Someone knocked at the door around two in the afternoon. Kim stood from the couch, putting down her magazine on her way. Jim and Tim continued to lie on the floor, watching an older movie in what they called preparation for the sequel. To Kim's surprise, her most beloved friend, Ron Stoppable, was standing outside the door with Rufus the naked mole rat sitting on Ron's shoulder. "Allowance Sunday!" Ron cried jovially, waving a twenty-dollar bill clenched tightly in his fist. "All-you-can-eat buffet at Bueno Nacho, my treat! Let's go!" Pausing only to slip on her shoes and a jacket against the early December's chilling snow, Kim called her leaving and walked away with Ron. After some time, as they drew near to the Bueno Nacho, Ron noticed Kim's somewhat permanent smile. "You're chipper," he said, leaning forwards and down to stare at Kim's smile at a different angle. "What made you so happy?" Kim's smile didn't wane, but she blushed a soft rose. Ron raised an eyebrow and shared a glance with Rufus. "Boyfriend," Rufus squeaked simply. "It is not," Kim shot back. But she had hesitated before saying this, and Ron and Rufus shared another look. "What's his name?" Ron asked, a seemingly knowing grin curling his lips. "I don't have a boyfriend," Kim said in return. "I'm so not kidding." Ron and Rufus again shared a knowing look, holding their heads high as if waiting for Kim to break down and spill. Kim heaved a sigh, but didn't say a thing to confirm what the boys had said. It was true, really. She didn't have a boyfriend, and she wouldn't ever want one. A new smile curled her lips. With someone like Shego at her side, how could she want a boyfriend? Shrieks and screams broke the thread. Just to the left of Bueno Nacho, someone was screaming for two things: the thief that had stolen her purse, and the small child that had been shoved into heavy traffic by said thief. The child, a little boy, had been holding a stuffed rabbit when he was pushed, and it flew farther into the street when he hit the ground. The boy toddled faithfully towards his toy and unknowingly into lethal danger. A pickup truck was speeding towards him; the driver had fallen asleep at the wheel. Kim automatically started forwards, praying that she could just reach the boy and push him aside in time. The crowd on the sidewalk, however, was typical for a Saturday afternoon. It was thick, jostling, and as easy to get through as a group of crazed mothers on Christmas Eve at a toy store. Kim shouted for people to move, but even if her shouts had not been lost in the screams of the boy's mother, she would not reach the boy. The driver of the truck woke from all of the screams and slammed on his brakes, twisting the wheel hopelessly. A blur suddenly rushed into the street. When the smoke from the screeching tires faded, the screams went quiet. The boy was nowhere to be found. A new cry rose up from the boy's mother. She ran to where the boy was standing, holding her purse in his arms with his stuffed rabbit. She fell to her knees, sobbing in joy, ignoring the unconscious thief on the ground a few feet behind her son. Kim watched someone walked through the crowd. She could only see a light brown cap, but she knew it was the person she wanted to watch. When they broke away from the crowd, she could see a dark green, long-sleeved shirt and brown slacks. They walked into the Bueno Nacho; Kim grabbed Ron's wrist and dragged him along. "Oh, it's you," the cashier said. "One large order of nachos and two tacos to go, right? That'll be ten seventy." By the time Kim and Ron entered the Bueno Nacho, the person was already walking back towards the door with a bag in hand. The brown cap was pulled low on the person's face-Kim couldn't even see their eyes-and the sleeves of the shirt seemed longer than normal. Kim watched them leave, standing rather still as the person walked away down the street and vanished into the crowd. Ron had walked off to the counter and was placing an order. "Ron, listen, I need to talk to you," Kim said once the two sat down. "You should know something." "Is this about your mystery boyfriend?" Ron interrupted. Kim looked away, crossing her arms over her stomach and leaning back into the booth seat. "Sort of," she conceded. "Ron, how...comfortable are you with gay people?" Ron and Rufus cocked their heads in unison, giving Kim a very searching look. "Girlfriend?" Rufus asked to his blond cohort. "Are you saying you have a girlfriend, KP?" Ron asked what Rufus couldn't. Kim blushed and looked up towards the ceiling. Ron and Rufus smirked at each other. "OK, so who is it?" Kim let out a deep sigh. "Someone...someone you don't think I'd be in love with," she muttered. Ron paled almost immediately. "Please, please, pleasepleaseplease don't say it's Bonnie," he begged, leaning across the table and grabbing Kim's hands. Kim felt a bit heartened that Ron's first reaction wasn't against Shego. "It's not Bonnie," she said reassuringly. "It's...um, well, it's Shego." There was a pause where Rufus fell face-first into Ron's grande size nacho order. When he surfaced, he and Ron stared rather vacantly at Kim. "Shego?" the human asked. "The same Shego that we've been rumbling with for three years since we were fifteen? The same Shego that works for your arch-foe Doctor Drakken? That Shego?" Kim nodded, having sunk lower into her seat with each of Ron's words. Ron blinked a few times before leaning forwards and starting in on the nachos with Rufus. "OK." "I know we've been enemies for years but-did you say OK?" Kim asked. Ron nodded at her, his hands becoming coated with cheese as he gorged. "Just like that, OK?" Ron nodded again. "Ron...thanks." Ron nodded once again. "Listen, I need to go check something out. Thanks again." "You sure you don't want any nachos?" Ron asked as Kim stood. "No, I'm good," she declined graciously. "I had a good lunch just before you came over." She said her goodbyes while Ron waved a cheesy hand. She walked out of the Bueno Nacho and looked about. There was no sign of the person she had seen walking in and out of the fast food restaurant. Kim knew that the person had rushed into the street a few minutes ago and saved the young boy's life. That same person had knocked the thief unconscious and placed the purse by the boy. These events had happened within seconds. The person had somehow beaten the speeding truck, grabbed the dashing thief, and returned the boy, purse, and purse-snatcher to the curb before the truck had stopped skidding. Kim wondered how a person could move so fast if they weren't one of the Bebe robots. Unfortunately, she could not find the person, and thusly could not even hope to ask what had happened. She started to walk back towards her home, hands in her pockets to ward off the chill of the wind. Atop the apartment building near the Bueno Nacho, the person that Kim had been wondered about crouched low on the edge of the roof. They watched Kim walk through the town, sharp eyes able to see Kim clearly from six stories up. A few minutes later, Kim had turned a corner and was lost behind another building. The person smiled slightly, lips barely quirking up before they finished devouring the food they had purchased from the Bueno Nacho. Then, they crouched even lower before vanishing. ---------- "Wait, what in the hell are 'Bebe's?" Kim almost snorted with laughter. She and Shego stood in a nightclub, and more specifically in a booth just off the dance floor. Shego had her arms around Kim rather possessively, but now held the other woman at arms' length to stare at her skeptically. "I've been meaning to ask," Kim explained. "A few years ago, Drakken brought out these creepy super-sonic androids that he called Bebe's. Why weren't you around?" "Probably a paid vacation down in Cancun," Shego replied. "What a moron. Androids turn on you at the drop of a hat." Kim looked at Shego with the same skeptical look that Shego had been giving her. "And you know this, how?" she asked. Shego shrugged. "Aviarius used robots, remember?" she answered. "When I was back with-" She shuddered visibly. "-Team Go, he tried to make perfect bird-women. He actually called us to save him. Now, go on. So this person saves a kid from getting squished and stops a purse-thief. Did you stop them?" "No," Kim admitted grudgingly. "There wasn't a reason to stop them, really. I also needed to talk to Ron about...you and me." "This isn't where you tell me we have to break up because your dopey sidekick is creeped out by me, is it?" Shego asked, an edge to her voice. "No, no!" Kim replied quickly. "He's not creeped out by you! Scared of you, yes, but not creeped out! He's been my best friend for years. I just wanted to tell him." "You need his approval?" "That's not it, Shego. We tell each other everything, you know? I would have felt bad if I didn't tell him and he heard about it by some rumor, or he walked in on us doing something." "Like each other?" Kim blushed. "You know, I'm staying with my parents for the winter holiday," she said. "They kind of expect me home at a certain time." "And that means...what to me?" Shego asked with a seductive grin. "It means I would appreciate it if you didn't take me to a nice hotel room and all but rip my clothes off." Shego looked considering for a moment. "Was that reverse psychology?" Kim smiled impishly at her and kissed her. Shego grinned, took Kim by the wrist, and the two quickly left the nightclub. ---------- Kim smiled as she walked home, looking up at the bright stars in the cloudless sky. On an impulse, she twirled on one foot with a faint giggle, kicking at a piece of snow on the sidewalk. The red-haired woman hugged herself, smiling broadly and humming a tune. However, when the ground shook under her feet and the sound of an explosion hit her ears, her tranquil mood was shattered. She looked up on instinct to see where smoke might be rising from the explosion and followed the black clouds. It took a moment for her mind to register what she was seeing when she rounded the corner and saw her family's house burning. Kim swallowed back a scream and pulled out her cell phone, suddenly wishing that she had taken her Kimmunicator that night. "911, what's your emergency?" the operator answered. "There's been an explosion at my parents' house!" Kim replied frantically. "Everything's on fire! For God's sake, send a fire truck or something!" "Calm down," the operator said. "Where is the fire located?" "42nd High Street!" Kim answered. "The Possible house!" "The Possible house? I'm sending a fire unit and paramedics over there now. They'll be there as soon as possible." Kim looked back up at the burning house. Part of the roof caved in from the fire and caused the flames to jump a few feet higher. Someone inside-Kim recognized the voice as her mother's-screamed for help. The phone slipped from Kim's hand as she broke out in a run. She rammed the door with her shoulder, breaking the already weakened hinges and bursting into the fire. "MOM!" the heroine cried. "DAD! JIM! TIM! WHERE ARE YOU?" She ran towards her parents' room, dodging around the flames as fast as she could. The door was open, as it almost always had been, and Kim ran into the room. Her mother knelt on the floor, cradling her husband's head in her arms. She turned when Kim touched her shoulder. "Oh, Kim!" the older woman gasped. "I don't know what happened! We were just going to bed when something exploded! Your father's hurt-a piece of the ceiling hit him in the head!" "It's all right, Mom," Kim said nervously, draping her father's arm over her shoulders and heaving him up. "Come on, we've got to get out of here before the whole roof comes down. Here, take Dad. I'll find Jim and Tim." She transferred her father to the older woman and took off at a fast jog. Kim glanced in every room that had an open door, wondering where the twin brothers could be. Grateful that the stairs had not yet caught fire, she ran up them and slid to a stop outside the twins' bedroom. "Jim!" she shouted. "Tim! Are you two in there?" "Kim?" one of the boys-Jim-shouted back through the closed door. "Kim, help! Tim's trapped under our bookcase and I can't open the door!" "Get as far from it as you can!" Kim ordered. After a moment, she backed up to ram the door. The ceiling above groaned ominously, but Kim kept her full attention at rescuing her brothers. She started to dash, but barely got in two steps before a section of the roof collapsed onto her. The weight of the plaster and wood forced the air from her lungs and fell hard enough to cause Kim's head to reflexively crack down against the floor. She looked up at the door, grabbing at the carpet weakly to try and pull herself free. Her mind was already slipping, though. The fire didn't seem as loud as before, and her vision was blurring. She felt strong vibrations in the floor and wondered if it was going to fall away under her. Kim looked to the side, towards the stairs, and saw a figure running towards her. The person kicked opened the door and bolted inside. They returned a moment later with an unconscious Jim and Tim in arm. "Kim!" Jim shouted. The person stopped and put the boys down, walking over to Kim. "Get them out of here," Kim rasped, her words broken by the smoke in her mouth and lungs. "Go!" She couldn't see the person's eyes because of the brown cap on their head, but she could vaguely see a small grin on their face. Kim would have gasped when she saw the person's hands reach out from their sleeves, but she was only able to cough weakly. The person grabbed two places of the fallen ceiling where the flames had not reached with clawed hands. They started to lift the massive chunk of plaster and wood. While they were able to actually lift the chunk, it was a slow rising with not a little effort. Kim, amazed though she was at the feat of inhuman strength, let her head fall to the floor and blacked out.
Back to Outside In Index - Back to Non-Anime Fanfiction Shoujo-Ai Fanfiction