Kim felt like she had been walking on air all day. Ever since her last date with Ron. Not only had she had a great Senior year, but everything was also looking perfect. She hadn’t had any problems while she was dating Ron and they were still going out, Bonnie seemed to have given up on trying to make Kim miserable, and both Ron and her were going to the same college. They would still be together just like they had since Pre-k. The only problems that had come up were when Dementor, Drakken, Monkey Fist, or whoever had come up with another stupid idea that week decided to try and take over the world or something. However, those were nothing new and hardly worth allowing to effect her life.
“Kim!”
Kim turned to see Monique running towards her. “Monique! What took you so long?”
Monique reached Kim and stopped to catch her breath before answering. “Sorry, I just had a few things I had to take care of.”
Kim looked at Monique. Even though Monique didn’t know, Kim knew about her and Felix. There just wasn’t anything that Monique had been able to do to keep Kim from finding out, but Monique didn’t know that Kim, Ron, Wade, Bonnie, Mr. Barkin, Felix’s mother, and a whole slew of other people knew that they were going out. If Monique’s definition of subtle was anything close to what Kim thought it was, she might need to update her vocabulary and replace subtle with freakin’ obvious. However, Kim let it slide, knowing that Monique would tell her when she was ready, and it was also a little fun to know something that Monique thought she didn’t.
“Its okay. I just let Ron know that we’d be spending the day together and he was cool about it,” Kim answered.
“Cool.”
They walked for a bit towards the mall before Monique spoke up. “So are you and Ron planning anything major anytime soon?”
“Huh?” Kim asked, caught off guard.
“Like has he asked you yet?”
Kim stared at Monique not comprehending what she was saying.
Monique sighed. Sometimes Kim was just too oblivious for her own good. At least when it came to Ron. “Has he proposed?”
“No!” Kim cried, a little louder than she had intended to. Recovering quickly she continued. “I mean, we’ve discussed about that possibility, but I don’t think that we’re ready to even begin planning on something like that.” They walked for a minute in silence before Kim added, “At least not until we’ve gotten through college.”
“Uh-huh.”
“What about you? Anyone that’s caught your eye?” Kim asked, wondering if she should try to get Monique to say something about her and Felix.
Monique shook her head. “If I did, you’d be the first I told. Right now I’m still looking.”
Right. That’s not what it looked like last night when Ron and I saw you enter that restaurant with Felix. Neither of you saw us, but we both know you were there, Kim thought, but didn’t say anything. Kim could handle Monique lying to her about this. After all, she was still probably trying to sort out her own feelings about Felix, kind of like Kim had to do before she could really date Ron with any amount of seriousness. What Kim did say was, “Anyone that you’re at least somewhat interested?”
The look Monique gave her quickly confirmed that she was letting Monique know too much about what she actually knew. “W- why?”
Kim looked at Monique with a completely innocent look. “Well, you’ve at least got to have an idea of what you’d like.”
The look fear left Monique’s eyes. “Oh, I thought for a minute you were implying something.”
After a moment of silence, Kim pressed her question. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Well is there?”
“Actually, there is.”
“Who?”
“I- I can’t say,” Monique replied, her face flushing a little.
“Is he that hot?” Kim teased.
“What? No! Its not that,” Monique blurted, face turning a beet red.
“Then who is it?”
“Well… I… um…” Monique seemed to be panicking.
“Relax, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Kim told Monique, mostly to keep her from running away. Whatever Monique was going through, was definitely not something that she was ready to tell anyone about. Kim decided to have a talk with Ron about that, since she knew that he was likely to let Monique know, which could easily result in Monique just disappearing. Kim didn’t want to lose Monique as a friend, but she also was getting a little uncomfortable with how scared Monique seemed of telling her about her and Felix. Kim was sure that Monique had a reason, but wasn’t sure if it was a reason that was completely rational. Sometimes reasons for things like that just weren’t rational, but were real all the same.
When they reached the mall, Kim decided to try and find out what Monique was afraid of. “By the way, Mon, you seemed a little agitated when I asked you if you were interested in anyone.” Kim felt Monique tense up next to her. “I was wondering what that was about.”
Kim felt Monique relax a little. “It wasn’t anything, Kim. I guess I was getting a little upset about that you have Ron but I don’t have anyone.”
Kim nodded accepting that as her response. For now. Eventually Kim hoped that Monique would be a little more forthcoming about her and Felix.
They were about to enter the mall when Kim’s Kimmunicator went off.
Beep beep be beep
Kim pulled it out and turned it on. “What’s the sitch, Wade?”
“Kim, we have a problem. I’m not sure how this happened, but an airplane took off from DIA without enough fuel to take it anywhere very far. They need you to help with evacuating the passengers.”
Something told Kim that that wasn’t all that was going on. “Tell me that’s it Wade,” Kim pleaded.
“Sorry, but there’s another airplane that has something wrong with one of it’s engines. I’ve already let Ron know about that one. He’s already off and helping there.”
Kim sighed. At least Ron would be able to look after himself. Although, she didn’t like to have Ron go off on his own like this, she knew that there wasn’t anything she could do about it. “Okay Wade. Just let me know what you’ve got in mind for getting me there.
Kim pulled the parachute cord and started drifting past the airplane as it roared by. Kim fired her hairdryer-grappling gun and it caught the wing. Kim pushed the button to reel it in after she removed her parachute. Even though they were low on fuel and were near enough to Middleton airport, Kim understood why they didn’t want to take any chances with the passengers. It definitely would not look good for the company to have the loss of a plane full of passengers to be reported.
Kim was on the airplane quickly and saw that only the crew actually knew anything about what was going on. The passengers were still seated and the lack of panic that Kim expected let her know that she was probably going to be expected to inform the passengers as well as helping them distribute the parachutes. However, Kim knew that she should first probably find out what she was expected to do. After all, it could be they just wanted her there in case things went bad, and not for any other reason.
“Um, excuse me,” Kim said, stopping one of the flight attendants. “But, what is it that you need me to do?”
“We need to you explain to the passengers what’s happened and help distribute the parachutes,” the attendant told Kim. “It should be simple for someone like you.”
Simple, huh? Kim thought to herself. Knowing that this was going to be far from simple. Yeah it’s easy to say one thing, but a completely different thing when people start reacting and panicking. I just hope Ron isn’t having as bad of a time as this.
Ron nearly passed out after he managed to get on the airborne plane. It had been all Ron could do to get aboard in one piece. This is something that Kim is better at, Ron told himself. He would have been grateful to let Kim take this one, but when Wade told him that TWO airplanes were in trouble, Ron knew that he had to take the more dangerous one. Which is why Wade had told him first. Neither one wanted Kim to get in something any more dangerous than was necessary and this would have been the plane that Kim would have chosen to save herself. Which is something that Ron would not be comfortable letting Kim do. At least when there was something else that would call Kim’s attention away. After all, Kim was reckless in what she did, and Ron felt that since he was the one closest to her most of the time, it fell to him to keep her from being too reckless.
After Ron recovered from the effort of getting on the airplane, Ron checked the fuel in his jetpack. There was enough to get him back to the ground when he’d need to get out. Which suited Ron just fine. There he’d at least be able to pass out without worrying about making things worse. Ron looked around and saw that there were just three others there. Ron walked over to the pilot to find out what was needed to be done. “What do you need me to do?” Ron was a little uncomfortable with asking this, but he knew that without Kim being here, he’d need to take charge.
“Who are you?” the pilot asked. “We need Kim Possible.”
“I’m her sidekick. She’s taking care of another problem right now,” Ron answered, a little annoyed that this guy wasn’t too happy to not have gotten Kim.
“What could be more dangerous than a faulty airplane?” the pilot growled.
“An airplane low on fuel, full of passengers,” Ron retorted, not caring if he was being rude.
The pilot growled a moment before relenting. “We were going to try to land, but that was before the engine caught fire,” the pilot told Ron, his displeasure evident in his voice. “Right now we need to find a place that we can crash this plane into that won’t hurt anyone.”
“Is there any important cargo in this plane?” Ron asked, hoping that there wouldn’t, because of the complications that would arise then.
“No, we were supposed to pick up our cargo when we got to our destination,” the pilot answered.
Ron thought about this for a moment. “So, where are you going to crash the plane?”
“There’s a wooded area near here that should be unpopulated. We’ve already informed the authorities of our decision, so that won’t be a problem.”
“What IS the problem then?” Ron felt like he was pulling teeth with how this guy was giving him the information.
“That’s about fifteen minutes away. The auto-pilot went offline when the engine became faulty.”
Ron considered this. It was likely that the crew on this airplane would remain until they were certain that the airplane was going to crash where they wanted it to, but Ron couldn’t allow them that option. At least if it wasn’t necessary. There was too much risk in that. Kim would want to do the same, so Ron felt a little obligated to do what he knew he should do anyway. “How many people does this plane need to get there?”
“One.”
“I’ll take over,” Ron said without hesitating.
“Sorry, but we can’t allow that,” the pilot answered.
“Then what did you expect Kim to do?” Ron shot back.
“She would be able to fly this thing,” the pilot told Ron bluntly. “She isn’t some idiot who thinks that he can take her position as a teen hero.”
Ron was getting fed up with this guy. “If you want to talk with her, I can get a call to her,” Ron said, feeling like he’d rather hit the guy as hard as he could.
“Hey, sir, maybe we should listen to this kid,” one of the crew suggested. “I mean, if there is another airplane that’s in trouble, Then we might be lucky to get anyone at all from Team Possible.”
“This kid isn’t part of Team Possible,” the pilot said, chuckling. “He’s just some kid that thinks he can use Kim Possible’s reputation to build up his own. If he was part of Team Possible, then he’d be able to contact her webmaster, Wade.”
Ron knew that he wasn’t going to get anywhere if he didn’t contact Wade NOW. Ron pulled out his Ronmunicator and called up Wade. “What up, Ron?” Wade asked, as cheerful as ever, when he saw Ron.
“The pilot is being difficult and saying that I’m trying to build up my own reputation,” Ron said. “So, I think that you might be able to talk with him and get him to let me help.”
“Okay, Ron. Give the Ronmunicator to him and I’ll see what I can do.”
Ron handed the pilot his Ronmunicator to the pilot and waited as the pilot started screaming at Wade. While Ron was waiting, one of the crew came over to him and said, “The biggest problem is that this plane can go up and become a fireball if that engine gets any worse.”
“So why don’t you turn it off?” Ron asked, a little confused.
“The problem is, is that it is off. As soon as it started malfunctioning, we turned it off. Then about five minutes after that, if caught fire.”
“So, about how long before the plane goes up?” Ron asked.
“I’d say ten to twenty minutes.”
“But, then there might not be enough time to get to that unpopulated area the pilot told me about,” Ron said, getting uncomfortable about this whole mission. Maybe I should have let Kim take this one, Ron told himself.
The crewmember shook his head. “We know that. However, without that engine, we can’t power up the other engines without putting too much power on one side.”
“Why would that be a problem?”
“Because then the plane would drift off to one side.”
“I’m sure Wade could tell me how far away I should turn the plane to get there faster with that.”
“But, you’d need to stay up here until you’re certain that the plane will crash where you want it to.”
“I wasn’t planning on doing anything else,” Ron told the man flatly. “What we need to do is keep this from becoming a disaster.”
“FINE!” the pilot cried, causing Ron and the crewmen to jump. The pilot turns to Ron and shoves the Ronmunicator into his hands. “It’s your show then. I’m leaving.”
The pilot moves to the back where the parachutes are. “You guys should go too,” Ron says, turning to the other two.
“But-“
“Don’t worry. I’ll bail out as soon as I’m sure that the plane will crash where no one will get hurt.”
“Fine, but just remember that when the engine explodes, you’ll have maybe a minute before the entire plane catches fire. No matter where the plane is, get out immediately, okay?” the crewman instructed Ron.
“No problem,” Ron said with his trademark goofy smile.
Ron waited until everyone had jumped before calling Wade up on his Ronmunicator. “Okay Wade. I need you to talk me through this. What am I supposed to do to fly this thing?”
Kim was exhausted from having to fight to keep control of the passengers who always seemed to start panicking the moment she shifted her attention from them. At least the plane’s on the ground and everyone is safe, Kim thought to herself.
“Wade, how’s Ron?” Kim asked as she turned on her Kimmunicator, wondering how he was doing.
“Okay, Ron now just leave it like that for a minute. Then the plane will be good for another few minutes,” Kim heard Wade say. Then Wade turned to her. “He’s doing fine. The plane he’s on will need to crash, but he’ll have plenty of time to get out before it does.”
“So, he isn’t in any danger?” Kim asked, having a bad feeling well up inside of her.
“Not anymore than usual. We already know when the engine will explode, and he’ll be out of the plane well before then. And he has Rufus to help him.”
“Call me when he’s done, ‘kay Wade?” Kim asked, hoping that her bad feeling is just because Ron’s not with her at the moment.
“Sure Kim. I’ll let you know as soon as he’s done. And I’ve already got you a ride. It should be waiting outside when you get there.”
“You rock Wade.”
Kim turned the Kimmunicator off and made her way outside. She didn’t have any difficulty finding her ride, it was the only non-emergency vehicle that the security had let through for the moment. Kim tried to relax on her way back home and not think about Ron being in danger, but no matter what she did, her thoughts always went back to Ron. Something’s going to go wrong. Kim just knew that for a fact. How she had no idea, but there wasn’t anything that she could tell herself that would get that feeling away. Finally, Kim knew that she’d have to talk with Wade or she’d scream. Turning the Kimmunicator on, she heard Wade giving Ron more instructions. “Okay, now you should turn the plane a little to the left. Then keep it in that direction for a few minutes.” Wade then turned to Kim and said, “Hey, Kim!”
“Wade, could you let Ron know to meet me at Smarty Mart when he’s done?” Kim asked.
“Sure, but why Smarty Mart?” Wade asked.
Kim couldn’t think of anything. She really had just blurted out the first place that had come to mind, and she knew that Ron had told her that he needed to go there soon. “No reason, Wade,” Kim answered vaguely.
“Riiight,” Wade drawled, suspicious of Kim’s reasons, but unable to find anything to actually question her about.
“Thanks, Wade,” Kim said and turned the Kimmunicator off. Kim closed her eyes and hoped that this day would be over soon. That way she’d be able to get over this bad feeling that just wouldn’t go away. Kim didn’t realize that she had fallen asleep until she felt the car come to a stop. Kim looked up and saw that she was where Wade had told her about the mission. “Thanks for the ride,” Kim said to the driver.
“No problem, Kim,” the driver said.
Kim waited a moment, before realizing that the driver wasn’t going to say anything else. So she got out and watched the car drive off after she shut the door. Kim sighed. She really wished that this feeling would go away. She never liked feeling like something bad was going to happen, because there wasn’t anything that she could do about it. Before she knew it, she had entered Smarty Mart. Kim started wandering aimlessly, looking at some of the items that were on the shelves, not really interested in what she was looking at, but desperate for something, anything, to take her mind off of Ron for the moment.
Ron was starting to get tired. There was at least three minutes left before the plane would crash where he wanted it to. However, Ron suddenly found himself looking at the control panel. There wasn’t anything different about it, but he couldn’t help but just watch it. Suddenly a warning light stated flashing. Ron quickly got Wade back up on the Ronmunicator. “Uh, Wade, this warning light just lit up, what’s it mean?”
Wade looked at it as Ron moved the screen of the Ronmunicator to face the flashing light. “Uh-oh.”
“Wade, what’s the ‘uh-oh’ about this time?” Ron demanded.
“Well, you now maybe have enough time to make certain that the plane will crash where we want it to, or you can save yourself. There isn’t another option.”
Ron let this sink in for a minute. Yeah, he had plans for his life and wasn’t ready for it to end yet, but he knew that he had to do this. There was only one thing left for him to do. “Wade,” Ron said, then pausing for a moment to collect his thoughts. “Wade, please let Kim know why I’m doing this.”
“Ron?” Wade nearly shrieked. “Don’t! Just give me a few minutes to find another way.”
“Wade, you already said that there wasn’t another way.”
“But Ron! Why?”
“Wade, you know why. If I don’t do this, how many other people will die? Am I really that valuable? Why else do I go with Kim on these missions if not to save people who can’t save themselves?”
“But Ron, shouldn’t you take some time to think about this?”
“Sorry, Wade, but there isn’t time.” Ron paused and then asked in a quieter tone, “Wade, can you at least do something for me?”
“Sure Ron. Just name it,” Wade answered just as quietly.
“Don’t let me turn my Ronmunicator off. Just continue to talk with me until it’s over.”
“No problem, Ron.”
As they started talking, Ron felt his mind wander to his plans for Kim. He had been planning on asking Kim to marry him as soon as they graduated. He couldn’t think of a better time. Now, he realized that he wasn’t going to be able to do that. I hope KP will find someone who’ll treat her how she deserves, Ron thought as he felt a tear slide down his cheek. Ron then thought back to the times that he had spent with Kim. He always thought that if he did die on a mission, Kim would be there with him and that neither would have to live without the other. Now, he realized just how foolish that thought had been. Ron felt the engine explode. Only a minute left, Ron told himself.
“Okay Ron! If you go now, you might make it!” Wade told Ron.
“Will the plane crash where we need it to?” Ron asked.
“There’s ninety percent chance that it will. Hurry, Ron!”
“Sorry, Wade, but I can’t leave unless there’s a hundred percent chance.” Ron turned to Rufus and asked, “Hey buddy, can you get the door ready for us to jump when its time?” Rufus nodded and made his way out of the cockpit.
“Ron, is there any way that I can talk you out of this?”
Ron shook his head. “No Wade. Kim would do the same thing if she was the one that was up here.”
Ron was scared. He never had really wanted something like this to happen, but you didn’t always get to choose what happens around you. “Okay Ron! The plane will crash momentarily! Hurry!”
Ron nodded and quickly moved out of the cockpit. He barely made out of the cockpit when the plane burst into flames, incinerating everything and everyone in it.
Wade couldn’t do anything but stare at his screen that was now full of static. Wade didn’t want to do this, but he knew that Kim wouldn’t forgive him if he didn’t tell her now. He just wished that there was some way that he could make this easier. Not only for Kim, but also for himself. This was never something that he had thought would happen when he had originally become Kim’s webmaster. It always seemed like it would happen when Kim was with Ron. That he would be able to not worry about telling anyone and letting it fall to others to do that. Now, however, it seemed that fate was conspiring against him in regards to this. Wade just sat at his terminal staring at his screen full of static. He knew that he would be able to call up Kim with just a press of a button just inches from his hand, but he just didn’t seem to be able to move.
Thoughts were racing through his mind, but nothing seemed worth saying. Finally Wade sighed. No matter how long he waited, he wouldn’t be able to think of anything to say, and that the longer he waited, the harder it would get. So, Wade pressed the button to contact Kim. Her face appeared on his screen and he could tell that she was certain that something had gone wrong. “What is it, Wade?” she asked before Wade could even say anything.
“Um, Kim, I don’t really know how to say this, but…” Wade trailed off, part of him not knowing exactly how to put this, the other part not wanting to say it at all for a variety of reasons.
“But what?”
“…but as Ron was getting out of the airplane, it burst into flame. His Ronmunicator stopped responding and I had made it more resistant to flames than he ever was.” Wade’s voice was quivering now. and couldn’t even look at Kim anymore. “I don’t think he was able to make it off the plane.”
Wade didn’t hear Kim say anything and thought she was still there, until he heard the sound of her Kimmunicator hitting the ground. Wade turned to look at the screen, but only saw the ceiling of Smarty Mart and a few patrons walking by. Wade then closed the link and sighed. Now, for the first time since he had started working with Kim as her webmaster, he voluntarily turned off his computer. Right now he was not going to allow a mission to come up. He wasn’t sure how long that would be, but right now he knew that Kim would not be able to handle anything. She was probably too emotional to handle much of anything right now.
Kim was burst out of Smarty Mart, not caring about those she plowed over in her desperate attempt to get out of there. All she could think of was getting home and trying to call Ron on his cell phone. After all, he could have forgotten his Ronmunicator on his way out of the plane, right? Right?
Kim knew she was being irrational, but she was trying to grasp any chance that Ron was okay that she could, even though she knew for certain that he wasn’t. She didn’t know how she knew, but it was a certainty, like that bad feeling she had earlier that wouldn’t go away. Kim was sure that she had knocked over a few people on her way out, but if she did, then it never occurred to her that it happened. Everything was going slower than usual, like time had been put into slow motion. Kim knew that things were still going at the same pace, but its one thing to know that on an intellectual level and another to know it on an emotional level. Kim wasn’t sure how long she ran, only that she arrived at her home before she knew it.
She ran through the house, not even bothering to respond to her parents as they tried welcoming her home. Instead she ran up to her room and picked up her phone with the intent to call Ron. However, as she held it, her hand trembling over the buttons, she realized that she couldn’t. Because if he didn’t answer, then it would mean that he really was gone. She just couldn’t take that risk. Eventually she put her phone back down and threw herself on her bed. If Ron was okay, he’d call her. Kim felt the tears flowing freely and didn’t try to stop them, not caring about how it made her look. Kim heard footsteps coming up to her room, but she didn’t even turn to acknowledge the presence of whoever it was. She assumed it was her mother, but since she didn’t look, she couldn’t be sure.
Whoever it was left without saying anything. Kim was grateful for that. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about this. Kim didn’t know how long she cried, but as she was starting to cry herself out, she felt exhausted. Soon she was asleep, away from the pain filled reality that wasn’t allowing her anything that she truly had wanted.
When she woke up, she could see that it was late. She didn’t look at her clock, because she knew that no matter how late it was, she didn’t want to talk with anyone. However, she heard someone walking up the stairs to her room and realized that she might not get that option. Like so many other things that she couldn’t have, Kim figured that this was just another thing that wasn’t going to be granted to one who had saved the world so many times.
Kim felt tears threatening to overwhelm her again as she saw her father come up. Kim didn’t even let him say anything before she threw her arms around him and let her tears flow once more. Kim could tell that he didn’t expect this, but she felt his arms come around her in a fatherly fashion, that she felt comforting. She didn’t cry near as long as she had before, but she still felt tired when she was done.
“Would you tell me what happened?” Kim heard her father ask her quietly, when she was starting to finish crying.
Kim felt a wave of incredible sadness threaten to overwhelm her again as she tried to respond. “Ron… Ron he… he…” Kim couldn’t finish as she was still too emotional about it.
“What?” Kim could tell her father was starting to get upset. “What did that boy do?”
“He… he didn’t…” Kim swallowed. If anything, the last thing she wanted was her father to think that Ron had done something directly to her. “He didn’t make it,” Kim finally managed to get out, and allowed the tears to flow once more.
Kim felt her father tense up as she started crying again. There was silence and then she felt her father pull her closer and hold her tighter. She could tell that he was getting upset about this, not nearly as upset as Kim, but enough to know that this was not only not what he expected to hear, but one thing that he did not want. However, Kim still felt like there was something that was being driven between her and her father. Not physically, but something that wasn’t allowing her to feel like he was as upset enough to really make her feel like she would get the comfort that she needed here. Kinda like how those closest to you aren’t able to help, even though they knew her best. Although, Kim wondered if that could be the problem. That she just wanted, for the first time in her life, to be left completely alone. To be given space and not have to deal with anyone or anything.
Finally Kim willed herself to stop crying. It took a few minutes, but she managed it and asked, haltingly, “Is there something you wanted?”
She felt more than saw her father nod. “This came for you today.”
Kim looked and saw that she had received a letter. Kim took it and opened it, not caring if her father looked at it while she was reading it. However, as Kim read the first lines, she knew that it hadn’t been sent through the mail. There was no possible way that the postal service could be THAT fast. Whoever wrote it knew what had happened, or at least enough that it couldn’t have been written more than half a day ago.
It read:
Kim. I really don’t know why I’m writing this. All I know is that you ran over me today at Smarty Mart and didn’t even pause to see what you did. All I can tell is that something has upset you. I’m not going to ask you to tell me what it is or what you would like me to do about anything, but I would like to offer you a haven of sorts away from anyone that might truly know you, aside from me of course. I can only assume that this has something to do with the plane crash that was one the news. If you ever want to get away from those you know really well, then come to the address on the envelope. If I’m not there, don’t worry about it. It’ll be unlocked and you can stay there for as long as you’d like.
Sincerely,
Someone who, for whatever reason, cares about you
Kim felt somewhat happy that someone would do this for her, even though she had knocked them over in her rush to get out of Smarty Mart. As she thought about it, Kim felt tired again, and wasn’t even aware of when she fell asleep, still being held by her father.
Dr. James Timothy Possible looked down at his daughter and smiled sadly when he saw that she had fallen asleep. No matter what he wanted to have happen to her, he never wanted her to lose anyone close to her. Especially Ron. Yeah, he had thoughts that Ron might not be as perfect for his Kimmie that he’d hope he was, but this was not something that should have happened. There was just no way that this should have been allowed to happen. James then picked his daughter up and did something that he hadn’t done in years. He put her under her covers and tucked her in. He knew that it was the least he could do at this point. After all, there was going to be a lot of things that would need to get done tomorrow and she’d need to get her rest for that. No matter what, it was going to be a long few weeks as the events that James knew were coming took over.