Kim watched in the rain as the few who had gathered for the funeral began to disperse. She had made a conscious decision to observe rather that actively participate out of respect for Adam. The truth was that she wasn't sure what kind of welcome she would receive considering the history between her and Katherine.
And there was Tommy. She had been fortunate for all these years not to run into Tommy. Despite her friend's attempts to reassure her that he was not still angry with her, she had a distinct feeling that things would never be the same between the two of them. She had readily admitted to herself that she was the reason that she always had a convenient excuse for missing get togethers when she knew Tommy was going to present. But she knew that this time, there could be no excuses. Adam needed his friends right now, and no amount of uncertain feelings would stop her from being there for him.
"Kim!" Despite the circumstances, Trini could not contain the excitement in her voice as she sprinted up the hill to meet her friend. She threw her arms around Kim. "I didn't know if you would come."
She gave her a sad smile. "I had to."
Trini placed a hand on her shoulder. "We're glad you're here. Adam really needs us right now."
"Well, the prodigal daughter returns." Jason quipped as he made his way to the group, followed by Billy and Tommy. He wrapped his arms around her tightly reveling in the unity that she brought to the group.
She turned to Billy and they embraced. "It's good to see you, Billy."
When they parted, Kim glanced uncertainly at the all too familiar face standing behind him. No one spoke as Tommy and Kim faced each other again for the first time in nearly a decade. Finally, Tommy offered her a warm smile.
"Hi, Kim."
Kim nervously brushed a loose piece of hair from her face. "Hi, Tommy." She searched his features for some sign of anger or resentment, but found none.
The tension was momentarily broken as Billy's cell phone blared from his pocket. He grinned sheepishly at them as White and Nerdy by Weird Al Yankovic told him that he had a call. "Sorry, guys. I forgot to turn it off." With a quick glance at his caller id, he knew that he had to answer it. "Excuse me, but this is important." He answered the phone and quickly moved out of earshot.
"It's good to see you." Tommy admitted, still looking at Kim.
She let out a long breath that she hadn't even realized she'd been holding. Perhaps things would be alright after all. Glancing past Tommy, Kim spotted Adam walking dejectedly up the hill towards them and silently moved away from the group to meet him half way. She cringed as she saw the vacant look in his normally warm gaze. His face was void of all emotion, and his body seemed to be only moving by some unknown force around him. Kim felt her eyes well up at the sad sight of him. They simply looked at each other for a moment.
Kim's voice felt small and weak when she finally spoke. "I know that Kat and I had our differences, but..." Suddenly she found it difficult to go on. The tears that had formed before now fell unchecked down her cheeks. "I'm so sorry, Adam."
Adam grabbed her, pulling her into an embrace so fierce that she thought he might draw the very breath out of her. His own tears falling rapidly onto her shoulder. "Thanks for coming, Kim."
Billy stood back as the rest of his friends made their way over to Adam and Kim. Having Kim back was a blessing. He had had suspicions about Kat's death when he had first heard about the strange circumstances surrounding it. He had spoken with Jason and Tommy at length about what had happened. He discovered that the medical examiner could find absolutely no cause of death. Her brain simply stopped functioning, according to the report, with no plausible explanation why.
Billy, being a scientist by nature, would not accept that answer. Especially with the strange events that had been happening to him as of late. He had been reluctant to even bring up his suspicions to his friends. How would he even begin to approach the subject? They would certainly think he had lost his mind. After the phone call he had just received, he knew that he could not put it off.
"Hey Billy!"
He was torn from his thoughts at the sound of Jason's voice calling to him.
"We're heading back. You coming' or you gonna stand here in the rain all day."
"Yeah, I'm coming." He called back. He took a deep breath and wondered as he made his way to the cars what the hell he was getting them all into.
The ride back in the limos had been relatively quiet. Trini had opted to ride back to Adam's house in Kim's rental, with a quick stop at her hotel to get her things. Without Trini's lively chitchat, the guys had pretty much kept to themselves. Now they sat around Adam's living room, drained from the emotional turmoil they all felt.
Feeling the unbearable weight of the silence, Jason finally decided that it was time to switch gears. He sat forward in his arm chair and eyed Kim across the room, sitting casually on the sofa between Trini and Billy. "So, Kim, what's been going on with you? Haven't heard from you in a while."
She gave him a wan smile. "I know. I'm sorry; I've just been really busy lately."
Trini grinned at her. "Why don't you tell them why you've been so busy?"
Kim shifted nervously. She had been planning on giving her friends the good news, just not at that particular moment. "I got engaged." She finally said, keeping her gaze firmly on Jason.
At that moment, the door bell rang loudly. Adam quickly got up to answer it.
"Congrats, Kim." Jason said, grinning big at her.
Billy looked across Kim at Trini. "You knew about this, and didn't say anything."
She held both hands up in defense. "I just found out about it in the car on the way over."
"Billy," Adam's voice echoed from the front hallway. "It's for you."
Billy stood quickly. "Excuse me, guys." He hurried out the room.
Everyone else looked at each other with their own confusion. Why would someone be looking for Billy at Adam's house? He hadn't mentioned a girlfriend to any of them.
Adam reentered, followed by Billy and a tall striking red head. She was dressed casually in jeans and a pullover sweater with her hair swept up in a high ponytail, but as she peered at them through her black rimmed glasses, she had a very no nonsense air about her. Despite that, she was very attractive.
Jason gazed at her unabashedly. "Well hello." He said, leaning back coolly in his chair.
She blatantly ignored him, while Billy rolled his eyes. "Everyone, this is Dr. Heather Thompson. She teaches at the University with me. Heather, this is Trini, Kim, Tommy; you met Adam, and Jason."
Heather glanced around the room, giving the group a warm smile. "Nice to meet you all."
"Can I get you something to drink, Heather?" Adam asked. "Tea or coffee?"
"A cup of coffee sounds terrific, thank you."
Kim jumped to her feet. "I'll get it, Adam. You sit and relax." Before he could answer, Kim hurried from the room, grateful for the distraction from her own personal life.
Adam nodded to the bar stool next to where Tommy was sitting. "Have a seat."
"Thank you." She sat down, adjusting slightly to make herself more comfortable.
"So, Heather." Jason began, "what exactly are you a Doctor of?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "I have my doctorates in Psychology and Parapsychology. I have also conducted numerous sleep studies." She glanced at Billy who shifted uncomfortably.
Tommy leaned forward, interested. "What kind of sleep studies?"
"Dream research." She stated simply.
Kim reappeared, handing a steaming mug to Heather before taking her place on the couch.
"Parapsychology..." Jason smirked. "Like ghosts and psychics?"
Heather was unmoved by Jason's sarcasm. "At it's very basic simplification, yes."
Billy moved uncomfortably as a silence fell over the group. He knew that his friends were wondering why Heather had suddenly showed up at Adam's house, especially under the circumstances. He glanced at Heather who seemed to be acutely aware of what he was thinking.
She cleared her throat and turned to Adam. "May I use your restroom?"
Adam nodded. "Sure, it's down the hall, second door on the left."
She nodded her thanks and made her exit. As soon as she was gone, Jason spoke up. "Way to go, Billy. She's hot. A little weird...but hot. You always did have a thing for the eccentric type."
Billy felt the tips of his ears burn hot as he glared at Jason. "It's not like that, Jason. We work together, that's all."
Jason furrowed his brow as glanced around the room at the faces that mirrored his own confusion. "Okay, so if she's not your girlfriend, what's she doing here?"
Here we go, Billy thought, taking a deep breath. "I've been having these really weird dreams lately. She's kinda been helping me interpret them."
Kim watched him with concern. "What kind of dreams?"
"Things from high school. I think they're repressed memories." Billy fell silent as he looked around at his friends.
"Okay," Jason pushed. "So why is she here?"
Tommy saw a flicker of fear cross Billy's face as he searched for the answer to Jason's question. He had known Billy for a long time and could not remember an instance when he had seemed so unsure.
When Billy finally spoke, his voice was barely above a whisper. "She thinks that my recent dreams may be linked to Kat's death."
The silence that followed was so thick that it threatened to suffocate everyone in the room. No one was able to speak as the implications of Billy's statement sunk in.
Jason finally let out a small laugh. "Are you serious?"
Billy only nodded.
"Billy, you know I've always respected that marvelous cranium of yours, but I gotta tell you, bud, that girl's taking you on some kind of head trip."
"You don't understand, Jason." Billy shook his head. "These memories, they're real. I've effectively blocked out a whole chunk of my life at Angel Grove, and so have all of you."
Seeing that he was getting upset, Trini laid a soothing hand on his knee. "What are you talking about, Billy?"
"Maybe I should explain." Heather reappeared suddenly in the doorway.
Jason, now getting very irritated, folded his arms firmly over his chest. "Please do."
Without ceremony she took her place next to Tommy on the barstool. "What do you remember about high school?"
"What is this group therapy now?" Jason spat.
Tommy had had enough of his friend's rude behavior. "Jason, would you just chill out?"
Jason sank back into his chair and sulked.
Heather looked at Tommy. "What do you remember?"
Without thinking, Tommy glanced at Kim who was watching him. They both looked away quickly. "I remember getting elected class president, karate, hanging out at the youth center..." He racked his brain trying to come up with more.
"Kim was homecoming queen." Trini broke in. "Billy was head of the Science Club."
"I remember gymnastics." Kim offered. "And Trini took states in track our junior year."
Heather looked at Jason. "What about you?"
When he didn't answer, Adam spoke up. "Jason played Soccer, and some football."
Heather nodded as they rattled off more of the activities they recalled from high school. "Do you remember anything extraordinary happening?"
The group looked around the room at each other, trying to understand what she meant. Tommy finally shook his head. "Not that I remember. We were pretty average." Heather smiled softly at him. "What is it that you think you know about us?" He watched Billy closely, looking for an answer from him. Billy sat perfectly still, staring at his hands.
"Through my work with Billy, I have discovered a few things about each of you that I believe has been erased from you memories, either by you or some external force."
"What kinds of things?" Kim was beginning to feel a little freaked out.
Heather sighed. "It's something that you're going to have to figure out on your own. But I can help you."
Jason had finally had enough. He stood quickly. "This is ridiculous. If you guys wanna stay here and buy into her hocus pocus, be my guests. Leave me out of it." With that he stalked out of the room toward the kitchen.
Trini was thoughtful for a moment. "I think I'm with Jason on this one." She said softly. "I have to catch a plane home tonight. My cab's on the way. Besides, I'm not sure that I want anyone digging around in my brain." She stood up and followed Jason's path into the kitchen.
Heather sat quietly, but seemed unphased by either Jason's outburst or Trini's quick retreat. Tommy cleared his throat when the silence threatened to overtake them. "Look, why don't we order something to eat and just relax for a little while." He looked at Heather apologetically. "Maybe we can pick this up later?" She nodded.
"Pizza anyone?"
"That sounds great." Kim hopped up and followed him into the kitchen.
Adam stood also and began to head in the same direction but stopped and confronted Heather. His voice echoed the weariness in his eyes. "You said that this had something to do with Kat's death."
Heather gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm fairly certain, although, I must admit that I'm not really sure how."
He nodded and moved back towards the door. "It's a long drive back for you, I know. Any friend of Billy's is welcome here. There's plenty of room if you would like to stay."
She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you, Adam. That's very kind of you."
Adam walked into the hall, but instead of going to the kitchen, he walked the opposite direction and into his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
Billy sighed as his sat down next to Heather on Tommy's unoccupied barstool. "Sorry about Jason. He's usually not such a douche bag."
"It's okay. People tend to lash out at things that they can't fully comprehend."
"Yeah, but I never knew that my friends could be so close minded."
She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't be so hard on them. You have all been through a rough couple of days. Emotions are running high. They'll come around."
"What makes you so sure?"
"They have to; otherwise, you will all be lost."