Witness Protection

Disclaimer: I don't own Kickin' It, or any other Disney Channel show. They belong to their respective producers/writers/companies.

A/N:

Chapter 64 (Piecing Back the Puzzle)

A year passed by somewhat peacefully, it had taken months for all the celebrities to be found and rescued, but millions were still missing. It was a true tragedy and had overtaken the news media that normally reported every 9-11 anniversary without fail. Now, it would appear this new tragedy would become the one that, ten years later, would annoy the living shit out of anyone trying to forget. Considering Jack was sitting in the dojo watching the news reporter talk about how 'the world remembers' the celebrities. It was September 12th, and the New York attacks only got a brief mention, shockingly enough.

He shook his head and looked away from the television to see Kim walking into the dojo. He smirked at her and put his arm around her waist as she tenderly kissed his lips. "Are we going to go watch that movie?" Many of the celebrities had still not returned to their respective careers, some quit altogether, but there were a brave few that continued their careers early on. Hugh Jackman, Clint Eastwood, and even Izzy Gunnar had returned to their careers within three months of absence. They were some of the first to do so.

Jack removed the towel on his shoulder and glanced to Rudy's office. Rudy and Amanda married a while back and were the proud parents of a baby boy named Robert, short for his father. Currently, instead of being out here and sparring with Jack, he was in the office on the phone, baby talking his son. He wouldn't miss anyone. Jack smiled and looked back to Kim confident and ready to meet up with his friends. "Looking forward to it!" Miley was in college now, on the path of becoming a vocal coach. After some time, the CIA went forward to tell the world that Hannah Montana had been one of the early victims of the Black Dragons, murdered in 2002. It was a relief to Miley to be free of that cloud. The brother and sister were still friendly with Oliver, who was doing well with his daughters and family over in California. Jack corresponded with him on occasion, getting updates on how everyone was doing.

Dylan and Rin were enjoying their marriage, still shared a home with Rin's mom and Grandparents. The family had added a nursery for the couple's child, and more good news was that Rin was already expecting her second child to be born in about seven more months!

Fan was portraying the image of every typical aunt, spoiling the baby every chance she got. She was more than happy to take up a job in child services and was aiming to make the CPS something people could one day be proud to have around rather than hate. Rin also had taken up singing, Dylan was doing a series of different jobs to save up for their own place one day. Fan, on the other hand, already had her own place, she managed to talk the CIA agents into it.

Hilda was happy with her mother and siblings, and was growing closer to her father as well. The two parents were not together, nor did they ever plan on dating one another, but this was to be expected.

"Let me say goodbye to Rudy real fast." The group still felt a duty to watch over Rudy. It was a strange thing, but in truth, a bond had formed between them due to the experience. He hurried over to the door and knocked, waiting for Rudy to respond. "Hey Rudy, we're headed to the movie, we'll swing by later!"

"Have a good time!" He called back, "I made a new baby album to show you guys later!" He raised an eyebrow and chuckled. Yes, Rudy had become that father.

Jack clapped his palms together and looked over to Kim, she was looking around at the walls and had her thumbs hooked into her pant pockets. She'd been doing well lately, whereas a year ago, she'd break down almost every other day when thinking about her parents. Fortunately, Ciara had been great to live with, but very protective. The two were still maintaining a pure relationship, but that didn't make Ciara's glare any less intense. She was not letting anything slide, if she even caught them cuddling in the bed, it looked like she was half tempted to push them apart! "All right Kim, everyone else is down there?" He started for the door and Kim grabbed his hand, walking beside him. She put her head to his shoulder and nodded.

"Yeah…" As for the rest of the group, Milton was doing great despite the difficult long distance relationship with Julie. She had to move back with her parents considering her uncle was in jail, and still he remained. The couple had their ups and downs, and the strain of being separate happened with both, but they were still going strong. Already they were planning their next big get together, but of course, they always had one weekend of every month to visit each other. The two likely had the least trouble when it came to adjusting to the changes that were happening, considering their biggest priority always seemed to be their relationship.

Jerry was spending more time with his father, having discovered the pain of being without his family during such a trying time. He never wanted to have to feel that he would lose his dad again, the same was said for Eddie, who now had a stepmother, the woman his dad started dating from the island. For Jack, he loved his family and would give anything to protect them, both his direct family, and the family that consisted of his friends.

"You know, I'm surprised that you want to see this movie, actually."

"Why not? I mean it is one of the first movies to come out since the tragedy." While actors had returned to work, it still took time to produce movies. This one they were going to see was actually based off of their adventure, and the primary actor greatly resembled him, which he found odd. Then again, directors wanted to try and tie in every factor exactly right. There were still a variety of facts that were not known to the public, only because Jack and the others didn't really want to go public with the things they'd done. They weren't looking for glory, for fame, or anything of the like. The only thing they wanted to do was exactly what they accomplished, rescuing their families and taking out the crime. "Plus, Hugh Jackman's playing the General in charge, of course I want to see!" It was funny, the real General was an old man, but that didn't matter. The actor had done this film as a method of stepping back into his comfort zone, it really was his 'coming back' film.

"Well I'm sure it'll be good," she laughed heartily as they exited the dojo. She silenced abruptly and stared ahead at the shop in front of them. Jack followed her gaze and frowned, shaking off a growing unsettling feeling inside of him. Nobody had heard from Phil since he left a year ago, and his shop was now a jewelry store. The old reptile shop had also changed into a pawn shop since the adventure. Nobody felt comfortable with going into either store just yet, considering the memories still remained. Kim squeezed his hand and closed her eyes. "You can change the outfit as many times as you want, but the inside will always remain the same."

"It'll get better in time, Kim. Nobody expects to forget the memories…" As nice as it would be to forget, there was still the need to remember. The memories would always serve as a learning experience.

"I wonder where Phil's gone after all this time…sometimes I just can't help myself."

"I know." He didn't want to be found, and to tell the truth, he might have gone into a witness protection program himself! "Even Bobby's not around often." The loveable oaf had become relatively a bit of a recluse. Mr. Wasabi did not trust any bodyguards other than his own people, nor did he want to hire any new ones. That wasn't surprising, considering the millions of celebrities out there were the same way. "Hey. Didn't Izzy perform a song for the movie coming out?"

"A couple, yeah…it's great to see some of the celebrities trying to test the water again. It would be horrible if none of them did."

"True." It was as Izzy had said when he first tried singing again, and he was the first singer to get back into the swing of things.

"I know a phrase as old as my great granddad, and it goes like this: 'The show must go on!' We've suffered a tragedy worse than...god I don't know what the worst thing I've lived through was, compared to this…but we can't give up on our careers cause some madman decided to…to kill us because of what we do, what we love, what we enjoy! If we give up, if we quit, then they win mates, don't let them win…so my friends, let's go out there and show them what we got! Let's rock! Yeah!"

Such motivational words from, perhaps, the last person Jack would ever expect to be motivational. They worked, however, as many celebrities started going back to work after that. Still, it was a long and grueling recovery process, but things were slowly beginning to shape back up. People were proving it was possible to bounce back after something so tragic, and of course, everyone wanted Jack and his team to come public so they could ask them to be their bodyguard.

As they made their way to the mall theater, Jack smiled at his friends all waiting for them. Jerry waved, and Eddie's sister rushed up to the two. On the wall behind them was the poster for the movie, and above its title was the shadow of a man performing a side kick into another shadow figure. The motion picture was Wasabi Witness Protection Warriors. Amazingly, that was the closest it came to predicting who the saviors were.

There was still no way they were ever going public, nor did Jack wish to be anyone's bodyguard. After all of that, he had enough action in his life. From this point on, he just wanted to settle down, relax, and have fun with his friends and his girlfriend. There was no question, however, that if Rudy ever needed them again, they would do whatever it took to help him out.

What do you think of it, this final chapter? Izzy's words to the celebs was pretty inspirational. Well this story came a long way, it is sad to see it go, but I am proud of it, and grateful for everyone that followed it along ^_^. You're all awesome, and it was great to be able to entertain you with a good story. All good things must come to an end, however, and with that being said, we bid Jack and his team a fond farewell. Let me know your observations on how everyone ended up, and go enjoy my other works ^_^