Bleep, bleep, bleep
Kim's fist slammed into her buzzing alarm. Was it morning already? It felt like Kim had just gotten back from her nightly watch. And boy had it been a watch. Literally, that was it, a watch. Wade was taking his time on this battle suit, and it ached every muscle in Kim's body to know there was a criminal out there stronger than her, and that she could do absolutely nothing but stand idly by and let him destroy people's homes and public buildings.
Thinking of all this drama made her even less willed to get out of bed. She tried thinking of something to get her excited for the coming day, but she had nothing. What was so great about hump day anyways, unless you're a camel?
Then Kim heard the famous tone of her kimmunicator fill the silence of her apartment, and her feet kicked off her warm covers before she could even think about what the sound meant. It was simply an impulse to jump at it.
She grabbed her kimmunicator from the dresser with remaining seated on the edge of the bed, and pressed the small red button.
"Hey Wade. Please tell me this sitch is about the battle suit," she crossed her fingers.
"Partially, yes. Do you want to hear that part first?"
"Go, Wade."
"I've done a lot of research on, not only general ghosts, but this specific one. There is an even stronger ghost who is listed as the most dangerous that has similar powers to your guy," he explained.
"More dangerous than the second dangerous? I'm assuming I already know his ranking..." she muttered.
"You got it: Vlad Plasmius is the most dangerous ghost ever recorded."
" 'Ever recorded'?" Kim repeated. "You mean there are some out there not recorded?"
"Yes. Multiple sources suggest there is another dimension where all ghosts call home. It is where everything ghostly originates. It's called 'The Ghost Zone'."
"Spooky... What does that have to do with the suit?"
"That's how I managed to extract ghost DNA. I was able to find an area that the ectoplasm – that's a term for ghost energy – was really high, and I found a swirling green pool where I dabbed a cue-tip in, and then expanded its particulates so I could cover it in your suit. And bing-bang-boom you'll have ghost powers."
"You never cease to amaze me… what else did you have for me?"
"I put together an entire list of the ghost boy's powers that are on the suit. I'll fax it over," he said and typed away at his large monitor. Soon, a sheet of paper printed from the top of the handheld.
"You are the best! Anything else?"
"No I think that's—"
Wade's screen went to white noise. "Wade?" She called.
"Kim Possible," she heard a familiar, deep voice.
"Agent O?" Kim called.
"And Agent K!" She heard a slightly higher voice boom.
"We seek to converse how the mission has been going," the original deep voice returned.
Whoops. Kim had completely failed. She had absolutely nothing to report. God damn she had to think on her toes.
"I'm sorry but now isn't a good time."
There was a moment of silence from the other end before, "Excuse me?" in that secondary higher voice.
"You interrupted a very important conversation. Do you mind retreating so I may continue?"
"As important as your boyfriend is—"
"I don't have a boyfriend. I was actually discussing the mission with an incredible intelligent friend of mine. Please feel free to let me know when you'd like to meet, but now is not a good time."
The agents were quiet for much longer this time. "We will be hearing from you soon," O said, irritated, and Kim heard the connection break and the white noise suddenly vanished leaving a confused Wade on the screen.
"Sorry about that. Guys in White think they are my center of attention... You were saying, Wade?"
"Nothing really… I was just wrapping up."
"Oh… well then I'll talk to you later! I can't wait for that battle suit," she smiled and signed off. She put her kimmunicator back onto the dresser, and rose to her feet. She stretched a bit, and walked over to her bathroom to begin her routine.
Stopping in her tracks, she realized today wasn't a usual Wednesday. She was going to Danny's house today.
…
"Hey, Kim," Danny greeted as he walked up to her once the day had finally ended. She smiled widely –but tried to contain her excited – and said, "Hey there."
"Are you ready to get going?" Danny returned her cheery smile, trying to contain his utter awkwardness. She shut her locker, and tugged a little on her back pack to make sure it wasn't going to fall off. "You bet!"
Danny smiled and nodded his response, so they both began walking to the front doors of the school. "Er, so how far is your house?" Kim asked, trying to fill the silence.
"Just a few blocks. I used to walk to and from school every day before my sister got a car," he replied, nonchalantly.
"You have a sister?" Kim pondered. "That's so neat! So I'm assuming she's older than you."
"You guessed right. She's a senior this year. What about you? Do you have any siblings?"
"I do, actually. Two brothers – both younger, twins."
Danny started laughing. "Twins? I'm gonna guess by your tone you all don't get along," his voice was light and full of laughter.
"You could definitely say that," Kim chuckled. "They always have my back, but more often than not it's them who caused whatever it is I need help with." Kim began to think about when she was under Dr. Drakken's brain control and her brother's saved her.
"What about you and your sister? Do you guys get along?" Kim asked, a little done with talking about herself.
"We didn't used to, but since about freshman year, we've really bonded." Kim could tell by Danny's tone that there was much more to the story, but she didn't delve into any of her history, and she would never ask Danny to do the same.
"I'm hoping my brothers will get better with the years," Kim laughed shortly.
"What are their names?" Danny asked, not wanting silence to take over.
"Jim and Tim."
If Danny had been drinking something he would have spit it out to laugh. "Wait. Jim and Tim and Kim? Did your parents do that on purpose?" He began to do more than laugh. For some reason he found this hilarious.
"Gosh, I know. I honestly have no idea what was going through my parents minds," she said, and flushed a light rose.
Danny finally calmed down from his fit, and pointed to a red-brick house on the left. "This is it," he explained.
Kim and Danny began walking up the steps to the house. He sat his bag down and began fumbling around the pockets, searching for his keys. Finally he found them in the mix of books, binders, and folders, and dug his large hands into the pocket, and grabbed his keys. He flung his hand out the backpack, sending the keys flying out of his grasp.
It was like it was all in slow motion. The keys were released from Danny's grip, and soaring across the air and heading straight in Kim's direction. Her large green eyes seemed to widen with realization, and she moved her head back to avoid contact with the keys.
Unfortunately, this caused her to lose her balance on the top step, and she began fumbling backwards. Knowing that she would have to get the momentum to do this, Kim did not fight the fall, and simply gave into it, lunging herself to the ground. She tucked her slim body into a tight ball, and whirled around. She then landed right behind the bottom step on the side walk in an elegant position, her hands on the ground in front of her, and her knees bent, but with her feet flat on the ground. Her face was directed at the ground, but she looked up, and realized that she had just done a perfect somersault in front of a very shocked looking boy.
"Did you just—"
Kim stood up and cut him off, "Yes, I did." She sprinted back up the chairs, hitting every second step, and smiled awkwardly.
"So ready to start working on those questions?" A still-frozen Danny simply nodded his head, and grabbed his keys from the cement, and began twisting the unusually difficult lock.
Finally, the door swung open, and Danny motioned for Kim to enter first. She smiled, and Danny led the way through the dark hallway, to the right of the staircase, and beyond the closet on the left, until they finally reached a dimly-lit kitchen. They stepped through the threshold, and Danny flicked the lights on. Immediately the tiled-flooring of the room illuminated with yellowish-tinted lights.
Danny sat down at the kitchen table, and gestured for Kim to take her place. She awkwardly stumbled into the seat next to him, and began taking out her book, a binder, and a pencil. She also got out the sheet of paper that had the questions typed on it, and she set all her objects in front of her. Danny did the same – minus the sheet of paper, though.
Kim began to read off the sheet to begin.
"Okay, number one, 'Why does Dimmesdale intervene on Pearl's behalf when Governor Bellingham orders her removed on Hester's care?' Well I think it's because –"
"I'm sorry, I can't focus," Danny interrupted bluntly. Kim, a little taken aback, pondered, "How come?"
"Kim, I just watched you do a complete 360 down 7 stairs," he explained, slightly exasperated.
"That? Psh," she tried acting nonchalantly, hoping he would reciprocate. "That was no big."
"That was definitely something 'big'," Danny quoted.
"Why is it such a big deal?" Kim asked, trying to understand why the subject could not just be dropped.
"Nevermind, let's just drop it," Danny gave up. Kim did not argue. This was the last thing she wanted to talk about.
"Sounds good to me…" her voice trailed off. "Back to number one: 'Why does Dimmesdale intervene on Pearl's behalf when Governor Bellingham orders her removed on Hester's care'?" She repeated. "I think it's because he fears Hester. What do you think?"
Danny fidgeted in his seat slightly. He sorta disagreed, but didn't know how to say it. "I thought," he began. "It was because he really believes that Hester deserves to take care of her daughter. Call me the hopeless romantic, but I like to see the good in everybody," he smiled up at Kim
Kim returned the gentle smile, and thought for a moment. "I see what you're saying so I guess it's both. Dimmesdale stands up for Hester because he fears that she'll reveal his name or truly and honestly believes Pearl should be taken care of by Hester." Danny nodded his concurrence, so Kim began to write on the sheet of loose leaf for the first question.
They continued like that for 8 more questions, and Kim began to read Question 9 out loud. " 'Do people in the community believe Hester's punishment for adultery is too light or too strict'?" she read, and was about to state her answer, when both Kim and Danny's acute ears picked up the soft jingle of keys coming from the front door.
Shit, Danny breathed. No one was supposed to come home until much later, so when the front door began to open, Danny was starting to panic.
"It looks like either my parents or sister is home, do you want to finish in my room?" he asked, already packing up his things and trying to beat the intruder. Kim began to do the same, and agreed, "Sure."
"Hey, Danny," a soft voice called from the doorway. Damn it; not quick enough, Danny thought as he saw a glimpse of red hair pulled back behind an aqua headband.
Jazz came strolling through the threshold, and almost jumped at the sight of the other girl. "Oh wow, I didn't know we had company."
Kim's ruddy skin blushed at the awkward memory with this girl. She felt the bruise on her head from the other day tingle as she saw the familiar face.
Danny sighed, knowing he'd have to introduce the two girls. "Jazz, this is—"
"Kim, I know."
Danny blinked, "What?"
"Uh, we sorta had a run in the other day – literally, we ran into each other," Kim tried to smile. She had no idea this girl was Danny's sister!
"Yea," Jazz replied. "Well, I'll let you two go get your work done," she guessed at the sight of their bundled hands, filled with common school supplies. "See you later!" Kim smiled, and began walking out the kitchen, and Danny followed, but gave Jazz a look that was based on the look she had given him.
It isn't like that, was clearly the message he was trying to get across. His eyebrows furrowed, and he stared accusingly at her, but Jazz simply continued to smile sweetly at her younger brother, and gave him a wink before spinning on her heels and walking towards the living room.
Danny caught up with Kim who was still right by the door.
They traveled up the stairs – thankfully, this time with no somersaults – and turned left into a dark hallway. Danny's room was the second door on the left, and he politely held the door open for her. Realizing his desk only fit on, he offered, "Do you just want to sit on the floor?" "Sure," she replied, and Danny took his seat. Kim sat down right next to him. She had miscalculated the distance, and she accidently sat so close she almost sat on top of him. Still, she didn't want to be rude and act like she thought that was weird, so she didn't move her position.
Danny cleared his throat. He'd noticed her close position, and it made him slightly uncomfortable. Kim placed the sheet down in front of them, and Danny stuttered, "S-so number n-nine?" He tried to get back to the work.
Right, Kim said and leaned forward and began rereading the question.
Only this time, Danny didn't hear it. When she leaned forward there was an odd breeze to come and Danny suddenly got a whiff of the most tasteful honey-scented fragrance he had ever smelt. He looked around for its source, and realized it was his friend, Kim, who had this amazing aroma to her. He had never been close enough to her to realize, but she seemed to have an odor that encased her and her alone, and it smelled like the first day of spring; like freshly pollinated flowers or newly made honey from real bees. She smelled like a million herbs all tied together into one elegant bundle: sage, some rosemary, definitely a hint of rose; Danny could only lean closer and try to smell her more.
How on Earth could one human smell this amazing? He pondered.
"What do you think?" she heard him asked, awakening him from his scented trance. "Er, er… I don't know," he admitted, though kept the reasons for not knowing to himself.
"Well I think that the people think that Hester's punishment is too light. They often mention doing something like branding her with a hot iron, so they must think her sin deserved more than her punishment."
"I agree," Danny said, blankly. He was still obsessing over her delicious smell, to Kim's utter ignorance.
"So…" she trailed off, and began writing the answer to the second to last question. And again the luscious scent filled Danny's nostrils. He closed his eyes and began to lean in to just get another whiff of her, but he stopped abruptly.
What was he doing? So what if Kim smelled nicely. Lots of girls smelled nice, and he'd never been this bewitched by something as common as a scent.
But this isn't a usual scent," a small voice in the back of his head, but he shook his head to rid it of those thoughts, causing his hair to lie feathered across the top of his head.
Kim now read the last question. " 'Do you think Hester regrets her crime?' What do you think?" Kim asked, unsure about the answer herself. Danny hardly even paused to answer or consider what he was saying. "No."
It was as plain and simple as that, and he really couldn't focus so he didn't explain any further. "What do you mean?" Kim asked. It would appear the simple 'no' as an answer wasn't going to cut it. Danny backed away so he could focus on something besides Kim, and further explained, "I think Hester regrets causing her child to be such an outsider, but she doesn't regret actually being an adulterer."
Kim was a little shocked. She had always gotten the vibe that Hester really regretted her illicit act, but the way Danny worded it, she realized that there was no way she could regret it. It was like all the pieces began to fit together.
Kim nodded, and began writing their answer on the paper with her delicate, pale hand. She dotted the last period, and began packing up her things. "Okay, so I guess that's it," Kim smiled. She finished putting away her things, and stood up, slinging her backpack over her shoulder with ease.
It was then that Danny suddenly became hyper-aware of her midriff lying open under her short green tank top. He tried not to stare, but her slender stomach looked so smooth and velvety. A lump formed in his throat, and he had to try his best to swallow it without making him look pained. If it wasn't for that silken white skin staring at him, he wouldn't be feeling this way.
Damnit, Jazz! This was her fault! He had never even thought about Kim like that until Jazz gave him a funny look. Sure she smelled nice, and had a toned stomach, but Sam had a baran stomach, too, and he had never been attracted to her, so it must've been that scent that was getting to him. Then again he couldn't help but fantasize about her slender midriff.
But she wasn't necessarily pretty, right? I mean compared to the tan, gorgeous Paulina, did Kim even stand a chance?
She's smarter than Paulina. That voice was going to be the end of him. He'd have to think about this later; right now, he had to show Kim out.
"Well, thanks for coming over. We'll have to be partners again sometime," he smiled awkwardly, and held his bedroom door open for her. "Yea, definitely. It was really fun working with you," she replied and stepped through the door. She could tell something was bugging the young boy, but she couldn't what.
They walked side by side down the hall until they approached the dark staircase where they began descending the carpet-lined steps. When they were reaching the fifth from the bottom, a jingle was heard on the other side of the front door. Danny froze on the fifth step, and had to remind himself how to breathe.
Please let it be Jazz… Please let it be Jazz, he said over and over in his head. He knew this was no use when the front door began to creak open and a large orange-encased leg walked through the threshold, followed by a much slenderer blue leg. Suddenly the lights were flicked on, and Kim and Danny were in plain view of his parents.
"Danny I need you to – oh…" his mom began, not noticing that they had company. Danny cleared his throat, and remembered that him and Kim were just friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
Even if he wanted to hold every strand of her sweet-smelling hair and inhale them until the scent was sickening. Damn that voice! He would have to do something about that.
"Er, Mom, Dad, this is Kimberly Wate. She's new at school, and has been hanging out with Tucker, Sam, and I for a while. We were just working on a group project for English, but as a matter of a fact, we just finished, so you'll have to catch up with her later," Danny said, and began trying to usher Kim out the door and into the street. He didn't really want her to leave just yet, but the last thing he wanted was him mom to—
"Then how about she stays for dinner!" Maddie called excitedly. Damnit, Danny breathed.
"You should stay!" Jack chimed in. "We're having fudge for dessert!"
Kim looked at the two eager faces of Maddie and Jack, and felt her stomach groan at having a nice meal prepared for her. She'd been having frozen pre-made meals and Ramen noodles for the past week, so this would make her very happy… But then she looked to Danny's worried face. She was getting the vibe that she was not really welcome, so gently, she told the two parents.
"That's actually okay. I should get back to my aunt—"
"Please!" Maddie interrupted. "We insist. You must stay. How else would we get to know you?" she asked, rhetorically.
"Now, son, you and Kimberly can finish doing some homework downstairs in the lab," Jack said, in an instructing manner. It didn't really appear to be up for debate.
Still, Danny had to try. "It's okay, Dad, we'll just go in my room and finish—"
"No!" Maddie called. "The lab is fine. Danny, listen to your father and show our guest downstairs. We'll call you up when dinner is ready."
Ugh! Where was Jazz when he needed her! Danny lamented. It would appear that he had no choice without Jazz's superior debate skills, so he grasped Kim's hand firmly and began leading her towards the lab. Maybe she wouldn't notice…
So I meant to fit the entire Wednesday afternoon into this chapter, but it ended up getting so long! I decided to break it in half. Therefore, the next chapter is going to be how this very awkward dinner is going to go... ;)
Please review!