Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from Kim Possible are all owned by Disney the great and powerful. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

Chapter titles are from lines in Iolanthe.

Nothing Venture, Nothing Win

"This is crazy," Kim thought as she created her profile for the Women-4-Women© dating site. "This is not the way to try and meet somebody. What's this gay-dar thing I'm supposed to have, and why didn't I get it?"

Sorority rush in her freshman year of college had been frightening when she woke up in a bed the next morning with vivid memories of the night before. The fear and uncertainty had even outweighed the thrills of the previous night. She had not joined the sorority. She took a room in a dorm and tried to work through the meaning of what had happened.

Ron and Monique, the only two friends she'd talked with, were helpful – and not.

"I wondered if, uh, you, um, might be... Ah," Ron stammered.

"Then why didn't you say anything?" Kim snapped.

"Well, I wasn't really sure, and, ah, if you weren't it would have... Anyway, you were my best friend. Maybe that was my way of telling you."

"I believe Ron Stoppable once told me those were the dumbest words his parents ever said to him."

"Well, you know what they say, KP, the apple doesn't fall very far from the orange tree."

It had been a good thing they were talking on the phone. She might have hit him if they were in a booth at Bueno Nacho.

Kim decided it explained why she enjoyed the showers after cheerleading practice so much. Sometimes it had seemed like she did more staring in the shower than others did. Not that Kim had ever said anything. Not that Kim would have said anything even if she had suspected her preferred orientation. One girl, Alex, was very out in high school, and rather butch, and was treated like shit. It was much easier to tell herself she was a cheerleader and not like that.

Remembering Alex gave Kim a guilty feeling. Not that Kim had taunted or made fun of the tall girl, but Kim felt like she should have done something more positive in the girl's defense.

The only other person from Middleton who knew, who Kim had told, was Monique. There was always a chance Wade knew. Wade seemed to know everything, but he had moved on to other projects when Kim started college and she seldom talked with him.

Monique urged Kim to tell her parents. "C'mon, GF, you got cool parents! You really think they're gonna kick you to the curb and tell you never to darken their doorway again? No way!"

Kim couldn't imagine her parents disowning her, but she felt telling them would make them unhappy. For all his warnings about, "No boys," Kim figured her dad wanted her to find a nice guy and settle down... when she was thirty or so. Her mom would, after some initial disappointment, be cool with it. Cool, but not happy. Accepting, that was the word for her mom. "Monique's right, I need to tell them," but Kim didn't have any particular date marked on the calendar to make the revelation. She wasn't even sure the year that calendar would show.

And California was far enough away from Middleton there was little chance of her parents hearing that Kim was dating women. Not that Kim had dated a lot of women in the last couple years. After accepting the night at the sorority rush as a sign from heaven that she wanted to be with another woman Kim had been spectacularly unsuccessful on the dating scene. Her best relationship had clocked in at under two months. The most spectacular fail had been the woman who walked out on her half-way through a first date.

Ron had suggested, "You should try one of those on-line dating sites."

Ron could be crazy. He could also, on occasion, be insightful. Kim called Monique for a sanity check.

"Can you hear me givin' you a thoughtful look over the phone?" Monique demanded.

"No."

"Listen harder. I am. Now, with the disasters you've told me, I think you need to consider how to present yourself and the kind of woman you're looking for. You think I go out with any random guy who walks up and asks, 'Hey, wanna date?'."

"No way," agreed Kim.

"Heard good stories about some sites. Heard horror stories about others. Check 'em out all you can. And, if you make a date, make it a well-lit public place. Got that?"

"Yes, Mom." Kim giggled. "Rare day when you agree with Ron."

"The boy can't always be wrong."

Kim decided not to use Kim Possible as her profile name. She was surprised to learn the site already had three women calling themselves Kim Possible, one of whom had posted an old picture of Kim as her photo.

"Ann P," Kim decided. "I mean, I am Kimberly Ann Possible so I'm not lying." The short, mousy brown wig she wore for her profile picture could be considered a lie, but it went with the slightly blurry image she posted. Should any of her other Middleton friends happen to use the website they might think it looked like Kim, but they wouldn't be sure enough to call her mom and dad for clarification.

A little more than a week later 'Ann' arrived early at the coffee shop, wanting to watch the door when Xandy arrived.

Xandy had the same idea. Kim was seated, watching the door when she felt a tap on the shoulder. "Ann?"

The brown-haired woman turned and four eyes went wide with shock.

"Princess?! What the hell are you doing?"