Screams in the Dark

A/N: Sorry it's been so long. I've been without a computer for a long time. Woo hoo! I have a working one again. I don't know for how long, but I want to actually try to update. I have so many fics. But I love them all. I may respond to people that reviewed more than once because I'm not sure where I left off. Sorry if I repeat. :-)

BrianDarksoul: I understand what it's like to be pulled in so many directions. I've got all of these going and I'm thinking of maybe starting Harry Potter, House, and Phantom fics at some point. People tell me that I should finish one and then start another, but my mind really is too 'all over the place' to concentrate on one thing for long. I'm trying, though. Thank you SO much for the review. I am very flattered that you like this fic. I just hope that I can continue to do okay with them. It's so important to me to put the realities of male rape out there and this is one way to do it. Hopefully it works.

P.C.: I'm glad you like it. I needed to think of a way in which they met and she had such loyalty to him when she can obviously handle most things without him on the show. I thought this was appropriate that he be her hero.

Midnight: I totally understand what it's like not to have a computer. Thank you for the review. I hope I don't disappoint anytime soon.

Lady Jolly: I hope they get justice, too, but I'm not sure how I'm going to work that in. Most rapists never see jailtime so I want to keep it fairly accurate. Of course, prosecutors don't need the victim's okay to go after someone once charges are filed so maybe I'll play that part of it up. Thanks for the review.

Emi: Thanks! I'm glad you like it. I'll email you as soon as I post this chapter.

Mimiko and MeLaiya: Working on it now. :-)

Cynthia Krenshaw: Thank you so much. Your review meant a great deal to me. Because of an incident a few years ago I began writing and it's very good for me. Addressing issues is one of the main reasons I write the way I do. I'm going to deal with the aftermath, but I'm not sure if I'm going to do it all at once or drag things out in a series. After all, it can take decades to get better and most people never really do. Time heals, but sometimes there just isn't enough of it, you know? I hope you continue to read the story.

L-sama: Thanks for the review! I'm really not sure where this is going to go as far as relationships. I'm not going to do the M/M relationship because, while I'm a fan of slash, I don't see Ron with anyone but Kim or Shego in this particular story. Nothing is certain yet, but we'll see what happens. ;-)

DISCLAIMER: I own only the ones that you don't recognize. In this chapter I think that would be nobody.

WARNING: Obviously this fic deals with rape so if you aren't in a good place to handle it please don't read. Thanks.

I'm taking some creative license here because I'm sure that someone will tell me that I'm wrong and my story doesn't match with facts from the show. So let's just call it AU for the sake of my oversensitive muse. ;-)

Kim looked up as her mother walked into the room and shivered at the lost look in the older woman's eyes. She wanted to immediately burst into tears, but found herself just losing her focus as she looked at the woman before her.

Mrs. Possible walked forward and reached out to touch her daughter's hair. Kim jerked away and her mother sat down across from her and just tried not to cry out in frustration. She knew that Kim needed her comfort, but she was so terrified of breaking her precious child that she didn't know how to proceed.

Kim took her mother's silence as condemnation and burst into tears. "Mommy...I'm so sorry. I couldn't stop them!"

At her daughter's cry, Mrs. Possible pushed aside all of her concerns and went with her instincts. She grabbed onto the teen and held her close. "No, Kim...no, baby...it's not your fault. None of this is your fault. We're so proud of you for getting out of there alive."

Kim thought about that for a moment and wondered if that was really something to be happy about. She had been thinking over the last hour or two that death would have been a kind justice to Ron. Regardless of her feelings for her life at the moment, she knew that she should be grateful. "That's because Drakken and Shego showed up and helped us. If they hadn't...This man was with Ron when they arrived. They would have just come back to hurt him over and over and..."

Her mother shook her head, not wanting to force Kim to think about things that were better left for later. She couldn't take anymore and interrupted. "Honey, can you tell me what they did to you?"

Kim shook her head and pulled away. "Nothing. I'm fine."

"Kim, please don't lie to me."

"I'm not."

"Oh dear God...they raped you..."

Hearing the words snapped Kim to attention and she shook her head. "No, they touched me." At her mother's questioning gaze, Kim picked at some lint on her robe. "My breasts."

Mrs. Possible took a deep breath. "I see. Can you describe to me what was done-"

"DON'T be a doctor! Be my mother! Why aren't you yelling or screaming or trying to find these bastards?" She broke down in tears then and didn't fight as her mother pulled her into another hug. Within moments she had told her mother what was done to her. She didn't even protest when her mother asked her to take off her robe so she could examine the bruises. "Mom, it hurt."

"I know. You'll probably be sore for awhile." She closed the robe up again and tried not to remember the finger shaped bruises on her baby girl.

"No, not that. I can handle physical pain." She curled up and laid her head on her mother's lap. "They made me watch, mom." She felt her feelings start to ebb away as if they'd been overused by her earlier outburst.

"Watch? You mean...? Oh Kimmy..."

Her mother was terrified as her daughter's voice shifted from panicky to monotone. It was as if she had completely pulled herself away from the emotions of the event. She listened and fought the bile rising in her throat as her daughter calmly and clinically described Ron's many assaults. She was desperately trying to push away the urge to go find the rapists that had hurt her child and her best friend.

"He screamed and I couldn't do anything. Do you have any idea how helpless I felt?"

The older woman nodded, but was at a loss as to what to say. She decided that Kim deserved honesty. "Honey, I don't know what to say to make you feel better."

Kim sighed. "I know. It's okay. I don't think there is anything that can be said to accomplish that." She sat up and brushed her hair back from her face. "How's Ron?"

Kim's mother sighed. "Kim, he's hurt badly. I think he should be at a hospital, but it's Ron's decision."

"There was a lot of blood."

"Yes, we stitched up what we could and hopefully there won't be an infection."

"How's dad? Shego said I should talk to him."

"You don't have to if you don't want. He's with Ron at the moment and he's very worried about you both."

"Will you send him in?"

"Of course." She opened the door and called to her husband. He quickly entered the room and then just stopped as if he was seeing his daughter for the first time. It was obvious that she'd been beaten and he just sat down across from her and looked at her face.

Kim was struck by how similar her parents' reactions were to her. She glanced nervously at her mom and received an encouraging nod. "Dad?"

"Kim...did they....did they rape you?" His voice broke on the word 'rape'. It was a word that no father ever wanted to use in relation to their child, but he had to know.

"No, Daddy. They hurt me and they made me watch while they raped Ron, but they didn't do that to me." She found a bit of amusement in the fact that she couldn't say the word 'rape' to her father.

He began to cry and started to reach out to her, but stopped, not knowing if he should. His question was answered when she slid from her seat to crawl onto his lap. She cried softly with him and neither of them noticed when Mrs. Possible slipped out of the room. She knew that there were some things that only daddys could understand.

She walked over to Ron and hoped that he was sleeping soundly, but his moans betrayed his nightmares. Not knowing how to help, she decided to call the Stoppables to see if they knew what had actually happened to their son or if they were in the dark. After a few rings she was about to give up when Mr. Stoppable finally picked up.

"Hello? Ron?" He sounded angry.

"No, it's Kim's mom. I wanted to-"

"Where's Ron?"

"He's with us at-"

"Send him home right now. It's far too late for these shenanigans."

She wondered how the man thought she could explain things if he wouldn't let her speak. "Didn't Wade call you?"

"Yes, but he only said that Ron was with Kim. I didn't give him permission to go out."

"Mr. Stoppable...something has happened."

"What? Is Ron hurt?" An edge of concern creeped into his voice.

"Yes, but he'll be okay physically...."

The sigh on the other end of the phone was loud and spoke more of annoyance than relief. "Then what's the problem? Send him home."

Mrs. Possible heard a click as Mrs. Stoppable picked up the other extension. "What's going on?"

Kim's mom took a deep breath. "He was captured along with my daughter tonight."

Ron's mother moaned slightly. "He really does get caught up in too many of your girl's problems."

"He was raped."

There was nothing but silence for a long time. Mrs. Possible was about to speak when she heard something fall. "Hello?"

Mr. Stoppable spoke. "My wife dropped the phone and locked herself in the bathroom. I hope you're proud of yourself."

"Me? What? I thought you should know so that you can get here."

"Send him home."

"I can't. He needs time to heal."

"He can heal at home. You said he'd be fine."

"In time, yes, but not right now. And his emotional wounds are-"

"Don't tell me about his emotional anything. He took off with a troublemaker and decided to experiment with some men and look what happened. I want him home so I can wipe out any queer fantasies he may have."

Mrs. Possible could barely breathe, but she managed to find her voice. "Excuse me?"

"I'm not going to let him stay like this."

"Like what?"

"Queer."

"Sir, he was forced into the situation. He didn't choose it."

"Yeah, whoever did it to him must have been getting signals."

"Signals? Here's a signal, asshole!"

She threw the cell phone across the room and watched as it shattered into pieces. She stood there trembling and finally collapsed to the floor in tears.


TBC...