Look at all the troubles she's causing."

"You made your opinion on Kim perfectly clear. And I made mine clear too. No need to revisit it. You do not need to be here. I am an adult and if I am in legal trouble, I will get the representation. You can go back to being efficient in business." Jack said dismissively and kept a steady gaze on his father.

He might have been mistaken, but he thought he saw a real hurt in his father's eyes. He blinked away the expression and settled on was a mix of exasperation and regret. "I am your father, Jack. Worrying about you is what I do. I am here because I want to. I hope you know that. It would seem that I have not been showing that to you a lot, but I l... love you, son."

Jack stood there shocked at the vulnerable and open expression that he has not seen on his father before. His mom was holding father's hand and squeezing it.

Jack was still processing this development, when Mr. Crawford came back.

His face was angry and when he saw he hugged Jack around his shoulders. "Thank you son. You cannot know how much she means to me. She is the only one of my family left and I..." He trailed off, swallowing hard. "I will be dealing with the school and all those kids. I may be rusty, but I still remember how to use law to maximum advantage. They won't know what hit them. And listen, son, if you are in any trouble because you beat those boys up, let me know. I have a few friends in criminal law field, who owe me favors. We'll get you the best representation. And I know you are an adult, but do not talk to authorities without me or a lawyer present, understand?"

Jack stood a little surprised to see this side of Mr. Crawford, although, come to think of it, he never asked what Mr. Crawford did for a living. He obviously wasn't the only one surprised, because his father came out of his shock and thrust his hand to Mr. Crawford, "I am Christopher Brewer, Jack's father. This is his mother, Zoe. You must be Kim's father?"

Kim's dad shook his father's hand and, after sparing Jack a long glance, said, "I am. Michael Crawford. And I must commend you on raising such a remarkable young man. I came to know him well and I am glad that he has Kim's back."

His father gave a curt nod and the two men went on to talk about best criminal lawyers in the area and soon were exchanging business cards and information. His mom came up to him and hugged him tight. "All will be well, darling, you'll see."

For once he believed her.


When Kim woke up, she was tucked in a blanket with an IV line ending in her hand, an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose and a throat that felt like she had tried to eat sandpaper. Bees in Jack's locker. She couldn't help but chuckle softly. What an irony – she thought she would be safer using his locker and instead she ended up lying in a hospital bed. Her chuckling raised the attention of Jack, who was sitting by her bedside in the most uncomfortable chair she ever saw. And she knew the hospital chairs intimately now.

"Hey. Are you feeling better? I'm so, so sorry, Kim."

She opened her mouth and then realized she had the mask on. She moved her hand to take it off, only to stop to see that her forearm and beyond had been bandaged. Ahh... must be the sting site.

"Hey don't talk yet. Just nod. OK." Jack was hovering and holding her non-injured hand.

She nodded if only to settle him.

He sat back on the chair, his torso stretched to keep hold of her hand and the other hand combing through her hair. She was a little self-conscious: she must look a sight. But once she stopped fretting over that she noticed that Jack was still troubled and his right hand had swollen knuckles. She caught it with her own and took a closer look. Clearly, he hit something. Or someone.

She lifted her eyes at him and raised an eyebrow in question.

"Its nothing." She continued looking at him and he winced. "OK, that is not entirely true." He was silent for a second, "Randy and Frank put bees in my locker."

Oh... And he obviously had 'talked' to them. Unbelievable... But it did not make sense: why bees in his locker? He must have seen her confusion.

"They thought it would spook me because they were told I am afraid of bees." It still made no sense. Jack continued, obviously struggling to hold his temper, if the tight hold on her hand was any indication. "Lindsay... Donna... they told the idiots, who were eager for revenge after the fight at Phil's. Only the idiots did not know you were allergic, but those two sick cheerleading fucks did." The curse was so unexpected from Jack, who generally spoke somewhat formally for a teenager, that Kim was more shocked by the language, than the actual meaning of words.

She removed the mask off her face and tried to speak, immediately regretting it, as her dry and raw throat hurt. She coughed a little and Jack, alarmed, grabbed a glass of water with a straw for her. "You really should not talk just yet," he chided gently holding the glass as she drank.

"It's okay," Kim croaked and took another sip of the water, before he started talking again, "Did... you?"

Dear God, was that her voice? It hadn't been her first allergic reaction by far, but it hadn't been that severe for a long time. Most of the times, she had avoided bees. She hasn't been bitten since she was a tween. The last time it had happened, she had her mom nearby and the EpiPen shot came before Kim could even vocalize the need.

This time it was worse and her body felt sore all over, but especially her throat. She coughed again and held her hand to the chest, feeling a little too winded. Jack was hovering again and now settled on the bed, rubbing her other hand and looking troubled.

"Did you do anything to them?" she managed hoarsely, wincing at the discomfort.

He looked down and when he lifted his head his eyes were hard and determined, "They deserved it. You could not breathe, Kim... You..." he trailed off and she was shocked and moved by his obvious distress. She squeezed his hand.

"I am OK now, Jack. I am fine."

"But you almost weren't... They deserve everything that is coming their way. I... I... I almost lost you. Kim, I.. I... don't think..." He said first vehemently and then changing to soft and gentle voice and was holding her hand tightly.

They were silent for a while, Jack still very much under stress, holding her hand and kissing it occasionally, his other hand brushing through her hair. She almost stopped breathing, this time because of the palpable love that she felt coming from him in his actions, his looks, his tenderness. If she ever had doubts about him and his feelings, the way he was now removed them completely. And she reveled in this knowledge, still unsure how that happened that this proud, strong and remarkable young man came to love her. She didn't even notice tears running down her face, until Jack moved to wipe them away. "I am here. Always," she whispered and his head turned quickly, his eyes looking at her intently.

"Promise?" he whispered with a smile.

"Promise," she responded.