Happiness

Kimberly Anne Possible woke as the sunrise broke gently through her window; she blinked rapidly as she adjusted to the light. She sat up and stretched widely while stifling a yawn; her toned and sculpted body rippling gently beneath her silk nightshirt.

She padded softly across her lavish suite and stood in front or the large, floor-to-ceiling windows drinking in the magnificent view of the city being bathed in morning's first light.

She could see the sparkling towers and spires of the Citadel around her, she herself in the highest spire; only He had quarters above hers, but it still made her feel special.

It had been three years since He came to power, crime was almost non-existent, unemployment was rare. Even pollution was a thing of the past; cheap clean power had been only one of His gifts to the world. Along with a myriad of high technology; hover-cars, force fields and bionics were now reasonably common. The world was a practical utopia…

The fact that He was a ruthless dictator was the only blight on His record.

She had resisted Him at first, leading a rebellion as He took over state after state, country after country. Global Justice hadn't even lasted a month; He had been planning his takeover for a long time, and had corrupted and infiltrated every level of security. She had been there when He simply strolled into the secret GJHQ, extended a friendly greeting then shot Dr Betty Director in the face three times before strolling out again… completely unopposed.

She and her rebellion had managed to evade him for almost a year, launching various attacks and skirmishes. He had seen through every one of their plots; laying counter-plots, traps and ambushes. Every attack had heavy casualties for the rebellion; deaths, injuries and captures. But she had always gotten away, battered and bruised, the occasional broken rib, but she had always gotten away. He had always let her escape, to try again.

In the end it was betrayal from within that brought the rebellion down. Wade Load, one of her closest friends, had sold them out. He had even stabbed his girlfriend Joss in the stomach while everyone watched, held helplessly in His enforcers' grasp. To this day Kim didn't know if her cousin had survived, they had simply left her there, bleeding on the ground, a look of betrayal etched on her face.

After capture came punishment. Some of her friends and companions, Monique, Bonnie, Brick and Felix included, had been executed. In public. Most of the others were fitted with something that seemed to be a cross between a Neural Compliance Chip and a Moodulator. The worst thing about the Chipped was that some of them didn't even know that they were chipped, so believed that they were acting of their own free will.

He had taken a much more personal approach with her; emotional and psychological torture. Trapping her in complete darkness for days before flashing powerful strobe lights in her face. Sleep deprivation, crappy food when she 'misbehaved'. Altering the temperature in her cell, alternating between extreme heat and extreme cold daily. He even upped to level of oxygen in her cell when He visited her; slowly training her subconscious to equate His presence with a sense of euphoria.

She always reacted to His visits in some fashion. Sometimes she attacked Him, yelled at Him. Sometimes she cried, sometimes she begged Him to let her go. Sometimes she even completely ignored him. But one day she had done something that she couldn't even believe; she had kissed Him. It was swift and chaste, but it was still a kiss.

She was disgusted with herself.

She was falling for the Bastard that had killed so many, and enslaved countless more. He had tormented her for months in this infernal cell. He had killed her friends and loved ones. She hated him with every fibre of her being, yet she wanted to kiss him again. She wanted it so much it hurt.

Classic Stockholm Syndrome. But just because she recognised what was happening didn't mean she could stop it from happening; she was falling in love with the tyrant who, by now, owned the world.

Over the next few weeks she discovered that such affectionate behaviour towards her captor was rewarded; a decent nights sleep, edible food, reduced torment and even a blanket. On the other hand, less than affectionate behaviour equated to hell on earth.

She didn't know exactly when she had 'broken', it seemed more of a gradual thing; her resolve gently crumbling over the months she was trapped there. She even found herself looking forward to His visits, and worrying if He was late. Without even noticing it, her entire world began to revolve around Him, but strangely she didn't mind; she was in love with Him. For better or worse.

She was pulled from her thoughts by a soft chime from the door as it slid open, revealing the man she had been daydreaming about.

She bowed slightly towards Him; "Good morning, Master." She spoke before straightening, giving Him a genuinely warm smile.

He chuckled gently as he replied, "Good morning, Kimberly." He had never instructed her to call Him 'Master', but it always amused him when she did. It was an accurate description after all.

"You missed breakfast. Is everything okay?"

She blinked in surprise and spun around to check the clock; Nine a.m. she had been staring out the window for nearly two hours. She had kept him waiting for nearly two hours.

"I... I… I'm sorry! I didn't… didn't mean to…" she stammered nervously, tears forming in the corners of her eyes. But He cut her short with a gentle kiss that made her want to melt.

"I'm not upset, Kim, just worried. Is everything okay?" she blushed as she saw nothing but concern in His warm, brown eyes

"Uh, yeah… I was just… just daydreaming, that's all…"

"Heh… okay then," He chuckled gently again as her stomach grumbled, "how about you get dressed then we go get you something to eat. Sound good, KP?"

She smiled at her old nickname, bowed again and retreated to her en-suite to get cleaned up.

It was strange, she thought. She was little more than a slave to Him, but He always showed so much kindness and compassion to her. She could tell that He genuinely cared for her.

At the same time He was a vicious and ruthless dictator; emperor of the world. But the world prospered beneath his iron fist. Sure He killed people occasionally, sometimes just because He was bored, but nobody's perfect. And it was still far better under His reign than the anarchy before Him. And for all His faults, she loved Him.

It wasn't the most conventional of relationships, but then again they had never exactly been normal.

And none of it mattered to her; she was happy.

I'm not exactly sure where this came from, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

-DarkSeraphic