TITLE: The Sting of the Past (part 5 of 5 + epilogue)
AUTHOR: trista groulx aka dustyiger
RATING: T PG-13 same as the show
DISCLAIMER: these characters are not mine, i have lovingly borrowed them, and will make no money from this fic, they belong to their creator, NBC and the actors and actresses who portray them i also do not own the trademark of Starbucks, please don't sue all you'll get is debt!
TIMELINE: after Bobby dies, and Jimmy sues for custody of Joey
SUMMARY: Jimmy gets a call from Kim while trying to patch things up with Brooke telling him she's in trouble. He soon realises his gambling problems have put the woman he loves at risk. Can he find her in time, or will Brooke shoot him first?
AUTHOR'S NOTES: so this is the before last part, and then there is an epilogue i felt the need to add i hope you like it

All Kim could smell was smoke. She was starting to feel like she was in a tomb, buried alive and waiting for whoever had taken her to kill her, slowly. She wanted to be positive about Jimmy trying to find her, but that hope had faded when her cell phone had died. She tried to get it back on but there was no power left in it.

She was almost certain that the knocking on the door had been Jimmy, but she hadn't heard anything else. It felt like hours had gone by since she had heard the knocking. Her claustrophobia was getting the better of her, and she knew it. She didn't know how Jimmy was planning on getting her, but part of her was expecting there to be noise involved.

She started to doubt that she had actually even heard Jimmy knocking. Maybe it had been someone else, and now she had no way of telling him when she heard another sound. Kim wondered if she would see her son again. As much as she wanted to see Jimmy she wanted to give Joey a hug and to tell him she loved him. She never thought that going out for a cup of coffee could turn out this badly.

Although she knew she still loved Jimmy, it hurt a little to admit it. She wanted to move past him, he had caused her, and Joey, so much pain. Now everything was out in the open, and he had inadvertently gotten her hurt again. Even still all she wanted was to feel his arms around her. She felt safe there it was the only place that felt like home since she had lost Bobby.

A part of her also wanted to know why Brooke had been at her house, scaring Joey and Miranda. She didn't want to start thinking that she had another chance with Jimmy when he was back with his new wife she had promised herself she would not be that kind of woman again. She didn't want to have to deal with the pain of loosing Jimmy again after everything else that had happened, but she knew that everything that he had told her could be just Jimmy being the same old Jimmy. She could not fall for that Jimmy again she needed something healthy and good for not only them but also for Joey.

She once again tried in vain to get her phone on, and let out a small, frustrated, sob. She felt defeated and left for dead. She then heard something, it sounded like the door closing. Her heart started to race she wasn't sure if she should feel excited or scared. It could be Jimmy to come help her, but it could also be the person who had put her there, there to hurt her more.

She was glad to see the door to the closet open, mostly because that door being opened relieved her claustrophobia. The relief was short lived when she saw the man from the cab, when she wanted it to be Jimmy on the other side of the door. He helped her to her feet, since she was unable to stand in the closet. She felt a little better until he took her hands and tied them gently.

"I'm sorry Kim," he said, softly.

Kim didn't want to cry in front of him, but she couldn't help it. She was sure that he was going to do something terrible to her. Tears just fell down her face. He handed her a Kleenex, and she wiped eyes, and blew her nose. She still felt a few tears though. She was terrified that she would never see Joey or Jimmy again. If he took her somewhere else she had no way of telling him.

"You're going to have to compose yourself if you're gonna see your husband."

"What?" she asked, she was shocked.

"Well I don't want you going off and getting me arrested, so I just need to make sure that you can only move your feet until we get to where we are going." He was leading her out of the apartment complex.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to where we started. I'm sorry about that guy at coffee shop. He's a good guy. I might have even set you up with him if you weren't already in love."

"Who are you?"

"I'll tell you the same thing I told Jimmy when I met him. I'm a guy that likes to help people any way I can. I'm like a grandfather, but I get pissed off when I'm losing money trying to help someone. I lost a lot of money on him."

Kim looked at him strangely as opened the door to a limousine, and forced her inside. "So why did you do this to me?"

"Sometimes if I can't get money back I can find another way. I like to make people sweat, so they know I mean business. I watched him long enough to know he'd never have enough to pay me back. He's got a kid to support, and some old friends that are only in it for the money, so I decided to help him find the love of his life. It gave me something to do, and was worth more than then the money he owed me."

"What?"

"Well that's you. It was fun to watch him sweat a little, but in the end I want my friends to be happy, even if they don't always know what they want. We're here. Get out."

The limousine stopped, and someone else opened the door, as the bookie untied her hands. She got out and the car pulled away. Kim stood there stunned for a moment, half expecting someone else to grab her. She looked at the Starbucks, and could see Jimmy in the window, so she went inside. She needed to touch someone to make sure that it wasn't all a nightmare.

Meanwhile Jimmy knew he had no other choice then to go back to the place all of this had started. He went back and ordered himself a decaf, as his nerves were shot. He needed to see Kim walking through that door. Time seemed to be standing still while he waited. He always hated waiting, and this was the worst feeling in the world. He kept checking the time, each time only second passed.

He started to think of the good times he and Kim had shared, and wanted nothing more then to get a second chance with her. He never realized before that night how much he wanted to be a family with her and Joey, and he hoped that he would get that chance once all of this was over.

He heard the door open, and like he had every time it opened his neck snapped to look to see who was coming in. His jaw dropped when he saw who came through the door. He stood up and went toward the door.

"Kimmy," he said, wrapping his arms around her, his head falling near her shoulder, as he took in the smell of her. "I'm sorry."

She hugged him back, glad to be enveloped in him. "You found me."

He never wanted to let her go it felt so good to have her in his arms again. He knew he would have to come clean. He felt guilty that she looked a little frazzled. It was his fault that she had to go through this. He took a deep breath, taking in the scent of her; she smelled like cinnamon and vanilla. That smell always brought him home.

"It's my fault this happened. I thought I had it under control. I'm so sorry I got you hurt," he whispered his face in her hair.

"He didn't hurt me. He just scared me." She assured him, as she took in his scent which reminded her of a forest with mixed with smoke. He always smelled slightly like smoke to her.

He kissed her cheek gently. "I'm just happy you're here, that this didn't go on any longer. Did you mean what you said on the phone?"

She nodded. "Did you?"

"Yes, I didn't realize how much until I thought I could lose you."

She leaned over and nervously kissed him, putting her hand on his face. She relaxed a little as soon as she touched him. It felt nice to be grounded again. It felt like it was really over because she had him close. Kim never wanted to let him go, it felt so right to be wrapped up in him again.

"How about we get you home?" he suggested. "I promised Joey that you'd give him a hug when you got in if he went to bed right away."

"Home is a good idea. Well I'm glad he expects a hug because he was gonna get some as soon as I got through the door"

The put his hand on her back and lead her outside. He went toward where he parked his car, and sighed. He couldn't believe that it was gone. He left if there not even an hour earlier. Just then his phone rang again, a chill went up his spine when he saw the same number which had been calling all night.

"Now we're even. You have great taste in women and in cars."

end part 5