For a moment, Anne couldn't think.
"I wish I had someone like that to make a man out of me when I was in school," another of the men quipped.
Her first reaction, after being dumbfounded for a moment or two, was to hold out a hand to prevent her daughter from bolting up to the men around the screen and confronting them. Then, she realized that her daughter was well behind her...because she was the one storming forward to have a word with them.
"One thing's for sure," the suit quipped, while Anne closed in on the group. "When they get girlfriends, at least they'll have an idea what they're doing."
The other two chuckled a little at that, only to be silenced by a neurosurgeon's outrage.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She demanded of the man. All three men were suddenly looking at her, rather than the screen.
"Who are you?" She demanded of the suit. "And why is a civilian looking at this interview? Is this entertainment now?"
"I'm Hank Perkins, assistant to the DA," the man finally managed to say. "I'm collecting evidence for this case."
"And you think it's funny?" Anne didn't know what to do. "That woman molested my under-aged sons, and you, the man who's going to prosecute her is trying to decide if it's a joke or if you should be envying them?"
"Doctor Possible," the man, Hank Perkins, rose to his feet when addressing her. "I'll freely admit that my remarks were less than professional and seem to indicate that I'm not taking this seriously, but I can assure you that I'm fully committed to this case."
"Oh?" Anne had to give him a little credit, he knew who she was and he had proper manners. "Would you be making the same jokes if it had been a twenty-four year old man having sex with two thirteen year-old girls?"
"I have helped prosecute a similar case," Hank told her. "And what happened to the girl wasn't a laughing matter."
"And what happened to my sons was?" Anne demanded.
"No," he said. "But your boys aren't showing any trauma or harm. They aren't nervous or anxious. There's no acting like they're afraid of their own shadows, afraid to speak. There's been no physical harm to them. I did not joke about the girl who's abuser I helped prosecute because what happened to her was horrible. Again, I apologize for joking about this case but I hope that even you can admit that your boys haven't sustained any damage."
"So it's all a joke," she glared at him with all the ire an angry mother could muster.
"Not at all," he held his ground and met her eye, Anne had to admit. "This...Miss Allen...abused her position as a teacher and she should, and will, be punished for it. She engaged in sexual contact with two minors and she should, and will, be punished for it. I assure you that despite my unprofessional conduct a moment ago, I am fully committed to seeing her brought to justice."
"But not as much as a man who did this to a teen girl would be," Anne finished for him.
"With all due respect, that man also inflicted physical and emotional harm upon his victim," Hank answered her. "Which means he was punished for that, as well. Your sons have not been harmed."
"So what happens in ten years or so?" Anne asked him; asked all three of the men. "What happens if we're not able to convince my sons that this was a serious crime? Right now, you're acting like an adult having sex with a teen is harmless, so what if my boys believe that? What if one of them finds himself working alongside a teenage girl in ten years? What happens if he decides to do her a favor, or make a woman out of her? Are you going to joke then?"
"Doctor Possible, you do your boys a disservice," Perkins protested. "They are very intelligent, so they will easily see the difference between what happened between them and this teacher and one of them forcing his attentions..."
"What makes you think that force would be involved?" Kim interrupted him. "Do you think that teen girls don't have crushes? Do you think that teen girls don't have drives? Do you really think that a fit, handsome young man couldn't manipulate a teen girl the same way?" She paused a moment. "You're going to be teaching my brothers lessons when you prosecute Miss Allen. Are you going to teach them that sex between adults and teens is really no big? Are you going to teach them that sex between a teacher and students is no big? Because if you teach them this, are you going to be there to make excuses if they apply the lesson you taught them?"
"It's different when a woman initiates it," Perkins insisted.
"Why?" Kim demanded, and Anne was happy to let her take her turn while she gathered herself for the next volley. "Because we're smaller? Because all men want to do it at all times? Because women never have those urges?"
Perkins didn't have an answer. Anne could see that for the most part, he believed exactly what Kim had just said...but realized that it sounded wrong when someone came out and said it.
"What if it had been something other than sex?" The younger redhead kept up her verbal assault. "What if it had been narcotics, or alcohol, or tobacco? What if she had been giving them this stuff, would it be different because a woman was doing it?"
"Well, no," the assistant DA managed to answer.
"What about doing something dangerous without informing our parents?" Kim was on a roll, Anne had to admit it. "What if she took them scuba diving, mountain climbing or parachuting..."
Kim stammered to a halt, giving the neurosurgeon a suspicion that her daughter may very well have taken the twins on just such an adventure. Now was not the time to bring it up.
"I can understand the point you're trying to make," Perkins admitted. "But in the end, it doesn't matter who contributes an illegal substance to a minor, it's still contributing and it's still an illegal substance given to a minor. It doesn't matter who puts a minor into a dangerous situation, the danger is still the same. However, the sexual act is different for men and women, which means the effect on underage boys is different than the effect on underage girls. The negative impact on their minds and bodies is different, so the punishment to the offender should be different."
"But here's something that isn't different," Anne took up the argument. "They are young and impressionable. Much like a girl who has been seduced by a grown man, these boys may have trouble knowing when sexual interactions are appropriate. If this teacher isn't punished; if law enforcement and the DA's office don't take it seriously, they're going to get the wrong message."
"I can agree with that," Perkins told her. "And again, I assure you that despite the juvenile remarks you overheard, we are collecting evidence and will take it seriously. I can only suggest that you look to your boys and prepare a defense for your daughter."
"Agreed," Anne nodded, then returned to her quest to meet up with her husband and sons. She was reasonably sure that the DA would seek to prosecute the teacher, but she was sure that it wouldn't be as severe as if the teacher had been a man.
Such was the situation they found themselves in, they would just have to make the best of it.
There was no need for everyone to go along when his wife took the boys to the medical center for testing. James Possible understood this. As his wife was the medical professional, she took them, it only made sense. The problem was that it left him alone with his daughter. This had never been a problem before and he admitted to himself that it would be less of an issue now if he had simply manned up and faced the fact that his daughter was a maturing young woman who wanted guidance a few years ago. Instead, he had shuffled her "boy questions" off onto his wife. Granted, he had done so in full expectation that when his sons had "girl questions" she would shuffle them to him. Instead, he had neglected to deal with his daughter's unease and curiosity about a natural part of growing up and was now going to have to try to answer a question that he had been unable to answer when he had asked it.
"Why did she do it, dad?" Kim had asked him, once the boys were out of the house.
"I've asked that question a dozen times," he admitted. "And I'm no closer to you at answering it."
"It can't be because she can't find an adult man," Kim grumbled. "She's pretty, I'll give her that."
"I take it you spent some time last night glaring at her photos on the Middleton High School website?" His smile when he said so was pained but had the desired effect Kim gave him a look that told him that she had done exactly that; much like he had
"Given some of the posts to my site," she sighed. "Ones that Wade didn't manage to delete before I saw them, getting a guy to perform certain things isn't all that hard. Some of the suggestions I've gotten are kind of sweet, but some of them..." she trailed off, shaking her head.
"So why didn't you manage a long-term, steady boyfriend until you started dating Ronald?" He asked her, strongly suspecting that the answer would help her try to puzzle out the real question at hand.
"I'm not about to take anyone up on that kind of thing!" She snapped at him. "Just because someone I don't even know wants to..." she suddenly seemed to realize who she was talking to
"I'm not as blind or naive as you seem to think I am," he did his best to give her a "father" smile. "You didn't want just a quick fling. For some reason, she wanted...what she did...with your brothers."
"I take it you don't have any answers?" Kim asked him.
"Just more questions," he admitted. "It's so easy for me to try to look at this like my work; take enough factors into account, no matter how many or how subtle they can be, and you can predict what will take place. I can calculate the effects that sunlight and Jupiter's gravity will have on a probe heading to Mars. However, even if I knew every aspect of this woman's past, it doesn't mean that I can explain this behavior"
"Do you have any guesses?" His daughter asked.
"Too many to count," he sighed. His daughter wasn't really the person he should be having this conversation with but listening to him seemed to make her feel better and, strangely enough, he felt better for speaking.
"Maybe she wanted to be totally in control of such interactions," he suggested. "Perhaps she enjoyed the feeling of being able to dictate when it started, when it would stop and exactly what would take place." He shook his head. "I'm now quite happy that your mother and I refused her offer to give the boys a ride home after the labs. I have no doubt that there would have been numerous detours; trips to her apartment or hotels, had we agreed." He looked at his daughter, pleased to see that she was distracted by the intellectual aspect of figuring out why to the point that some of the horrific aspect of it had faded. "Do you have any ideas?" He asked her.
"Maybe it was the thrill of doing something wrong," she suggested. "Not all of the bad guys we take down are professional, some of them are people who are doing the wrong thing because they want the thrill. Maybe it was the risk of the whole thing; both being a teacher doing this with the students as well as an adult doing it with teens. She did it right in the school lab, under Mr. Barkin's nose." She looked at him again. "Your turn."
"Perhaps they reminded her of someone she knew in her teen years," he shrugged. "Someone who was a friend...and it never moved beyond that point, or perhaps a former boyfriend. Maybe it's some bizarre way of recapturing a happier time." He looked back at her. "Your turn again."
"Frustration?" His daughter rolled her eyes. "Maybe everyone she knew had a boyfriend, or a fiancé, or even just a friends-with-benefits sort of thing. The boys were there, she had the opportunity so...she did it."
To his shock, James wasn't...shocked...by his daughter saying something like friends with benefits.
"I..." she took a deep breath, the sort that you took before confessing something. "Before this happened, I..." she began to say, only to be interrupted by the doorbell.
"I'll get it," James told her, not knowing if he should be irritated or relieved that he wasn't going to hear a confession from his daughter.
He was easily able to decide that if it was a reporter, there would be some harsh words. Instead, it was Agent Smith at the door.
"May I come in," the man asked him. "I know that your wife is with the boys at the medical center, so perhaps this would be a good time to discuss a couple of items that, well, you may want to decide how to broach with them."
"Of course," James stepped to one side and let the man in.
"Agent Smith has been investigating the crime," Agent Smith explained, as he followed James to the den and took the seat that the rocket-scientist offered...after giving a nod in greeting to Kim. "I want you to be prepared for some of the more unsavory aspects of this case."
"Such as?" James asked the man, taking the seat he had vacated but moments ago.
"The accusations that her team is likely to make against the boys," the agent told him.
"She's going to accuse them?" Kim asked, beating James by mere moments.
"By their own admission, they brought a dangerous substance into the school," he explained. "Then tampered with the security cameras. Since we only have their word to describe what happened in that lab, she will most likely try to claim that they instigated the whole thing and she was frightened."
"Scared of a couple of thirteen year old boys?" James managed to beat his daughter to the question this time.
"You and your wife are not only wealthy, you've attained positions of respect and status within both your professions and this community," Agent Smith pointed out. "Your daughter is a well known, I daresay beloved, celebrity. Add to this the boys' ability to obtain dangerous chemicals and manipulate electronics, she could very well claim that the boys threatened to frame her for an accident if she didn't go along with what they wanted."
"But...that's..." This time Kim managed to speak first. James decided that it was only because he was taking his time to come up with a coherent description of his outrage, while Kim was more determined to express outrage before working out the specifics.
"There's only a very minimal chance that this would work," the agent assured the two Possibles. "But her legal team could threaten this in order to force us and the DA to back off on certain charges."
"Why would we, or the state, want to back off?" James was honestly confused.
"Because it would get messy for everyone," Agent Smith told him. "By claiming that the boys were coercing her into a sexual relationship, she would open the door to finding out just how the boys obtained that jet fuel. Is this something that you really want investigated?"
"If it means justice, let anyone investigate me!" James declared.
"Could this affect the space center?" The agent asked. "This could affect more people than your family and Miss Allen."
"If it costs me my job, so be it," the rocket scientist growled.
"There's also the fact that the DA may be hesitant to charge your daughter," Smith continued, nonplussed. "She trespassed onto school grounds...and we have her on security camera doing so. In addition, while she was stopping a crime, it's clear that the boys were in no physical danger and she's proven her ability to incapacitate large supervillains and henchmen. That punch could well be considered excessive force."
"So you think that the DA will be willing to trade charges," James concluded. "Let Miss Allen plead guilty to lesser charges in trade for lesser charges against Kim, the boys and by extension myself?"
"Exactly," the agent nodded. "I want you to be ready for this. While I'm not the DA, you can rest assured that this woman will be punished. However, you can also rest assured that the punishment will not be as severe as you want; because the case is more complicated than it appears to be."
"I guess there's no help for that," James sighed. "I just want to make sure that she can't do this to any other children."
"What we can't figure out is why," his daughter added. "That's what we were talking about when you showed up."
"If we knew her motive, prosecuting her and defending you would be a lot easier," Smith told them. "But we will probably never have the truth. She's most likely going to claim that the boys coerced her into this relationship, even though it's a story easily picked apart. The boys loaded the app onto her phone, so she had control of when the cameras malfunctioned." He paused a moment. "As to why she did it, I have a couple of theories."
"Such as," James prompted him.
"First, let's acknowledge that there's a possibility that she was attracted to them, for reasons I won't go into," the agent answered. "In this case, she was clearly in the wrong. She is an adult and if she felt any sort of inappropriate attraction, she should have ceased contact with them. My theories center on darker motives."
"Darker?" James could tell that his daughter was frightened to hear what such theories could be, but still intrigued.
"Money is the first one," Smith told her. "First of all, perhaps she was trying to get pregnant. Doctor Possible, you and your wife are very well compensated. A civil court will take that into account, despite the fact that the sexual contact was illegal. If one of your sons fathered a child on her, she will see substantial income in the form of child support."
James could understand the argument, even as he hated the need to suspect her for this.
"Money is the second one, as well," Agent Smith continued. "This drone the boys built could generate significant income. She may have entered into this relationship with the boys in order to manipulate them into giving her more credit and therefore more of the income."
James shared a nod with his daughter. This also made sense.
"After that, it gets darker," Smith told them. "Kim, you are a well-known figure that has made a great number of powerful enemies. There's a real chance that you are the ultimate target of this. Miss Allen may have done this to generate a scandal that inhibits your ability to interfere with some of your opponents."
"You think that Drakken, or Dementor, or one of the others set this whole thing up?" Kim snapped at him.
"Not the exact situation, per se," the agent answered. "I have no doubt that you were not meant to learn of this taking place at the time and manner that you did. However, there's a chance that this was meant to become public at a later time. This is just a theory, as is everything that I've said. Even if true, we don't know if an enemy of yours approached her or if she approached them."
"But it's just a theory?" James asked. "No proof?"
"No proof," Agent Smith confirmed. "In fact, the term theory is probably misleading. It's just a possible motivation. As is the possibility that you and/or your wife were the ultimate target."
"Us?" James was now seriously confused.
"Indeed," the agent nodded. "Doctor Possible, as I said before, you and your wife have achieved a great deal in your professional careers. I have no doubt that there are those who are envious of your positions and would like very much to take your places."
"But to do this?" James was honestly stunned.
"I did a little research and noted that one of your former colleagues, Doctor Fen, framed one Doctor Porter for theft," Smith noted. "Is this the case?"
"Yes..." James was beginning to see his point.
"Doctor Fen gained a position of less authority and prestige than you hold,' Smith continued. "And he framed a colleague to get it. Gaining your position could be even more tempting and a scandal involving your children could taint you in the eyes of the space center and leave your position open for a rival. I'm sure that your wife has similar rivals who either want her position or are in competition with her for promotions and funding."
"It's hard for me to grasp that someone would stoop so low," James said. "But, then again, I never would have suspected Doctor Fen of doing what he did."
"It could also be a twisted form of hero worship towards Miss Possible," the agent then mentioned, prompting a gasp from James' daughter.
"A number of girls and young women admire you to the point of infatuation or even envy and jealousy," Smith noted, when neither James nor Kim seemed prepared to comment. "Not all of the young women are actually younger than you. There's a chance that Miss Allen wanted any link to you that she could establish."
"This sounds kind of far-fetched," Kim grumbled at their advisor.
"I'm not saying that it is the case," Smith reminded her. "But keep in mind that the number of motivations for a person to do something like this is almost limitless. We're currently trying to narrow down the theories we have by investigating her social media posts and looking to see if she's on other sites, like on-line dating sites." He paused a moment before fixing Kim with a stern glare. "I know that your young friend, Doctor Lode has an uncanny ability to uncover data that he really shouldn't. I'd strongly suggest you tell him to not investigate this. He's good, but anything he comes up with is going to be suspect and will only make her more sympathetic. Let the police to their job in this."
"Fine," Kim threw up her hands in frustrated resignation. James promised himself that he would talk to her after their legal advisor left. He'd feel much better once he had a full promise from her.
"Put simply, the police are trying to find if she has announced that she's educating Kim Possible's brothers, or Doctor Possible's sons. So far, nothing incriminating has come up but the investigation is early." The agent paused a moment. "There really isn't anything else. It's too early to make solid plans until Miss Allen makes a statement to the police and we learn her claims. I just wanted you to be ready to have the boys accused of instigating all of this. You can talk this over with your wife, then contact me."
"Thank you for your time," James offered his hand, then accompanied the man to the front door. The bell rang again just as they were about to reach it.
Sighing, hoping that it wasn't a reporter James steeled himself and opened the door to face...
"Ronald?" He asked.
"Oh, hey Mr. Dr. P." The teen greeted him. "Mr. Barkin sent me off with all of Kim, Jim and Tim's textbooks."
James now noted that the young man was hauling a large and apparently heavy box.
"Leave it to Barkin to make sure we don't fall behind in our classes," Kim quipped, but stepped forward to help her boyfriend with his burden.
"I'd strongly advise you to not discuss the matter," Agent Smith told all present. "The fewer who know the details, the better."
"Yeah, I get the idea," Ron grumbled. "I'm not supposed to try to help out KP because helping her might make it worse. Agent Smith already told me this, but the rumors are already flying around the school."
"Let them fly," Agent Smith answered. "We'll work with Mr. Barkin to make an announcement at the school on Monday morning. We'll come up with something that's...acceptable. In the meantime, I'd suggest that the two of you limit your contact. It's for the best."
"Put the box in the den," James instructed the teens, as he saw the agent out the door. "I'll order some delivery. Ronald, I would ordinarily invite you to stay, but we have a family issue."
"I kind of guessed that," the boy assured him. "I'll be out of here in a minute."
"You don't have to rush," James allowed himself a slight smile, as he headed towards the kitchen phone.
Maybe a little time with her best friend and boyfriend would help Kim's attitude. He took his time placing an order. By the time he was finished, he heard his wife's van pull into the driveway and the garage door opening. He went to the den to meet his family and stopped in the door.
Kim had her arms wrapped around Ronald's waist and her face pressed against his chest. The boy had his arms around her, patting her gently on the back. Despite the situation, James couldn't help but smile at the sight. He had his reservations; perfectly reasonable reservations, about his daughter dating but he had always approved of Ronald. In a way, he guessed that was because he knew that he could bully the boy if he got out of line. A couple of times, he had seen Kim and Ronald 'saying goodnight' after a date or a late mission and knew that the young couple was exploring just where that line was at.
The scene in front of him drove home that his daughter and her boyfriend had pushed into the emotional aspect of an adult relationship well before exploring the physical aspects and that made him happy, even if there was a twinge of sadness that he wasn't the one she would be turning to for support and comfort. Looking up, he saw that Anne and the boys had stopped at another door, taking in the sight. His wife had a bittersweet smile that probably mirrored his own, while his boys looked thoughtful and curious.
His sons would probably have questions about this and he was looking forward to answering them.
A/N: For those of you who have been following this tale, first, thank you. Secondly, I don't know if it's the site, my settings, or what, but I'm not getting updates. My story stats are also irregular, so if you see fit to leave a review and I don't send you a PM to thank you, please don't think that I'm ignoring you...I'm not seeing any stats or PMs.
Anyway, enough ranting. Here's wishing everyone all the best and a big thanks to my long-suffering beta reader, Joe Stoppinghem.
