Author's notes: YAY! My muse finally came back!

Sayonara

Chapter 1: Familiar faces

Next Day:

GJHQ; elevator.

"So…. 'No big', huh?"

"Shut it."

"So what should we do about the One-that-got-away?" asked her partner, still mocking her slightly.

"What we do with all the other whack-jobs, Will. We track him and bring him down."

Agent Du looked at her sidelong, "On what grounds, Kim? He took out a super-villain plus henchmen, and rescued the hostages. What do you want us to charge him with? Being a scary bastard? Doing Kim's job for her? Excessive use of duct-tape?"

The first two earned a scowl, the last earned a half concealed chuckle. Back when she had first met him the idea of Agent Will Du making a joke was, well, laughable. It had taken her almost four months to break through his shell of Diligence and Duty to get to the surprisingly charming young man underneath, and it had been worth it. She had taken a GJ trained clockwork soldier and turned him into a hero.

Although he still had the annoying habit of being right sometimes; not that she'd let him get away with it.

"Oh, what about Obstruction of Justice?"

"He was there first, so technically Justice was Obstructing him."

"I know a bad guy when I see him."

"Nevertheless, he didn't do anything illegal, and you shot him. He could press charges if he wanted to; you know? Assault with a deadly weapon, Attempted murder, all that jazz."

Kim paled at that 'oh crap…' "But… but he.. he caught them."

"Doesn't matter anyway, if he wanted to press charges, he'd have to come forward and reveal himself first; which kinda screws up his 'I'm a big scary guy' routine."

"So what was all that then? Just trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Pretty much," he smirked at her playfully; he also seemed to be developing a flirtatious streak. She didn't mind that bit so much.

She was about to give a snippy remark when the elevator lurched to a stop and the doors opened. The effect on Will was noticeable, he had officially come On Duty; a similar state to Kim's own 'Mission Mode', it was kinda creepy, but Kim was used to it; it was just how Will worked. It also marked the end of the conversation, or at least its postponement; she was loathe to let him get the last word in; but from now it was Shop Talk only until he became Off Duty again.

"Dr Director wants to see us immediately; she wants the report of last night's incident…"

"That should be fun..." Kim muttered.

"…and something about a new expert she's trying to hire."

"New expert? On what?"

"Magic," Kim stared at him; it was strange of him to joke while On Duty. His face was straight and serious, "Yes, Kim. Magic and mysticism and all other things supernatural. Oh and he's also a doctor of archaeology."

"You've got to be kidding… magic? Seriously, as if Monkey Fist wasn't bad enough going on about this tripe. Betty's really buying into this guy?"

"I don't know, haven't met the guy yet. But Dr Director is usually serious about this sort of thing…"

"So what do we know about this whack-job?"

"Well… he's young, about our age. But he's already graduated from both high school and university. With honours. He recently returned to Middleton a few days ago, and we've met him before. That's all Betty told me."

They arrived at Dr Director's office door.

"Well let's get this over with so we can meet the geek."

She knocked and heard a muffled "come in," through the woodwork. She opened the door and both went through. The first thing she noticed was that the new guest was already inside, seated on one of the more comfortable chairs in the office. The second thing she noticed was the elegant silver cane across his lap. Then the straw-blonde hair tied back in a neat braid. He turned to view the newcomers, her heart caught in her throat. Hazel eyes behind stylish wire-frames, the handsome face, and the recognisable freckles.

"Kimberly. William." He greeted, "its good to see you again."

The accent; American with traces of Cambridge and… Japan? Was this who she thought it was? Why was he here? Why did he look like that? A doctorate? What the..?

Will was equally dumbfounded, and completely speechless; the last time he'd seen this man he'd been a complete wreck, to say the least. But now he commanded an undeniable presence.

It was kim who found her voice first…

"R…Ron?"

heh yay, gotta love a muse that lets you work.

Samurai Crunchbird: well that answers 1 and 3, to some degree anyway. But yes, I should have given hint about when this was set; the prologue and first chapter are in the 'now', nearing the end of season three; Kim's Junior Year in school (I'm not American, so I don't really know how your school structure works, but I hope that's right). The next chapter will be in the 'then'; somewhere in the first season. That's about when the shit begins to hit the fan.

I'd also like to thank you (and everyone else) for the creative feedback you've given for this as well as Broken Blade and Forgotten; its VERY helpful.

Thanks all

-DS

p.s. as for the story juggling? Well I've got a good memory for these things; I'm writing these two fics, reading about fifteen others and two books concurrently. My mind just works weird… to bad its useless for schoolwork though.