Jack was ... mad ... restless ... irritated ... ready to beat things and people up ... He was terrified.

When Kim, and then later her dad, told him about the test results, any hope he had that his suspicion and fear were just overreaction - ended. There was a certainty now that someone was out to hurt Kim. Someone was out to HURT KIM. And not just the kind of run-of-the-mill opponents they usually dealt with: the Black Dragons, occasional inept criminals, and pompous idiots. No, someone with the access to her. Someone with the knowledge of hows and wheres to acquire a poison (POISON!) to try to hurt her directly. And someone capable of physical cruelty to hurt an animal. Because Bobby was right, poison implied some willingness to put a distance between themselves and the consequences of their action. This act in particular was a clever one: it would shock and upset anyone, but Kim has been known for her love of animals... Jack dreaded what the next act by this person would be...

As much as he tried to avoid them, his thoughts went back to that moment in the gym, when Kim fainted and her breathing... the struggle to drag air... the paleness... the tubes that stuck out of her in the hospital... He could not stop himself even if tried... He needed to get this out of him... His worry and fear needed to be let out.

He was in the dojo, punishing himself with the workout that would normally get him winded, but now his feelings drove him onward like a relentless trainer. He only stopped when his hands and legs trembled and he could not even hold the bo staff steady. He stopped and slid down the wall onto the mats only now noticing that he had an audience - his friends and Rudy were in the dojo with him. Jerry looked slightly afraid, Rudy impressed, and Milton... Milton had the most damaging look on his face: it was pity and commiseration and understanding. The last one nearly broke him. He blinked a couple of times (even in his state he would not say that those were tears) and had to wait a minute before he could speak.

"What are you all doing here on Sunday?"

The all exchanged looks and then Milton said, "We heard about the lab results. We figured you'd be here." There was a moment of silence and then, "If you need anything from us, we are here."

Jack almost choked and ground out, "I don't know how to keep her safe! I don't know what they'll do next! OK, food we can try to control, but they might try something else entirely. We can't be just on the offensive. We need to find this guy and bring the fight to them."

The guys were silent again until Milton interjected again, "Jack, police and Jeremy are doing their part. We will be here to watch after her in the school and dojo. Bryn is working to figure out who is our messenger. We'll find them. You are not alone."

It may have been the exhaustion or the emotional turmoil, but it helped. Jack was a little calmer now.

Rudy perked up at the word about Bryn and messages. When Milton explained the situation with the hate messages that the three boys were getting, he insisted that his accounts be checked too.

Jack left them to it and went to check on Kim. He was so used to seeing her every day, that not seeing her for half of one made him miss her so much.

He was shocked to learn about Kim's new living arrangements. Shocked, but ultimately pleased. It made sense. Bobby's place was secure and at least the food intake would be controlled.


As Kim woke up on Monday morning she realized something exceptionally important. Though she and her mom had been very thorough in grabbing a great many things for her, she had not, in fact, brought any hygienic products. She usually was very regular, but this stressful situation must have triggered an early onset.

This was was a Problem. With a capital P. Ha, capital P. Here, she practically snorted at her own punny internal voice.

It's with tremendous grogginess that she dragged herself out of bed and fumbled through her purse. She was in luck and she had an emergency stash there, but she still needed that real stuff. She stumbled to the closet for clothes. Her mission, clearly, was supplies. And while she knew it was only a trip to the pharmacy and back, and that prior to her dubious fame she would have just thrown on her Seaford sweatshirt and some yoga pants before heading out, she was also aware that now she run the risk of ending up on the some internet website the second she stepped outside. So, she put forth more effort.

Being dressed nicely felt like armor in some ways, but it still didn't protect her. Not really. And while she might not like the new reality she was living in, she was also fully aware of what it meant. So, she was not about to go on a pharmacy run by herself. She knocked on Jeremy's door hesitantly. He opened almost immediately, dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants.

"You look like a Hollywood starlet this early in the morning. Was there a change of plans?" Jeremy asked by way of greeting.

"I have an unexpected need to run to the pharmacy," Kim confessed perching absurdly oversized sunglasses atop her head. She hoped she did not have to elaborate any further.

"Yeah, I get it," Jeremy says. "Gimmie five and we'll head over to the nearest CVS so you can get your stuff, k?" He sounded unruffled by this and she was grateful.

"You're a saint," Kim breathed, which earned a raised eyebrow and disbelieving stare from Jeremy. "I'm just grateful is all."

"It's cool," Jeremy nodded, and she swore that he was smirking a little.

Jeremy was ready quickly, as promised, and the two headedout in search of the CVS. There were no media, but Jeremy was still alert. Kim was pretty sure that soon the media would be fully aware of where she was living these days.

The pharmacy was quiet and empty this early in the morning and Kim was grateful that no one was staring or taking pictures of her. She grabbed her supplies, adding some chocolates to the basket only for Jeremy to take them out. She was still pouting when they passed a newsstand on the way to the register, and Kim stopped dead in her tracks.

Her face was everywhere... In magazines... Not online... But actually on paper...

"Don't let it bother you," Jeremy advised, following Kim's gaze.

"Right. Sure. Any advice on how to achieve that?" Kim asked dryly. "And, oh my god, seriously?"

She grabbed the worst of the tabloids - the National Enquirer - and picked it up, showing the front page to Jeremy.

Ricky and Jack Showdown over Seaford Sweetheart - who's the baby daddy?

There were photos. Grainy ones of her and Ricky in the music shop. At the fundraiser when she was whispering something to him. Her and Jack dancing. Her and Jack kissing. Jack and Ricky glaring at each other at the football game. Jack looming over her and taking those macaroons from her hands. There's also a shot of her in the corner in a little circle with an arrow pointed at her midsection. Kim made a mental note to watch her posture for like forever. Because, seriously, what?

"At least they called you a sweetheart?" Jeremy asked laughingly. "Come on, you know this is trash. Everyone knows this is trash."

"I just… ugh. Can we just get back, please?" Kim asked, tossing the rag back atop its pile of identical pieces of refuse masquerading as news.

They made it back without incident and find Jack already at Bobby's. He saw them and stood up looking concerned at their early trip outside.

"Hey, there you are," he said as she and Jeremy walked up.

"Do I look fat?" Kim asked with no preamble.

Jack froze. Because this question was a trap. Always. There was no right answer.

"What? No. Of course not," he said almost immediately, because hesitation on any response to this question was the worst idea ever.

"You'd tell me right?" Kim asked, glaring a little.

Jack couldn't quite figure out how this conversation has come about, but he was clearly uncomfortable with it.

"I can't lie to you," he responded. "You know that. What's this about?"

"Tabloids," Jeremy says, looking like she's relishing this conversation entirely too much.

"The National Enquirer thinks I'm pregnant either with your baby or Ricky's," Kim explained.

Jack's face goes from shock to disgust to jealousy in a blink of an eye and he finally ground out, "I… wasn't aware that media talked to Donna as their source of news," he said finally.

Kim was already checking her news alert and cursed out loud, "That rat! If I ever find out who that Eric guys is, I swear I would end him. You are gonna help me right?"

Jack nodded along and Jeremy looked alert. "What did this Eric do?"

"He is this reporter, I guess, more like a bottom-feeder, but he somehow hears or sees things that are sort of true about me and then spins and twists everything into this weird story. Like with Bobby. He was in the hospital and someone called me a Wasabi girl. Because I go to the Bobby Wasabi dojo. Then the article comes out where I am Kim Wasabi, the secret daughter of Bobby. Then, he heard about Ricky coming here couple of years ago and spun the story of the triangle. He also wrote abouy my exes and and now, somehow, he strung together the first poisoning, some vicious insults from my classmate, and that episode with macaroons at the fundraiser into a pregnancy story. Uhg, I hate this guy!" Kim was practically shouting by the end of her rant. "I never thought I'd say it, but I wish someone would have taken a picture of me this morning buying tampons," she finished and Jack stood there stunned and then blushed and looked away.

Jeremy took her phone from Kim and checked the artcile that seemed to have spawned others. He looked it through and then said, "we'll have to check this guy out. He seems to be focusing on Kim exclusively. He may not be our guy, but he is facilitating by giving so many details about your life." He left already dialing someone and Kim was once again reminded that she had bigger problems in her life than pregnancy rumors.

Jack, having overcome his discomfort over Kim's time of the month, came up to hug and kiss ber.

"Hey there, beautiful. Aside from the rumors and wanting to kill the guy, how are you? How was your first night at Bobby's?"

"Good. Weird. He is so accommodating, but also has no clue about house guests or, you know young girls. The food is good though and the bed is comfortable. And you? How are you?"

"Want to smash something. Want to throttle gossip mongers. Want to go back in time and never go to that tournament. Want to hide with you somewhere."

"Of all that I can only promise that we will spend time together. Although, I need to go change into something tight, so people don't believe the rumor."

"Just how tight are we talking about?"


Kim was prepared for the whispering and ogling, so she took it all in stride. Jeremy and Jack followed her at school and no one was daring to approach her. At cheer practice, when Donna tried to sneer at her, Kim, still very mad at everything, got into Donna's face and hissed, "if I find out that you blabbed your big mouth to that reporter, I'll sue you both for libel. You didn't even think, you stupid bitch, that saying that either Jack or Ricky got me pregnant, can get them in trouble? I am underage, and Ricky is over 18. Have you though of that, Donna? You cross me and I'll send Ricky's lawyers your way. You say anything to me or about me, and I will sort out myself. Got it?"

Later, at the dojo, Kim got a message from Grace to check the Facebook. Weary she looked at it and burst out laughing. There on the cheer squad and school's Facebook pages were pictures from the practice. Kim as front and center and it was obvious that her stomach was as flat as always. She added the picture to her Twitter and Instagram with a caption: "Hard at work. New cheer routine is tough!"

She had a lot more nasty comments since the latest article. Some simply called her a whore, and others elaborated on her conniving ways, but she shrugged it off. No one wished she died, so it was good.

Later, she got a Google alert and when she checked it, she quietly thanked God: there was a TMZ blurb about her pharmacy run with the tampon box prominently displayed. The blrub had a picture from the practice as well. The tagline was "the rumors of teen pregnancy must be untrue."

She finally got to Bobby's and found her parents there. Their faces were serious and her mom clearly had cried. Defective Jones was there too. She and Jack came in and she almost took a step back. She was grateful for Jack's hand on hers.

"What happened?" She managed.

"Kim, baby, someone left the note on our doorstep," her mom said. After swallowing hard, she continued, "it said that we can't hide you. That they know that your dad has you."

Kim sat down and looked at them all again, "they mean Bobby? So they know I am here? They just can't get in here. So, Jeremy was right, I should stay here. What about you guys? Would you be safe?"

Defective Jones answered her, "you are right about most of it, Ms. Crawford. We believe that you parents are fine. This person is focused on you. We are working on the note. Hopefully, it would lead to something. In the meantime, we will post uniforms on the street around your home and here. Between police and your private security you should be safe. I, of course, urge you to be cautious. I would also recommend to cut down the amount of time you are out in the unsecured places. Your school is a necessity and the dojo is fine, but the hospital, shelter and that place you take vocal lessons are not very secure and you should consider dropping those activities for a while."

Jeremy, Jack and her parents were all nodding along and she felt the beginning of the infamous Kim temper explosion swirl inside her. They could not possibly ask her to change her life, to hide? Before she could explode on them, she got the call. It was the studio. Like on an autopilot she answered. "Ms. Crawford? We want you to come for an additional audition. When is a good time?"

She hung up, promising to call back, and looked at the roomful of people and asked, "what about travel? I need to go to LA. Soon..."

Jack and her mom had hopeful expressions on their faces. "It's the studio?" "A call back?" They said almost simultaneously.

The defective was silent, thinking, and Jeremy fairly jumped in, "this could be good. LA is big. You with security won't stand out. If we keep it quiet, you stalker would be looking for you here, in Seaford. You'd be out of school and we need to have a decent cover for your absence..."

"I can help here," Bobby told them dramatically. "We know that Kim is being photographed a lot. We need to have an outing with Kim, myself, and her parents. It should be public enough, without being too obvious. There, we can stage a little tiff with me demanding that Kim attend a private school or have private tutors. It would play into this idea that she is my daughter. Then, when you are not at school, people would think I won the argument. The only drawback is that it will all but cement the rumor about me being your dad. What do you think?"

They sat silent for a while, processing the idea. Kim could see that most of them were coming around. Her mom looked very pensive and Kim knew that along with the rumor about her parentage, her mom's reputation would be all but ruined as well. She was about to say something, when her mother said, "Booby, you'll have to build up to it. You like that Twitter. Start small with some nonsense about good schools, better education, better future. Then the meeting with us and the tiff would look more believable in context."

"Mom... We don't have..."

"Yes we do, honey. I want you safe. Don't argue with me on this." Her mom's tone and the southern accent were strong and Kim knew this was the end of the conversation.

The detective looked between all the parties and nodded his acquiescence. "This should work. Even force the hand of the perp. He might try to break in here. Mr. Brewer, you would have to stay here. Otherwise, if you are gone from school, the story would be less believable."

So, it was settled. Bobby began the Twitter stage of the plan and she called back the studio to let them know that she was coming.