Author's Note: It's been a long journey, and there's only one more chapter left, and boy is it a doozy. I have to thank my betas, kgs-wy, and neothesaiyanangel. This chapter more than any other has been a collaborative effort, with a LOT of input coming from kgs. Thank you SO MUCH guys!


Chapter 16: To Bebe Or Not To Bebe

≈O≈

Mr. Possible sat down at the kitchen table with a fresh cup of coffee and a newspaper. Mrs. Possible reached into a cupboard above the kitchen counter and grabbed a bag of bread.

"You think they'll have dinner with us again?" Mr. Possible asked, holding his coffee cup between his hands.

Mrs. Possible turned around and leaned against the counter, her hands resting on the top. "I can't see why not. I thought our meeting went rather well."

"What about, uh, Mrs. Williams? Are you two… square?" Mr. Possible asked, careful not to sound too accusing or like he was pressuring her.

"Renee and I came to an understanding," Mrs. Possible replied confidently, even though she was anything but. She still remembered the disappointed and hurt look on the other woman's face as they ended things. Anne felt she had been able to move on, but couldn't be certain of Renee. But her husband didn't need to know that.

"Good."

"What's good?" Kim asked as she entered the kitchen.

"The morning, naturally," Mr. Possible covered as smoothly as he could, which was to say not smoothly at all. "Also I get to meet my college buddies this weekend. We're having our reunion."

"I guess we better call Office Station and have them stock up on pocket protectors," Kim said in

her most playful mocking tone.

"You know," Mr. Possible said, extending his index finger, "I have been thinking of getting a new one, maybe one with a sleek looking rocket on it."

"You do that, Honey," Mrs. Possible smiled and kissed her man on the forehead before sitting down at the table. "Are you gonna hang out with Bonnie after school?"

"I wish," Kim grumbled. "She's a little behind in her astronomy class, so they're having her do some extra assignment."

Mr. Possible perked up. "She's taking astronomy? Good for her. You know we really could use more girls as p- "

"I swear if you say 'pretty' I'm going to dump that coffee in your lap," Mrs. Possible said sternly.

"No," Mr. Possible said, sliding said cup full of steaming hot liquid away from his wife (and lap), "I was going to say 'peppy'. We do have a few women at the station, but they aren't the cheeriest bunch. Some of them are downright scary."

Mrs. Possible turned to Kim. "I didn't really take Bonnie for the type to take astronomy."

"I think she thought it was astrology."

Mrs. Possible shot her daughter an admonishing look, but before she could say anything the phone rang. She went to pick it up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Annie. It's me."

"Hi, Renee," Mrs. Possible said as innocently as she could. She had not expected to hear from the Williams' this soon, least of all Renee.

"I really love hearing your voice."

"Thanks, we had a good time, too."

Renee sighed sadly. "Okay. Well, anyway, what I really called to tell you was that when we came home last night our living room was full of teens. And they weren't playing Parcheesi."

Mrs. Possible sighed. "Let me guess: Tara and Ron?"

Kim shrunk in her seat.

"Uh-huh."

"Kim and Bonnie?" she asked in a more strained voice, casting a glance at her daughter.

At the sound of her name Kim attempted to slip away quietly but was told to sit back down with a stern finger gesture from her mother. She felt like 'guilty' was written across her forehead as she saw her father cross his arms and raise an eyebrow.

"Yup. But they weren't having an orgy or anything, just a little tonsil hockey. Might have even been some second base action going on before we busted the party."

"How did Harvey take it?"

"He was not pleased. He didn't really explode, but I think he scared Ron pretty good."

"Oh, dear. Well, thanks for letting me know."

"No problem. I also wanted to say how glad I am that Kim and Bonnie finally came out."

"Wait, you knew?"

"I caught the two of them making out when we were at that dreadful camp, Whattawimp or whatever."

"I see."

"Well, I'll let you go so you can have the talk. I'd love to see you again soon."

"Me, too. Goodbye, Renee."

As she gently placed the receiver back in its cradle, Mrs. Possible took a breath. Having regained control, she turned around to face Kim.

"Anything you want to tell us, young lady?"

Kim shrunk even smaller.

≈O≈

"Shego!" the mad scientist in the blue lab coat yelled, his voice reverberating in the cavernous lair.

"I'm not deaf, Dr. D.," Shego said, her attention focused on filing her nails.

"Behold my genius!" Dr. Drakken boomed and pressed a button on the remote he was holding. A trio of androids stepped out from the shadows. The metallic minions were female in appearance, and even though they were blondes, they didn't look like much fun.

Shego stared at the androids with unhidden disdain.

"Ugh. You really need to get a date," she said.

Drakken's enthusiasm died down. "What are you talking about?"

"These walking Real Dolls. Couldn't you just get a Fleshlight? Lot easier to hide in the nightstand."

Drakken looked as baffled as he was mad. "Honestly, Shego - sometimes I don't understand a word you're saying. It's like you're speaking another language."

"Whatever. So what are the robo bimbos for?"

"Not Bimbos, Shego - Bebes. And they're the perfect minion. Strong, fast, and most of all, obedient," Drakken lectured, gesturing wildly. "Unlike some," he finished pointedly.

"Wait, so all that robotics gear and AI stuff I stole for you was so you could build a mindless slave army to replace me?" Shego said narrowing her eyes. "You know what, Dr. D? Screw you," she huffed and stormed off.

"Shego!" Drakken yelled. Seeing no reaction in the distancing henchwoman he pointed the remote at her and tried clicking it a couple times. Nothing.

"Oh, well. Good riddance. As for you," Drakken said and turned to the Bebes. "Let's have you pick something up for me." The blue scientist's toothy grin and rubbing of hands radiated pure malevolence.

≈O≈

The cavernous dome of the Middleton Observatory appeared empty. Around the walls were a number of workstations, all unmanned. On the platform in the middle stood the enormous telescope used to observe the night sky. The telescope was extended and poked through the opened shutters, offering a view that could unlock the secrets of the universe, even Creation itself.

Bonnie was unimpressed.

"Professor Chen?" she called out, already bored with the dull, utilitarian nerd cave. Bad enough she had to spend her free time on school stuff, but that was time she could have spent working up a sweat with Kim.

"Professor Chen!" she shouted, frustrated.

"Hello?"

Bonnie turned to the voice, seeing someone come out of a room on the side of the building. It was a middle-aged man. He was short, bald, and looked to be of Indian descent. He sure didn't look like a 'Chen'. "Are you Professor Chen?" she asked anyway.

"No, I'm Professor Ramesh. I can't seem to locate Professor Chen right now."

"Great. Stood up by a nerd."

"You must be Ms. Rockwaller. Bob told me about your assignment, and I am certain that I can help you in his absence."

"Well someone better. I can't fail this class."

"Should be no problem." The professor noticed people entering the observatory. "Uh, did you bring friends with you?"

"No, why?"

"Hello, ladies? Are you looking for something?"

Bonnie turned around and saw three blondes standing by the doorway. Before she could do or say anything they moved. Fast. One second they were at the door, the next they were surrounding her and Ramesh. The girls grabbed the professor by the arms.

"Hey, get your own nerd!" Bonnie ordered and grabbed one of the women by the arm. It felt cold and metallic. The next thing she felt was flying through the air, and hitting the side of a desk awkwardly. Sharp pain shot through her arm. She started blacking out as the weight of the world dropped on her in an avalanche of computers and filing cabinets. She fought it, but she felt her consciousness slip away, only picking up bits and pieces of what happened around her. Briefly, Kim's voice invaded the growing darkness.

Bonnie passed out.

≈O≈

"Wade, they got Professor Ramesh. Can you track them?"

"I'll see what I can do. I'll get back to you."

Kim turned and walked back in the observatory from the doorway. Ron was getting up after having his ass handed to him by some babebots who kept referring to themselves as "Bebe".

"Man, those things were fast," Ron said.

"Strong, too," Kim agreed, pulling on her aching shoulder. "Let's look around. Maybe we'll find something that tells us what they wanted with the professors."

The two teens set out to search the premises for clues. Kim noticed a crashed workstation. She started looking through the wreckage. Just as she was about to start moving the furniture, Ron called out.

"KP! Check this out."

Kim abandoned the wreckage and went to see what Ron was so excited about. He handed her a framed photo. She immediately recognized everyone in the picture. There were professors Chen and Ramesh considerably younger, and… her dad.

"Ron, do you know what this means?"

"Your dad was a geek. What a shame."

"No," Kim said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He could be next."

"Oh, yeah," Ron said, rubbing the back of his neck.

The Kimmunicator beeped. It was Wade telling them he had figured out how to track the androids.

"Where are they now?"

"They're- uh-oh."

"What?"

"They're at your house."

≈O≈

The house was eerily empty. No one answered Kim and Ron's calls. Kim tried calling her dad on his cell phone - nothing. They ran outside, with Kim getting increasingly desperate. Then Ron noticed something. The roof of Mr. Possible's car had been torn out. It was all the proof Kim needed.

Her dad had been taken.

The panic was only allowed a few moments of life before Kim squashed it by going to full mission mode.

"Wade," Kim contacted her hero support. "They got my dad. Where did they take him?"

"Your dad? Oh, man," Wade uttered nervously.

"Focus. I need a location."

"Okay, okay. I'm tracking them to the Middleton Motor Lodge. Huh, isn't that where your dad's college reunion is held?"

"Looks like someone decided to crash the party," Kim said. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "We'll just have to crash harder."

≈O≈

"This is not how I imagined the reunion," Mr. Possible said as he examined the weird energy cage he and his friends were kept in.

"Ditto," agreed Professor Ramesh.

"Possible, do you have any idea what we're doing here?" Professor Chen asked.

"Why, we're having our reunion," came a voice from the shadows. Then the speaker walked into the light.

Mr. Possible thought the person looked familiar. Then it hit him. "Drew? Drew Lipsky?"

"It's Dr. Drakken now. You'd best remember that," Drakken said with surprising menace.

"I don't remember him being blue," Ramesh commented.

"Oh, but I was," Drakken replied. He closed his eyes and placed his hand on his chest. "On the inside." He opened his eyes. "Oh, the way you mocked me and my brilliance."

"Well, your Bebe-bots were pretty stupid," Chen said.

"Oh, really?" Drakken said. "Well, prepare to meet the next generation," he said, finishing with a sinister cackle.

≈O≈

From the outside the Middleton Motor Lodge looked normal. The lights were on and the parking lot was littered with cars from various states. On the inside things were quite different, however. It looked like the aftermath of a catastrophic incident. Bodies lay everywhere, seemingly having collapsed suddenly while going about their business.

A quick scan with the Kimmunicator revealed that the people were merely unconscious.

"Knockout gas," Kim concluded.

Ron let out a deep sigh of relief. "Oh, man. That was a lifetime worth of nightmares right there."

Kim looked around the lobby. "We need to find the conference hall."

"Over there." Ron pointed towards a set of double doors at the far end.

The teens made their way across the lobby. They carefully cracked the doors and peered inside. It was dark. The only light source seemed to be a weird cage thing in the middle of the hall. Kim could see all the captured scientists, including her dad, being ranted at by none other than Dr. Drakken. The captives were held between four weird looking pylons that generated rings of energy acting as bars.

It never ceased to amaze Kim how wasted Drakken's scientific gifts were in the supervillain game. If he would only find a way to commercialize some of his tech, he'd be much more likely to take over the world - in an economic sense.

"I'm going in," Kim said, unclipping the grappling hook from her belt. She turned to Ron. "Watch my back. Those Bebes might be nearby."

Kim shot the hook into the ceiling and engaged the reel mechanism to pull her up in the air. Midair, she disengaged the mechanism and dislodged the hook, allowing her to vault through the air. She landed right in front of her blue foe with a flourish that allowed her to smoothly assume a battle stance.

"Kim Possible!" Drakken exclaimed.

"Let them go, Drakken!" Kim demanded.

"Kimmie!" Mr. Possible called.

"It's okay, Dad. I'm gonna get you out of here."

Drakken blinked and then looked at Mr. Possible, and then back at Kim. "You two are related?"

"Doy," Kim mocked.

"Don't 'doy' me. There's no way I can be expected to conclude that my arch-nemesis is the daughter of a guy I went to college with!"

Kim frowned in confusion and looked at her dad. "You went to college with Drakken?"

"Long story, Kimmie-cub."

"Well, let's cut that short," Drakken grinned evilly. "Bebes!" He called out.

Suddenly the lights came on. The Bebes stood in a menacing formation between the exit and Kim.

"Destroy Kim Possible," Drakken commanded.

The Bebes were on Kim in a flash, all of them preparing to deliver a devastating blow. From his hideout, Ron sprang into action and ran at the group. He tripped on his own feet and began tumbling. He rolled into the bevy of Bebes, crashing into them like a bowling ball picking up a spare. The androids were sent flying into different directions.

"Thanks," Kim said and took a battle stance towards the closest Bebe.

Ron set his sights on the next one. Rufus had been flung from his pocket in the collision, and now stood up next to the cage. The little rodent scratched his head and went to work to figure out how to shut down the energy bars.

Kim took a swing at her Bebe. It was painful - for Kim. While she was able to stagger her opponent, hitting it was like hitting, well, metal. She spun around and struck the Bebe with her elbow. While marginally more effective, it still hurt like hell. The Bebe backhanded Kim, sending her flying back.

Ron's first strike was a miss. As Ron spun with the momentum of his swing, the Bebe grabbed his arm and the third one dashed in and grabbed the other arm. Ron did a backflip, freeing his arms from the steely grips. As he landed he let his body compress like a spring. He straightened explosively, jumping at the two Bebes. He grabbed them by the neck and took them down to the ground with a loud dual clank.

Kim rolled sideways, just in time to avoid the Bebe that dropped from the air. The knee the robot aimed at Kim caved in the wooden subfloor, its leg driven to mid-thigh. She got to her feet and ran at the chairs stacked next to the wall. She grabbed one and swung with all her strength at the Bebe that followed her. The metal framed chair bent, and sent a vibration down Kim's bones. The Bebe grabbed the chair and threw it back. Kim held on, getting a free flight across the room.

Ron ran to Rufus. "Any luck disarming the cage?" he asked hurriedly.

Rufus chattered something.

"Well, keep tryi- whooah!" Ron dodged a metallic fist that came from across the room. As the Bebe retracted the tubular arm extension, Ron ran towards Kim who he saw crashing down with a chair.

"Any luck?" Ron asked.

"No. These things are tough. Watch out!"

The Bebes started throwing chairs at them. The two teens kept dodging and knocking away the chairs as best as they could. Kim grabbed her Kimmunicator.

"Wade! We're having a little trouble here. Any hints on how take these things down?"

Before Wade could answer the Kimmunicator was knocked out of Kim's hand by a lamp. Apparently the Bebes had run out of chairs.

"Scatter!" Kim yelled.

Both Ron and Kim took off in different directions. The Kimmunicator landed next to the cage and slid in under the energy bar. Mr. Possible grabbed the device.

"Wade, can you find any weaknesses?"

"Like I was saying to Kim, these things use wireless signals communicate with each other and their components. If you could jam that signal, it would weaken them considerably."

"Okay, give me a sonic disturbance. Make it loud. Make it ultra-high frequency."

"That's brilliant!" Wade commended the idea. "You got it."

The Kimmunicator started emitting a powerful signal. It was beyond the human range of hearing, but still made everyone's ears ache.

Kim and Ron were back-to-back, preparing for the next round. Suddenly their ears started ringing, and the Bebes were sparking and jittering. The teens glanced at each other, immediately springing into action. While the Bebes still fought back, their attacks were weak and unfocused. The teen heroes were able to pummel them mercilessly with little fear of reprisal. The Bebes started breaking apart under the relentless attack.

As the metallic menace lay in pieces on the ground, Kim looked around to surveil her surroundings. She saw Drakken trying to sneak off. She was able to cut him off. "What about your reunion, Drew?"

"I'll come to the next one. When I'm even more successful!" Drakken laughed and pressed a button on his belt. Rockets appeared on his back seemingly from nowhere. He blasted off - and hit the ceiling. He stayed there dangling helplessly. "A little help?" he pleaded.

Kim grinned. It was business as usual. She left Drakken hanging while she saw to getting her father and his friends released.

≈O≈

Mr. Possible walked inside the house as Kim still stood outside, saying goodbye to Ron.

"Ron, I can't thank you enough for helping me save my dad."

"Come on, KP, like I'd not do that."

"Still-"

The Kimmunicator beeped. Kim groaned and picked it up.

"Kim, I was scanning through reports, and…"

"What is it now, Wade?" Kim sighed, tired and frustrated. She just wanted to go home and lie down, maybe put in a little phone time with Bonnie. "Dementor being demented? Killigan putting from the rough?"

"Kim. Bonnie's in the hospital."

"What?" Kim was suddenly very alert. "What happened?"

"According to the police report she was found at the observatory buried under debris. She suffered a mild concussion and a broken arm."

"Oh, my God," Kim said in shock. "I was there. I was there and I didn't see her."

"Kim, you can't-"

"I need to go," Kim said, with a palpable urgency in her voice.

"KP," Ron called to her as she ran off without looking back.

≈O≈

Her head hurt like a son of a bitch. She opened her eyes carefully, the sting from the light gradually lessening. Before her eyes had been allowed to focus properly, she looked around, still disoriented. She had no idea where she was, or how she got there. The last thing she remembered was going to the observatory.

"Bonnie?"

Bonnie turned to the soft voice. "Kim?" she asked.

"No," the voice said, now with a harder edge. "It's Connie."

"Oh," Bonnie said, disappointed. "Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, sweetie," said another voice. Her mother.

"What happened?"

"Your girlfriend happened, that's what." Another voice. Lonnie.

Bonnie didn't see the surprised glare her mother gave to Lonnie, who avoided the look.

"What are you talking about?" Bonnie said, too exhausted to put any heat or even irritation behind it.

"It was one of the freaks she's always fighting."

"The blue guy. He sent some of his goons to the observatory."

"What does that have to do with Kim?" Bonnie asked as she gingerly felt the bump on her head. It was sore and wrapped with gauze.

"She's the one always associating with them. She's the one who brought that weirdness to our town."

"That's not-"

"Girls," Mrs. Rockwaller interrupted. "We can talk about all this later. For now, Bonnie needs to rest."

Connie and Lonnie were about to object, but there was a knock on the door. It opened slowly, first revealing a big, cuddly teddy bear. Then-

"Daddy!" the twin sisters squealed as they rushed to hug their father.

"Brian?" Mrs. Rockwaller frowned in confusion. "But how?"

"We called him," Lonnie said.

"I've been meaning to come by earlier, but you know," Brian said with awkward smile. "You look good, Rachel."

"Dad?" came a weak voice from the bed.

"Hey, BonBon," Brian smiled. He gently extricated himself from his older daughters and went to the bed. He placed the teddy bear on a stool beside the bed and went around to the other side. He leaned in and kissed Bonnie on the forehead, making her smile.

"I'm not really a plushie gal."

"Come on, everybody loves teddy bears."

Bonnie glanced at the bear and turned back. "Fine. He's cute."

"How are you feeling?" Brian asked.

"My head hurts."

"How's the arm?"

"What about-," Bonnie said before finally noticing the cast of her left forearm. "Goddammit."

"Language," Mrs. Rockwaller admonished.

"Let her vent, Rachel. She's in a damn hospital bed."

"No. You don't get to do that. You don't get to disappear for years leaving me to raise our children and then come back to tell me how I should be doing it."

"I'm not trying to-," Brian said and then glanced at Bonnie and her sisters. "Maybe we should do this outside?"

Bonnie grabbed her father's wrist. "Don't go, dad. Whatever you two have to say to each other, you can do it here. Just… don't leave me."

"Don't worry baby. I'm not going anywhere," Brian assured softly, gently caressing her hair.

Bonnie's grip loosened and her eyes closed slowly. She fell asleep.

"Why don't you girls go and get something from the vending machines," Mrs. Rockwaller said to Connie and Lonnie.

The twins knew it wasn't a suggestion. They left the room, but not before flashing a sympathetic smile to their father.

≈O≈

Kim burst through the hospital doors, immediately starting a frantic scan of the signs and hallways. Thanks to Wade she already had the ward and room number where Bonnie was kept. Before anyone could ask to help her, Kim was already in the stairwell, zooming up the stairs.

When she reached the correct floor and hallway, she was stopped in her tracks by Bonnie's sisters.

"You've got a lot of nerve showing your face here," Connie said.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kim asked, trying to push through the human wall. "Just let me see her."

Lonnie held her position firmly. "She's sleeping right now. Our parents are with her, they don't need you there riling her up."

Kim ceased her struggle. "Bonnie's dad came?"

"Our dad, yes."

A part of her wanted to break through the two girls and force herself into Bonnie's room, but Kim knew how precious Bonnie held the time she spent with her dad. Kim didn't want to intrude on that. And she felt she needed all the good will she could get.

"Just tell her I came by. Please?" Kim pleaded.

The twins glanced at each other. "Fine."

The reply was entirely unconvincing, but Kim was not going to push it; she was on weak enough ice as it was. As she began her dejected departure, Bonnie's sisters called out to her.

"You know she'd be a lot better off without you, right?"

"She got hurt because of you, because of what you do. Just do her a favor and stay away."

Kim stopped, her hands clenching into fists. A moment later she unclenched and slouched off.

≈O≈

What the hell did that therapist know? It was easy dispensing advice from a comfy chair in an office, but when it came to the real world, things weren't quite as cut and dry. Kim had believed it when the doc had told her she wasn't responsible for people around her getting hurt. But now that Bonnie was the one laying on that hospital bed? It changed everything.

Kim loved Bonnie. And she needed the other girl to be safe. Safe from her world, safe from - her. That was never going to happen if they were together - it was clear to her now. To love something is to set it free, they say. Well, no one said anything about it being a total kick in the teeth.

Kim knew what she had to do. But she knew she'd never be able to go through with it face to face. So there was only one option.

She was about to pick up the phone when it rang. It was Bonnie.

After taking a sobering breath Kim answered.

"Hi," Kim said, trying to sound upbeat.

"I have had the worst day," Bonnie groaned. "You'll never guess what happened to me."

"Actually I heard. Are you okay?" Kim asked genuinely worried. This was the first time she'd gotten to talk to Bonnie since learning she was in the hospital.

Bonnie let out a long sigh. "I don't know. Maybe. I wish you'd have come to see me at the hospital."

"I came as soon as I heard but your sisters told me you were with your dad. I didn't want to intrude."

"They didn't say anything about that. Those bitches!"

"Don't be too hard on them. They just did what they thought was best for you."

"Those two don't know what's best for a used kleenex."

"Look, Bonnie, I'm really sorry for what happened. It's all my fault."

"Has everyone caught a case of the 'stupids'? It wasn't your fault."

"Those things that hurt you were sent by Drakken. I'm supposed to fight Drakken. I'm supposed to protect you, and I couldn't do that."

"I'm not some helpless damsel in distress, I don't need you to protect me."

"I know you think you can handle yourself, but I deal with some really dangerous people who all could hurt in ways you can't imagine." Kim sighed. "And then there's me. I could snap at any time and- I just couldn't live with myself if I hurt you."

"That's what the shrink is for, isn't it?"

The line stayed silent.

"Kim?"

"I think we need to break up."

"Say what?"

"Look, it's for your own protection! It's the only way I can keep you safe."

"I don't even know what to say to that."

"There's nothing you can say. I've made up my mind. It's over."

Kim hung up the phone. Bonnie tried calling back several times but Kim ignored them all.

≈O≈

The pillow provided little comfort, but Kim still pressed it against her head as she lay on bed. Even through the downy comfort she heard there was a knock on the trapdoor.

"Kim?" Mrs. Possible called. "There's someone here to see you."

"Who is it?" Kim asked, though she feared she already knew who it was.

"It's Bonnie."

"No," Kim said, squeezing the pillow harder. "I told you not to let her in."

"She was rather insistent."

"Stand aside," Bonnie said and pushed past Mrs. Possible. She crashed through the trapdoor to Kim's room. "We are going to talk right now."

Mrs. Possible saw that the girls had things to work through, and there was no time like the present. "I'll leave you at it," she said and walked away, leaving the two girls by themselves.

Bonnie stared furiously at Kim, who tried to answer in kind. She quickly faltered and looked away.

"What. The. Hell?" the fuming brunette demanded, waving her good hand to punctuate each word.

"Bonnie, I-"

"No," Bonnie held up her hand. "This time you listen. I don't know if you got hit with a dumb stick or you fell on your head, but it's got you talking out your ass."

"I know you have this major savior complex, but I thought we were above that. I mean, where do you get off breaking up with me for my protection? Do you know how insulting that is? Like I'm some helpless little girl who needs you to save me from the big bad world. Well I'm not, and I don't."

"See this," Bonnie waved around her cast. "This wasn't your fault. You didn't do this. And even if this was because I was with you, it wouldn't matter. I know what you do, and I know that being with you there might be some collateral damage. I don't care about that, because guess what: for some damn reason I actually love you. So get your goddamn head out your ass and stop sabotaging us. I've gone through and given up too much for you to end things just because you're scared."

Bonnie had said her piece, and now stared at Kim expectantly. "Well?"

The silence hung in the air as Kim just sat there, staring at the floor. As much as Bonnie wanted to drag a response from her, she was not going to be the first to break the silence. She had done her part, now was Kim's turn.

"I was there, you know," Kim said finally. "At the observatory. I didn't see you. I should have looked harder, I should have- But I didn't know." Her tone was bitter as a day old cup of coffee.

Slowly Kim raised her eyes to meet Bonnie's. "You don't know what it's like for me. You say that it doesn't matter to you… But it matters to me. I just can't handle that kind of… responsibility, that kind of guilt. And you're right: I am scared. Call me selfish, call me a coward, but I'm scared as hell that you or someone else might get hurt because of me, no matter how indirect the cause. And I just can't handle that. I can't handle us."

"Kim?"

Kim looked away. "I'm so sorry, Bonnie, but I just… I just can't be with you. Not now, probably not ever."

"You can't be serious," Bonnie said incredulously. Receiving no reply she realized that Kim was deadly serious. The hurt quickly turned to anger, the familiar old Bonnie trying to tear its way out. She wanted so bad to let Kim know just how much she had hurt her, and return the favor, ten-fold. "You know what?" she said through clenched teeth, brimming with rage. Only a split second decision prevented her from going Queen B: she was not going to let this break them. She had said it herself: she had already sacrificed too much for this relationship to just throw it away. Besides, that was Kim's goal probably anyway: to get her to blow up at her. But no way was Bonnie going to let Kim play the martyr.

"You don't know just how much I want to tell you to go to hell," Bonnie said, trying her hardest to keep the anger in check. "But I won't. You know why? Because I'm no quitter. Because I still believe in you, in us. Not that you make it easy. I don't know what it's like for you because you won't tell me. You never let me be a part of that side of your life."

Bonnie took a calming breath, her voice now taking on a more understanding tone. "I'm gonna let you take your time to figure this out. But guess what: I'm not going to go away. I'll be there tomorrow, the next day, and the day after that. When you finally get your act together, I'll be there. Don't be expecting no parade, though."

Bonnie turned around to leave.

"Bonnie," Kim called softly, desperately.

"Don't. If the next words from your mouth aren't: 'I'm sorry, I was wrong', then don't bother."

Bonnie walked out of Kim's room, hoping with all her heart that it wasn't for the last time.


To be continued...