Story: Fears and Favors (all chapters)

Wade checked the data once more; the answer was in there, he could almost taste it. Everything he needed was in front of him. He just couldn’t put it together in the right way. Eight years ago, twenty girls had been recruited by a raving lunatic trying to start her own personal army. They had all been subjected to illegal drug therapy and neural hypnotic manipulation. Now, eleven were dead and, of the eight known survivors, three had undergone brain surgery in an attempt to return them to a more normal existence. The first operation had been cautiously declared a success, but only six months had passed and doctors were still worried about its long-term effects. Their fears were compounded by the lack of positive response from the other two girls who had gone through the surgery. The young ladies had shown improvement but they were not well enough to enter back into society. It had been decided to delay further operations until the reasons for success or failure could be pinned down. Nineteen of the original twenty were accounted for, and one had vanished into thin air three years ago. It was like she had been erased. No, it was more like she had only existed in the program, there was no record of her before she entered the program and no record of her after Kim’s escape had ended it. Wade tweaked his ferret program one more time. He knew the answer was there, he just had to figure out the right question.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Shego plugged the beta unit into the mainframe and began the download. Now came the part that she didn’t like. She had to stay put, waiting for the damn machine to complete its tasks. She never liked to rely on anything outside of herself and being a slave to the timing of a computer’s program irked her to no end. She checked her timer, only eighteen seconds had passed, one minute three seconds to go… if the damn thing worked right. The beta unit started beeping. She wondered if that was supposed to happen and covered it with a note pad to muffle the sound. It was too late. The door burst open and an angry red headed woman ran into the room.

“Hold it right there!”

Shego glanced at her chrono… fifteen more seconds. She let fly with a mild plasma ball to distract the woman and followed up by throwing a heavy UPS battery. The woman ducked and came at Shego from the side. Five more seconds… Shego blocked several kicks and punches while holding her ground and when her timer beeped, she caught the red head’s wrist and twisted it up behind the woman’s back.

“Don’t make me hurt you, sweetheart.”

With a scream of rage, the red head managed to twist out of Shego’s grasp but tripped over one of the desks and spilled onto the floor. The pale woman took the opportunity to grab the beta unit and make for the exit. She threw out a couple of random plasma bursts to discourage the woman from following her but it didn’t work, the red head was right on her tail when she got to the main warehouse. Shego found herself at a disadvantage in the wide-open space. She really didn’t want to hurt the woman but she was being prevented from escaping with the goods and every minute she spent in here was adding to the risk of attracting more potent law enforcement. She continued to fight defensively and look for an escape route.

The red head had her cornered and was pressing the attack. Finally, Shego powered forward with lit hands and was pleased as the woman fell back from her strength. The thief was hoping that would open a clear path but the red head couldn’t just leave it be and came back at her with renewed vigor. Shego barely managed to avoid several punches and finally, in frustration, lashed out at the red head’s knee. A cracking sound echoed in the empty room and her opponent screamed and fell to the floor, cradling a broken knee.

“I really didn’t want to do that, sweetie, but you left me no choice.”

The pale woman picked up the grappling gun that had fallen a few feet away and used it to aid her escape through a high window. Once outside, she reversed the hook, and repelled down the side of the building. An eight-foot tall chain link fence separated her from the waiting hovercraft and she vaulted it without breaking stride. Safely on her way, she checked the contents of her pouch; the beta unit had come through without a scratch. SA Thomas would be pleased; Shego just wanted to kill someone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Ron was having a hard time with his tie. They were running late for some dance troop party thing and he had forgotten to have Rufus fix his tie before he left him with the sitter. On top of everything, Bonnie was upset with him because he had been called away from the last party they had attended to help Kim. “Bon-Bon, you’re getting upset over nothing.” He said.

“I don’t think it’s nothing; you walked out on me!”

“You know I didn’t mean to leave you…”

“…All alone in the middle of the dance floor?”

“Bonnie, we talked about this. Crime doesn’t wait until after the party.”

“What am I supposed to tell everyone when you disappear?”

“How about… ‘My boyfriend went to help Kim save the world.’”

“And spend the rest of the night answering questions about the famous Kim Possible?” The brunette paused for a moment, then continued in a wheedling voice: “Do you really know her? Isn’t she so pretty? Can you get me her autograph? Where does she shop? What’s her favorite cuddle-buddy?” Her eyes burned now as she loomed over Ron. “Like I would know or even give a rat’s ass what her favorite sushi flavor is.”

“Is this about me leaving you at a party or is it about me going to Kim?”

Bonnie crossed her arms over her chest and turned away.

Ron walked over to her and began lightly massaging her arms and shoulders. “I’m sorry, Bonnie. I know these things are important to you…”

“But…?”

“No buts.” He said earnestly, “They are important to you and you are important to me…”

She tensed inside, waiting for him to say it, hoping he would say it, but he didn’t say it at all. He didn’t even come close to saying it. Important to me, he said. That was almost as bad as I like you as a friend.

“Bonnie…?”

Say it! Say you love me! Tell me you love me!

“I… Let me do something nice for you. Your choice… Club… chick flick… fancy restaurant… whatever you want… Let me make it up to you.”

“Whatever I want?”

Ron nodded.

“Turn off the Kimmunicator.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

“…”

“For one night… turn it off…”

“But…”

“Starting right now!”

“…O.K.” He turned off the unit and tossed it over onto the end table.

“Oh, Ron.” She collapsed into his chest. It looked like they weren’t going out after all. He was going to spend the next couple of hours trying to comfort his girlfriend. Somehow he was screwing everything up. Ron put his arms around the sobbing woman and tried to figure out what he was doing wrong.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

The young woman moved through her katas with strength, grace and poise. She stepped and turned in time with an unseen choreographer, performing her deadly looking ballet for a hidden audience. A man and a woman watched her from behind the one-way glass.

“She progresses well.” The woman commented.

“When will she be ready?”

“Five weeks. Will everything be in place by then?”

“I’ll be ready to move in less than that. Can we speed up her program?”

“No. She is the lynch-pin of our revenge; we will proceed on her schedule.”

The man stopped stroking the small dog in his arms and looked over at his associate, “You’re the chief.” He said, deferentially.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Shego didn’t wait for the hovercraft to come to a stop before vaulting out and heading up the ramp toward the office complex. Pushing a few of the other agents out of her way, she strode through the hallways as though she expected everyone to make room for her, and most of them did. After only three months as a freshman agent at the NSA, Shego already had a reputation for being short tempered and willing to make her points physically. She was pretty sure that this wasn’t what she had agreed to, but she had gone along with SA Thomas’ request that she undergo agency evaluation and training before she started contracting because Kitten seemed to think it was a good idea. She threw open the door to the debrief room and slammed the beta unit down on the table.

“Tell me how these assholes know enough about me to put a guard that looks like her in the building.” She demanded of the two agents waiting for her.

“What do you mean Ms. Shego?”

“The guard at the warehouse was a red haired fem.” She snapped. She had given up trying to get them to just call her Shego about three weeks into this whole thing. “I want to know how the owners of this information…” she held up the beta unit, “…knew that I was going to be coming after it and how they knew enough about me to hire a guard that looks like my girlfriend.”

“Perhaps it was just a coincidence…”

“There’s no such thing as a coincidence in this business. Your organization leaks information like a teenager on MySpace.” She pointed at the beta unit again. “It took me one minute, twenty-two seconds to download that info. You’ve got two minutes to get what you want out of that unit before I take it and walk out of this place forever.”

“Ms. Shego, please remain calm and let us debrief you. Once we have all of the pertinent information, I’m sure we’ll be able to figure out what you want to know.”

Shego noticed that even as he spoke calmly, trying to placate her, he was busily connecting the beta unit to the desktop in order to transfer the data she had brought back. She pretended not to notice that the second agent had surreptitiously depressed a signal button. She hoped he was signaling SA Thomas, because if he was calling security, a lot of people were going to get hurt on her way out. She glanced at the clock on the wall, silently counting down the two minutes. When she reached twelve seconds, the first agent unplugged the beta unit and silently handed it to her. She stomped out.

SA Thomas was waiting for her at the hovercraft. She wondered if he kept all of his suits crumpled up in a ball on the floor or just wore the same one every day.

“Ms. Shego, would you please accompany me on a walk?”

The pale woman sighed, “No Special Agent Thomas, if you want to talk to me, you’ll have to get in.” To her surprise, he did just that. She went on, “I’m not bringing you back and I’m not guaranteeing I’ll listen.”

“Fair enough.”

They rode in silence for a few minutes. Thomas pulled out a cigarette and indicated he needed a light. Shego obliged and they continued in silence. She hated to admit it but his silence was actually starting to peak her interest so she gave in and asked, “What did you want to say?”

“You’re not happy with the Agency?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked sarcastically, “This is my happy face… on weekends I use it to cheer up the orphans.”

“Where do you think things could be improved?”

“You want me to list it in order of importance or alphabetically?”

“You believe you could do a better job?”

“I believe a five year old could…” She caught a glimpse of him in the instrument panel and noticed he was smiling. “No.”

That took him by surprise. “What?”

“No.” She started looking for a landing site. “I’m not doing it.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m not going to join a ‘special unit’ or an ‘elite force’ or any other damned team for you.”

“I was actually thinking of having you lead a team for me.

“That’s even worse!” She snapped, “I work alone.”

“And the work you did with Team Go?”

“Ancient history… A fluke… A mistake… In the past.” She set the craft down in the middle of an intersection. “Now get out.” She continued to stare at him impassively while the horns began to sound from all sides.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Beep-beep-BE-beep

“What’s the sitch, Wade?”

“I’ve got reports of a hostage situation at a private school in Maryland.”

“That sounds like something for a professional FBI negotiator team, why call me?”

“Check out this video…”

Kim watched as the picture resolved and Senor Senior Sr. came in to focus. He was seated in a large leather armchair next to a fireplace, looking immaculate as always. “To the families of the children gathered here, I send my most sincere regrets that this action has become necessary. However, I must insist that each of you come up with ten million dollars to ensure the safe return of your children.”

“Father! This was supposed to be my chance to sing with my new band!”

“Be quiet, Junior. I am speaking with our victims’ families.”

“But Father, I do not wish for victims, I wish for an audience of rich children so that they will buy my records and I will become a huge pop star in the United States!”

“Junior, you will do as you are told. Now get back to the hostages and do not disturb me again.”

“Yes father.”

There were sounds of falling equipment and the picture fuzzed out.

“He still doesn’t have the villain thing down yet, does he?” Kim asked.

“Not quite. Your ride will be there in about five minutes. I’ll contact Ron and have him meet you in Maryland.”

“You rock, Wade.”

“I know.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Beep-beep-BE-beep

“You told me you turned that thing off!”

“I did! Wade must have activated it remotely!”

Wade’s voice came from the end table, “Ron!”

Bonnie was adamant, “Don’t you dare answer that.”

“Ron, where are you? Why is it so dark there? Do you have the Kimmunicator in a drawer? Ron?”

The blonde looked at his girlfriend and glanced back toward the table where the Kimmunicator sat, covered by his jacket. Bonnie’s eyes held something in them that he couldn’t identify. There was anger… and hurt… but something else too. He didn’t know what it was and he wasn’t sure how to react to it. If he didn’t answer Wade’s call, the computer genius would probably activate the remote roving feature on the thing and come find him and he’d be forced to answer it anyway. His eyes flicked to it once more and when he looked back at Bonnie, he suddenly understood the look in her eyes. If he answered this call, she would be gone when he came back. He remembered telling her once that he didn’t want to choose between her and Kim; her words came back to him… I can’t make you choose and I won’t even ask you to, but sometime… sometime you’re going to have to.

It wasn’t a choice he wanted to make.

Wade whistled as he sat back and looked at the name on his screen. He had been right; the answer was there the whole time. He didn’t feel the satisfaction of knowing that he had cracked one of the most insidious plots of all time, instead he felt the cold chill of fear run down his spine. The stakes were higher than he had thought and there was a good possibility that he was in very real physical danger. He pondered his next move. If he stopped looking, they would know he had figured something out and they’d probably come down on him from all sides with deadly force. He’d seen what they were willing to do last year when they went after Kim. More than twenty people had been killed just because they were in the way, who knew how many more had been silenced that hadn’t made the nine o’clock news.

If it was a government agency, they would come after him within legal constraints using people and possibly hand weapons, he could avoid those. This group would just drop a bomb on his house and to hell with the neighborhood. They’d drop a bomb everywhere he might have a house. He created another ferret program and sent it out while carefully crafting two more that he could send out later. The next two programs were crucial, if he could write them correctly, he would throw off whoever was watching him and buy everyone some time. If his programs weren’t convincing, they’d be on him like a ton of bricks.

Maybe I’m just being paranoid, he thought to himself. Maybe I’ve been watching too many episodes of the X-files and I’m blowing it all out of proportion… It was possible that no one was tracking his movements through cyber-space. He hadn’t been able to find anything that indicated he was being monitored. Then he looked at the name on the screen again and realized he was probably under estimating the danger. It proclaimed their arrogance and absolute confidence. Last year’s attempt had not been about killing Kim, it had been a brilliant piece of misdirection. While nearly every government agency had been focused on Kim’s situation, the real culprit was infiltrating their systems, setting up for something big. The worst part was that she was inside the system now, and there was no way to alert anyone without her knowing.

He wondered if anyone else had figured it out but decided, without excess egoism, that no one else would be smart enough or motivated enough to do so. His problem now lay in the fact that he couldn’t tell anyone without giving away his knowledge. So he amused himself by figuring out who he would tell if he could figure out a way to tell them without getting everyone killed. It was a short list.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

“Where to, Miss?”

Bonnie sat in the cab momentarily confused. She didn’t want to head back to the apartment, because she knew Ron would come there as soon as he noticed she was gone. She hoped Ron would head there when he noticed. Would he even notice? Of course he would. He was probably already looking for her. Or, he might be showing everyone his scar, again. She thought about waiting right there to see how long it took him to come outside looking for her, but realized immediately how pathetic that was. She allowed herself a small growl of irritation.

“Miss…?”

“What?” she retorted snappishly.

“Hey,” the cabbie said defensively, “It’s your dime, you wanna sit here all night and look at th’ pretty buildings, it’s fine by me…”

“Huh? Oh… Just head toward Lakeside, I need to make a phone call.” She dialed the number and waited. “Tara?” she said hopefully. “Hi, it’s Bonnie… Yeah, I know it’s late but… I’m fine… Could we meet somewhere…? Yeah, I know the place. See you in half an hour.” She hung up the phone. “Driver?”

“Yo!”

“Wabash and Jackson, please.”

“You got it, Miss.” After a few minutes he spoke up again. “Do you think he’s worth it?”

“Huh?”

“The guy that’s got you all messed-up… you think he’s worth it?”

“That’s a good question.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Gemini removed his goggles and indicated to his henchmen that they could do likewise. The seals on the cloning tank opened with an impressive hiss and steam poured out into the room. Silhouetted in the tank’s open door was an impressive female figure. She strode out of the capsule with confidence and looked around at the laboratory. The henchmen averted their eyes from her naked form, she didn’t seem to notice. She nodded to Gemini with approval. “No disorientation this time.” She said, and then looked puzzled. “But there seems to be something missing…”

“Perhaps your clothing…?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” she snapped. “I’m missing part of my… her… memories.”

“You didn’t think I was going to share everything with you, did you?”

Dr. Director emerged from the shadows, resplendent in her GJ uniform, and looked over the clone with her good eye. The clone stared back defiantly.

“Very good.” The uniformed Woman said crisply. “Get her a uniform and put her in with the others for orientation.”

“Aren’t you coming with us?”

The uniformed Dr. Director exchanged glances with Gemini. “Why would I do that?”

“Well,” the naked clone drawled, “Isn’t orientation for all clones?”

“She’s got you there, Sis.” Gemini laughed. He was very pleased. Each of the clones had recognized that their greeter was a clone right away, and none of them showed the initial grogginess that had plagued the first series. He would have to thank Dr. Drakken for his outstanding efforts. Perhaps he would have Epsilon clean the man’s cell tonight. Pi arrived with a clean uniform and an eye patch for his newest clone. “Excellent.” He chuckled. “Sis, Sis, please go to the east wing. Pi will show you your quarters and see to any needs you have.”

He picked up the phone and waited. There was a series of clicks and electronic background noises that went on for some time. Then a woman’s voice impatiently said, “What?”

“Phase three is complete.”

“Excellent.” She said, sounding pleased. “And the tests?”

“Exactly as predicted.”

“Who knew that conquering the world would be so easy?” She laughed dryly. “In three months they’ll be begging us to take over.” She laughed again, and this time, he joined her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Ron looked around for Bonnie and didn’t see her right away. He began searching for her and found that the house was much bigger than he had originally thought. But after about fifteen minutes he realized she wasn’t there. He asked around and someone told him they thought they had seen Bonnie leaving about half an hour before. He went downstairs and got confirmation from the doorman. A woman matching her description had exited the building and got into a cab about thirty minutes before. He hailed a cab for himself while calling Bonnie’s apartment.

“Hey! Bonnie,” He said to her answering machine. “It’s the Ron-man…” that wouldn’t go over well. “Um… it’s Ron.” he continued in a more contrite tone of voice. “Hey, you left the party without telling me… I’m just calling to make sure you made it home… Um… Pick up… If you’re there… Hello…? OK… Well, if you get this, give me a call… Just so I know you’re OK… OK…?” He hung up and tried her cell phone, same result and basically the same message. He clung to the hope, no matter how ridiculous it seemed, that she had gone back to his place and would be there waiting for him when he got home.

She hadn’t and she wasn’t.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

“That’s totally spankin’”

Shego glanced at Kim suspiciously, but the red head was serious. “You think it’s a good idea for me to work for a government spook?”

They were relaxing together in the Jacuzzi tub. Kim had come home late and bruised. She had gone out to rescue some high school kids and ended up fighting off state of the art killer robots with used athletic equipment. Shego had offered her a massage and snuggle in the tub. Partly because she had been a little worried and partly because she just wanted to see the little red head naked.

“You’re always so melodramatic, Shego.” Kim said dismissively. “Why do you have to say ‘government spook?’ why can’t you just say ‘NSA’ or ‘Special Agent Thomas?’”

It hit Shego like an icy breeze off Lake Michigan, Kim really trusted the government. Despite everything she heard on the news, all the crazy situations in the world and everything she had been put through by that idiot and his clones, Kim really believed that the G-men were out there fighting for ‘Truth, Justice and the be-damned American way.’ She wasn’t sure how to deal with that kind of youthful idealism but, there was a part of her mind that began calculating the advantages.

“Kitten,” she said hesitantly. “You know that these guys all have their own agendas, right? They’re going to use whatever tools they can get their hands on to accomplish whatever goals they have in mind.”

Kim giggled. “You’re too cynical.”

“You’re too trusting.”

Kim just giggled again and began singing the theme song to her favorite TV show. “Super teen extraordinaire…” Shego tuned out the words and just sat back drinking in the sight of her red haired paramour. The girl was always filled with life and energy when she came back from helping someone. Shego wondered if there was any way she would ever be able to take joy in the small things the way Kim did. At least she got to experience a small piece of it, because seeing Kim like this made her feel good. And as a bonus, when the red head came home all bubbly and full of fun, it often resulted in a round of very playful loving. Shego surprised Kim by picking up a line in the second verse, “Floyd the barber cuts his hair…” and was rewarded by Kim tickling her feet.

Soon they were both tickling, and tickling led to other kinds of touching and caressing but the giggly mood prevailed and when Kim intoned in her announcer’s voice, “And now, another episode of silly sex with Kim and Shego…” They both roared with laughter. The silliness gradually gave way to passion.

Later, as they lazed together on the couch, just enjoying being next to each other, Shego couldn’t get Kim’s remarks out of her head. The girl couldn’t really be that naïve, could she? And there was still that part of her mind that was coldly calculating how to use it to her advantage.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

When Bonnie wound down, Tara reached across the table and laid a hand on her arm. “I’m not sure you want to hear this, but it sounds like he is trying to do right by you.”

“I know!” Bonnie said sorrowfully, “That’s why I feel like such a bitch! But when he’s with her…”

“Are you sure they aren’t doing it anymore?”

“Yeah,” Bonnie said, then continued with a sheepish smile, “you know she’s…”

“Yeah.” Tara suppressed a small shudder.

“…but that doesn’t help.” Her frustration was more evident now. “He’s so… alive when they’re together.”

They lapsed into silence for a few minutes. Then Tara asked, “Have you ever told him about the night you…?”

“You mean, Josh’s Party?”

“Yes.” The blonde replied with a grimace.

“He was there, he knows what happened…” Bonnie’s expression was dark.

“I’ll take that as a ‘no.’ And I’ll bet you ten dollars that he is completely unaware of what happened and why that night changed your life.”

“You think I should…”

“I’ll go one better than that. I think you have to tell him.” Tara looked anxious for a moment and continued quietly, “He should know that you were interested before he got the haircut and the clothes.”

“I’ll just sound so…”

“Shallow?”

“I was going to say ‘image conscious’ but, yeah.”

“That’s it right there!” Tara exclaimed. “That’s what I’m talking about. He’s probably worried that you only liked him because of how he changed and that’s why he acts differently around you.” She sat back triumphantly.

“Hmmm,” Bonnie said thoughtfully, “those psych classes are already paying off for you.”

“I think,” Tara hesitated and looked away for a moment, “you should take some time to get to know Kim better too.”

“What!?!”

“Put your hostility on the back burner for one minute and think, Bonnie. If you can see what she does that makes him… however you like him, then maybe you can figure out how to do it for yourself.”

Bonnie sat back and sipped her coffee. She had a lot to think about.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Special Agent Thomas read the report very carefully. Eighteen hundred people blinded in Idaho and no one knew what had caused it. The medical examiners theorized that it was a neurological agent released into the town’s water supply but, so far, testing hadn’t revealed any such thing. All they had was half a town of suddenly blind people and an undercurrent of fear throughout the country. He looked through his notes and checked the projected time line; it was consistent with his fears. According to his calculations, the first attacks should have started about a week ago. He was pretty sure that electronic records would be monitored, so he went to the local library and began going through periodicals, trying to find a hint of an attack that had happened last week.

Eventually he found the story he was looking for. A rural community in South Dakota had suffered a bout of what seemed like food poisoning. The odd thing was that nearly everyone in the town was affected but there had not been any sort of community gathering. Of course a town suffering from food poisoning was a lot different that one suffering from blindness, but the pattern was the same. More than half the town suffering from the same illness and the local medicos on site had tested the water and air and everything else they could think of but hadn’t found anything suspicious. He needed to get the results of the South Dakota tests and put them next to the results from Idaho. No, he needed to get them compared by someone who knew what to look for, but who could he trust? And how could he get the information to them without her finding out?

Shego sprawled in the big comfy chair and stared at the red head taking up most of the bed, she still wasn’t sure how the girl managed it. A laptop sat open on her thighs, with an urgent e-mail message from SA Thomas flashing on the screen. The coded message ordered her to meet the agent down at the lakefront near the aquarium. She tasted bitterness at the back of her throat and scowled at the softly snoring form on the bed. When had she become domesticated? A cute red head walks into her life and all of a sudden she’s a poster girl for the G-men and a house-wife for a hyperactive goody-two shoes? What the hell had happened to her over the last few months? What was she doing sharing a bed with a girl who was so naïve that she actually believed that Fox News was “fair and balanced?”

Shego sighed and rubbed her temples. She was living in an apartment supplied by the government, talking to government shrinks, doing government jobs… something was seriously wrong. What the hell are you, Kitten? She thought, what are you doing to me? She looked at the computer screen and read the message one more time before deliberately reaching out and deleting the file. She ignored the little voice in the back of her mind that was trying to tell her how much she enjoyed being here with Kim. She half tried to convince herself that she was stringing the innocent little kitten along and putting one over on the spooks, but she knew that argument was hollow before she even started.

The truth was that in a few short months, Kim had wormed into her heart and she was losing herself. She remembered three times in the last week when she had stopped doing something because Kim wouldn’t have liked it. Sighing softly, Shego rose and gathered her belongings. She sorted carefully and took only those things that she considered to be truly her own. She hesitated at one point over a pair of onyx earrings that Kim had given her. They did belong to her; Kim had bought them for her. But, if she took them, every time she saw them, she would be reminded of the enthusiastic red head. She set them aside for the moment, unsure of what she really wanted to do.

She stopped briefly at the laptop and typed in a command, and then she picked up her carryall and let herself out. The command erased all her files and formatted the drives. It also started a worm program to, once more, erase her public records from the internet. She would have to start over, again. She paused on the sidewalk as she exited the building to adjust to the low temperature outside. She told herself that it was the cold air stinging her eyes that caused them to water as she stalked off, alone, to reclaim her life.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

SA Thomas finished verifying that the kid’s blackberry wasn’t emitting or receiving any signals and looked up at the young man sitting across from him. “Are you sure you weren’t followed?” He asked.

Wade grimaced, “I may not leave my room very often,” he said “But when I do, I assure you I am very much aware of my surroundings.” The computer genius was very uncomfortable being cut off from his network like this, but agent Thomas had insisted and Wade was sure the man had important information.

Thomas snorted and lit a cigarette. “There have been four attacks in the last three weeks.” He said softly. “No one has found anything out of the ordinary in the tests they’ve run, and so far, no one has put the attacks together.”

“Four? I only heard about two.”

The older agent handed a stack of papers to Wade.

“Paper? How quaint!”

“Don’t knock it young man, I keep all my records on paper or in my head.”

“There’s nothing wrong with keeping your files on a computer, the dangers are way overstated in the media…”

“What is my password for files pertaining to Shego?”

“Emerald Rogue.” The teen replied immediately.

Thomas nodded, “Hmmm, what time am I meeting the president tomorrow?”

“I don’t… You’re meeting the president?”

“You don’t know because I have it written down on a spiral notebook in my pocket. And I arranged the meeting without using one piece of electronic communication equipment.” The old man allowed himself a brief smile, “That’s why I keep my important notes on paper. Now, find the common link between those four events, without using your computer.”

“It would be a lot faster if I…”

“And it would also be a lot more public.”

Wade turned his attention to the stack of papers that SA Thomas had given him and went to work.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

James Possible woke up with a sharp pain in his side.

“Jim, I heard a noise downstairs.”

“Probably one of the boys getting a late night snack, honey.”

“Maybe,” Anne didn’t sound convinced. “Could you check it out for me?”

“OK,” he said grumpily, “but you’re going to owe me big time.”

James walked down the hallway toward the kitchen blearily rubbing the sleep from his eyes, trying to suppress a yawn. The unmistakable sound of a gun being cocked brought him wide awake. He stopped moving and held up his open hands.

“Good boy!” a sinister voice floated to him from the darkness, “Looks like we got us a smart one. Knows what a gun sounds like and knows what to do when he hears it.”

“Whoever you are,” James said in a slightly loud tone of voice, hoping it would carry back to his wife in their bedroom, “I just want you to know that I’ve already called the police.”

“Nice try, Pops. I cut the phone lines.”

Anne heard his voice carry through the house and picked up the phone immediately but she didn’t have a dial tone. She tried frantically to remember where her cell phone was. It was charging on the sink in the bathroom, could she get to it without making enough noise to draw attention to herself? It didn’t matter; she had to call the police. She went into the bathroom as quietly as she could and searched around on the counter for her phone. She found it and picked it up but the cord caught something on the countertop and knocked over a bunch of her toiletries. The crash was loud enough that she was sure someone would come for her soon. She opened her phone and dialed “911” then hit the mute button and shoved the phone into a drawer just as the door to her bedroom burst open.

A masked man pointed a gun at her and asked in a harsh voice, “What are you doing in there?”

“Looking for my phone.” She said truthfully.

He pushed into the small bathroom and shoved her down onto the toilet. He shined his flashlight around and spotted a phone on the floor. “Its right here.” He said and laughed nastily. She tried not to show her relief that he had found James’ phone and hers was still in the drawer. It was fairly easy because the gunman grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the kitchen where he pushed her onto the floor next to James. She held him and prayed silently that the twins were asleep and that they’d stay out of the way of these people, whoever they were. Then someone came into the kitchen and pointed a gun at her and pulled the trigger. She felt a pinch in her chest and James jumped up roaring, but someone hit him and the world slowly turned black.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

“Wake up!”

“Huh?”

“Come on, Wake up!”

“What time is it?”

“Um… five-ish.”

“What the hell do you want at five in the morning…? Bonnie?” Ron was nonplussed.

“Hey, Ron...” She said quietly, in greeting. I need to tell you something important... She started to say but he interrupted her.

“It’s five…”

“I know,” she sighed. “I just told you that.”

“Where you’d go?”

“I needed some time to think. I went to see a friend.” I don’t know where to start.

“Who,” Ron asked scornfully, “Brick?”

“That is totally unfair, Ron Stoppable!” She felt her tension rise. One time, she met Brick for lunch and once she met him by accident and Ron wouldn’t let her live it down. He had sex with Kim, but she couldn’t meet Brick for lunch… Maybe if she just blurted it out… They were going to rape me.

“No,” he replied accusingly, “what’s unfair is you trying to make me choose between you and my best friend and then running off to Brick whenever I do something you think is stupid, which, according to you, is just about every day.”

“Well, you got that part right, you do something stupid just about everyday, sometimes more than once a day.” Fighting her tears she bit her lip, still willing herself to come out and say something. You saved me, Ron.

“I’m so glad you woke me up at four in the morning to tell me that.”

“That’s not why I came here... you st…” You stopped them from raping me.

“…stupid buffoon?” he finished spitefully for her. But the pain in his voice went through her like a knife and she fell back, open-mouthed, trying to find something to say. Trying to find some way to call back her words and start over from the beginning.

“Thank you so much for coming here in the middle of the night and waking me up to tell me how stupid I am and how much I messed up your life.” He ranted. “While you’re at it, why don’t you tell me how much of a loser I am, how low on the food chain I swim…” he got up and looked at her with false excitement, “Oh! And you can make fun of my ears! Maybe you could mock my choice of pets…” he continued, aware of the tears running down her face but unable to keep his disappointed rage bottled up inside any longer. He turned to look at her and Bonnie saw cruelty in his eyes, “Or…” his grin was almost maniacal, “you could tell me how bad my taste in women is.”

Beep-beep-BE-beep

“You once told me that sometime, I would have to choose between you and Kim.”

Bonnie found her back against the wall and her legs slowly gave out on her. NO! I didn’t mean it! Don’t choose! She shook her head weakly and mouthed the words but no sound came out.

“I guess now is a good time.” He said woodenly and turned his back on her. “What’s up…? KP…?” Kim was crying.

Bonnie slid down the wall and settled in an untidy heap, still unable to speak. You saved me!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

The phone woke Kim up.

“Ms. Possible?”

She giggled tiredly at the thought of someone calling her ‘Ms.’ “Yes.” She responded and reached across the bed for Shego.

“My name is Agent Johnson of the FBI. I’m calling to inform you that your brothers have been kidnapped by unknown assailants and are currently missing.”

“What?” The bed was empty, where was Shego? “My brothers…”

“I’m very sorry to bring the news to you this way, Ms. Possible, but is there anyone you know who might hold a grudge against you, that would take this kind of action?”

“Shego…?” Kim looked around frantically.

“Did you say ‘Shego?’?”

“Yes,” she said hesitantly, “NO! Shego wouldn’t kidnap my brothers… she’s… just not here… OH… Jim and Tim…!” She was suddenly wide awake. “Someone’s kidnapped my brothers…? My parents…?”

“Are fine. The kidnappers knocked them out, but they’re recovering just fine. Ms. Possible, do you think this ‘Shego’ could be responsible for abducting your brothers?”

“No. But I have a lot of enemies…” her mind began racing through the list of possible suspects, while she mentally prepared a list of essential gear for a rescue mission. “I’ll have my computer guru coordinate with your office, and, agent Johnson… Tell my mom, I’m on my way.”

She picked up her Kimmunicator and activated it while she looked through the apartment. She noticed that several key items of Shego’s were missing. The onyx earrings that Kim had given her after their first date were sitting on the dresser next to Shego’s open laptop. The screen was black except for a dos prompt at the top left corner.

“SHEGO!” She called out but got no answer.

“Wade!” Her Kimmunicator was silent.

She staggered backwards until she tripped over the bed and sprawled on the floor. Wade; not answering… Shego; gone… Jim and Tim; kidnapped… Ron; Oh God! Ron!

She pushed his speed dial button, “Ron!”

“What’s up…? KP…?”

“RON! Oh! Thank god!” She gasped and began crying in relief. Ron was OK! “Ron, someone’s kidnapped my brothers. I can’t get a hold of Wade and Shego’s gone!”

“I’m on my way, KP.”

Ron threw on his mission clothes and grabbed his bag. He didn’t even glance at her as he walked by Bonnie sitting stunned on the floor. He just asked, “Are you still here?” But he didn’t look back or wait for an answer.

“You saved me.” She whispered. He didn’t hear her.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXX

Wade shook his head and looked up at the agent sitting across from him. “If there’s anything tying these attacks together, I can’t find it like this. Face it; we just don’t have enough computing power.”

“I know they’re connected.” The older agent said tiredly. “My gut is telling me that something big is going on and this is the first step.”

“Yeah, you showed me your time lines and it all makes sense.” Wade looked over Thomas’ notes again. “This attack in Idaho…”

“The Blindness?”

“Yes. Seventy-five percent of the population affected to some degree, sixty percent severely, the same percentages in California with the paralysis and in Kansas with the deafness. The only place the numbers are off is in South Dakota, where the ratio is nearly the same but the over all percentages are less.”

“So?”

“So, they’re connected, but I can’t find out exactly how without some extra RAM.” Wade said in exasperation.

“Before you go off half cocked, I want to show you something.” Thomas pulled a paper with four photos on it out of a folder. “Look at these pictures.”

“Dr. Director or her clone in GJ lock-up last summer…”

“Hmmm,” the agent nodded, “look at the photos carefully, particularly the third and fourth.”

Wade picked up the sheet and studied the photos, first taking each one as an individual subject then glancing back and forth between them. “The woman in the fourth picture is a different one…” he concluded.

“You see that and I see that. According to GJ records, these four photos are all of the same woman; clone number three.”

Wade’s heart was beating very fast. Clone number three was the one that had gone after Kim in the hospital. “Where are the records?” He asked.

“I pulled them again a couple of months ago,” the agent said, handing over another set of hardcopies. “The discrepancy was not apparent.”

“That means someone in GJ switched the clones around in the cells and then changed the records…”

“That means that it wasn’t a clone who tried to kill Kim Possible.”

Wade pushed himself back from the table and wished for the millionth time that he was in his room at home. He could access the internet from here but he wasn’t hooked into his own system. It was kind of like wearing someone else’s shoes, sure they get the job done but it isn’t comfortable. The latest data that his ferrets had unearthed showed that his decision not to return home had been the correct one, whoever was behind this thing was after him with a vengeance. For the last ten days his automated systems had been maintaining a slowly losing battle with a hacker who was determined to get in. Had he taken direct control he could have easily repelled the intruder but it would probably have revealed his current location. So he contented himself with his secondary access points and made sure that nothing linking him to his main system got out. Unfortunately, that meant he had to be out of communications with Kim and Ron.

There had been three more attacks since he had met with the taciturn NSA man, and the people of the country were in an uproar. The latest incident had inflicted amnesia on three quarters of the population of Las Vegas. Demonstrations were being held across the nation calling for the government to do something about the terrorist attacks. Already, many in congress were calling for the military to be deployed on home soil for the protection of the citizens. Exactly how the military was going to protect everyone was not revealed, but with each unsolved incident, the panic increased and the country’s leaders wanted to be seen doing something, even if it was an empty gesture.

He pulled a pen and a piece of lined paper from the drawer in front of him and began composing a note to agent Thomas. It was in code, but the gist of it was an outline of which senators and congressmen were voting to put control with which agency. Anyone pushing for handing control over to Global Justice was suspect in his eyes and needed to be carefully monitored. After he finished the note, Wade contemplated the message he was composing for Kim. He would only have one chance to communicate with her electronically so he wanted it to be perfect, but he was distracted by a surprising bit of data that turned up about Shego. He decided to take a chance and send a paper note to Kim, it couldn’t be comprehensive, but he could at least give her the name. Later, when he was ready to break cover, he would tell her everything.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

There was nothing to distinguish the woman from any of the other hundred or so passengers that exited the plane at the O’Hair airport. She wasn’t particularly tall or strikingly beautiful, nor was she hideously deformed. There was no ominous music that followed her through the terminal as she paused with the other passengers to check which carrousel she should collect her luggage from. Instead of tight leather pants, a black singlet, high top combat boots and an intimidating trench-coat, her attire was casual; slacks, loafers and a baggy sweater. She wasn’t even wearing sun glasses. Nothing about her appearance or manner suggested that she was a deadly assassin here in Go City on a mission to kill one person and kidnap another.

The cabbie who took her to her hotel promptly forgot about her. She was just one of dozens of people who passed through his cab that day, nothing to distinguish her, nothing to point at and say, “That was odd.” The doorman, concierge and bellhop all interacted with her without picking up the slightest hint of her malevolent intentions or even registering her in their memory. Even the off duty police officer she shared an elevator ride with dismissed her from his mind as soon as she exited. Being glamorous might be hard work, but being completely forgettable was nearly impossible. She pulled it off without breaking a sweat.

Safely locked into her hotel room, she went to work. From concealed pockets inside her luggage, she removed the components she needed to hook into the hotel’s wireless servers anonymously. Flexible monitor screens and a projection keyboard joined the electronic components arranged in the small briefcase on the coffee table. Satisfied with the set-up, she logged on and sent a signal to her client. Then she closed the briefcase and prepared to rest. It had been a long flight and Lisa Chairman wanted to be at her peak when she went after Kim Possible.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

“He’s not here Bonnie.” Kim said acerbically. She really resented the interruption. With both Wade and Shego missing, she was working hard on trying to figure out if their simultaneous disappearance was connected or coincidental. She couldn’t keep herself from hoping that the pale woman had returned and even though she was almost certain it would not be Shego at the door, the sight of Bonnie’s face made the interruption and the let down even more painful.

“I know.” The response was so contrite and heartfelt, Kim did a double take. Was it really Bonnie? “Can I come in?”

Kim was so shocked by the tone and the request that she just stood there, flabbergasted.

“Please?” Bonnie added quietly.

Kim shook off her surprise and motioned for her to come in. As she followed Bonnie into the living room, Kim’s wariness reasserted itself. “Why are you here?” she asked bluntly.

“I need to tell Ron something…”

“He’s not here.” Kim snapped and immediately regretted it. The haunted look in her former rival’s eyes touched her. “I’m sorry.” She said. “Come into the kitchen and let me get you a cup of tea.”

“Thank you.”

Kim busied herself with the kettle and mugs for a few minutes, giving Bonnie time to collect herself. “What do you need to tell Ron?” she asked when everything was ready.

“I need to tell him about the time he saved my life.” She said softly.

Kim was confused. “From the Be-bes?” she asked. Something clicked in her mind. If the Be-bes had been involved in kidnapping her brothers, why weren’t they at Drakken’s lair? She filed it away for future reference and turned her attention back to Bonnie.

“No, before that… in eighth grade…” She dropped her hands into her lap and looked down at them. “I tried to tell him about it a couple of weeks ago, but it didn’t come out right…”

“Was that when you woke him up in the middle of the night to tell him how stupid he was?” Kim couldn’t entirely suppress her smirk.

“It didn’t come out right!” Bonnie wailed. “I tried to tell him about… about… about something important… and it didn’t come out right.” She continued sobbing. “The words… got all messed up and he… didn’t understand. Everything I said just came out wrong and he was so mad… now he won’t talk to me at all.”

The doorbell rang, interrupting Kim’s thought. “Just a minute Bonnie, let me see who’s at the door.” She left the table and checked through the peephole. It was a courier. “Can I help you?” She asked through the closed door.

“Letter for Miss Kim Possible.”

Kim left the security chain in place and opened the door a few inches. She accepted the envelope and signed for it, tipping the courier a few dollars. She examined the envelope as she went back into the kitchen. There was no return address, and her name was printed on the front in large block letters. It looked like someone had used a stencil to form the letters. It wasn’t sealed; inside was a three by five card with four names written in the same style:

Lisa Chairman Betty Director

Electra King Lady Tremaine

She recognized the first name; it belonged to the missing girl from the program. And of course she knew who Betty Director was, but the other two were a mystery to her. She handed the card to Bonnie as she sat back down. “Do you recognize either of those bottom names?”

The brunette looked at the card and replied, “No, but the second one sounds familiar. Who sent you this?”

“No idea. It came by courier and there is no return address.” She handed the envelope to Bonnie and sighed. “This is one of those times when I really miss Wade.”

Bonnie looked at her with a puzzled expression, “Can’t you just beep him from anywhere?”

“He hasn’t answered my calls since the day…” Shego left me. “Uhm… since Ron and I went to rescue the twins…” She looked at Bonnie awkwardly, “I think that’s the same day you and Ron…”

“Yes.” Bonnie said sorrowfully.

Kim sighed inwardly; it didn’t matter if Bonnie was a pain in her side. She couldn’t stand to see anyone in distress. “Look, you can tell me what you want to tell Ron and I’ll make sure he hears it.”

Bonnie’s head came up and her eyes were briefly filled with hope but her suspicious nature kicked in almost immediately and her expression became guarded. “Why would you help me? You don’t even like me.”

And whose fault is that? Kim bit off the retort and sighed again. “You’re right, we’re not friends, but we both care about Ron. I’m not so blind that I can’t tell that you really like him, even if you treat me like a wicked stepmother.” She smiled conspiratorially, “Besides, he’s been miserable for the last week and it’s starting to bring me down. The whole time we were fighting Frugal Lucre this weekend, he was moping around, couldn’t get his head in the game.”

“Really?” Bonnie asked hopefully.

“Really.” Kim confirmed. “Now, tell me…” but she was interrupted by the doorbell again. “Who is it?” she yelled as she got up.

“Betty Director.” Came the muffled reply.

Both girls glanced at the card and then back at each other. Kim motioned for Bonnie to hide the card while she went to answer the door. She verified it was Dr. Director through the peephole and began to open the door when the wrongness hit her. The woman in the hallway was wearing a patch over her left eye. Kim tried to slam the door shut but the imposter already had her foot in the way. She threw her weight against the door trying to close it but the woman outweighed her and was slowly pushing her back into her house.

“Bonnie!” She screamed, “Call 9-1-1!”

The imposter put on a burst of strength and threw the door open knocking Kim painfully against the wall. The fake GJ agent gave Kim a moment to recover by removing her eye-patch entirely before rushing Kim, but she was still on the defensive and the woman’s superior reach was making it tough for the red head in the close confines of the apartment entryway.

“The phone is dead!” Bonnie screamed from the kitchen, prompting a feral grin from the intruder. Still fighting defensively, Kim drew the woman into the main living room. It was fairly large and gave her more room to maneuver. It also meant that Bonnie had an unobstructed path out of the apartment. As soon as they were both in the room, Kim went on the offensive with a Shaolin Chuan attack, alternating between hand and foot strikes. When she had forced the imposter away from the main entrance she shouted, “GET OUT OF HERE BONNIE! RIGHT NOW! RUN!” And turned her full attention to her opponent.

The fake Dr. Director’s eyes flicked toward the kitchen for a second but Kim pressed her attack and forced the woman to pay close attention to her. With a little more room to move around in, Kim found herself with the advantage. She concluded that she was facing a clone or a syntho-drone. Its skill level did not match her own but she refused to let her guard down or even let up on her attacks. She was able to push it into the sharp edge of the coffee table and noted that the thin scratch dripping blood from her leg meant she was a clone or a double. Had she been a syntho-drone, the living room would be covered in goo and there would be an empty skin suit draped across the floor.

Within minutes, Kim had the imposter at bay. Trapped in a corner of the large room and frantically looking to escape. She was wondering how to capture the woman without breaking any more of her furniture when she heard the sound of sirens from the street below. “Sounds like your ride is here.” She taunted the woman who crouched defensively, eyes darting around trying to find an escape route.

“What do we have here?”

Kim heard Dr. Director’s voice from behind her and cart wheeled across the room attacking the second intruder with a propeller kick to the head and followed through with a series of uppercuts to the body that lifted the surprised woman off the floor. Kim stopped her attack when she noticed several police officers and GJ agents entering the room with their guns out. Two of the guns were pointed directly at her.

“Put your hands up and back away.”

Kim raised her hands and backed away.

“It’s O.K.” Said Dr. Director from the floor. She stood slowly and motioned to the imposter still in the opposite corner. “I think we can chalk it up to self defense.” She rubbed the right side of her face and looked over at Kim who was staring at her suspiciously. “It’s really me Kim. Your friend called 9-1-1 and told them I was attacking you. Naturally they contacted Global Justice and we responded with the police.” Bonnie entered the room with a Go City policeman and waved her cell phone at Kim.

“Sorry about the… you know… attacking you.” Kim said contritely.

“No need to apologize for that, it was a good attack.”

“What are you going to do about…?” Kim indicated the woman currently being cuffed by the GJ agents.

“I Think I’m going to go have a talk with my big brother.” The one eyed woman’s tone indicated that something more than talking would probably occur. “This is getting old.”

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX

Shego examined the picture frame carefully. She was certain that there was more to the security system than met the eye, even an eye as discerning as her’s. She was not disappointed. Two magnets attached to the back of the frame were most likely activating proximity switches buried in the walls. Remove the painting and the magnet would move away from the sensor, setting off the alarm. A good system would have polarized switches; that meant that she had, at best, a fifty/fifty chance of getting a replacement magnet oriented correctly. The magnets were also countersunk into the frame; she couldn’t pry them out without removing the frame from the wall. For the first time in two weeks, Shego smiled. This was going to be fun!

Placing her hand flat against the wall, Shego ignited it and began directing heat into the wall cavity. After a few minutes, she stopped and pulled an infrared imager out of her pouch and pointed it at the area she had just been warming. The heat dissipated quickly from the air pocket inside the wall but lingered in the junction boxes and electrical wires of the security system. Creating a tight beam of plasma, she cut a fist sized hole, next to the box containing the wires that went to the proximity sensors behind the picture frame, then reached into the box and bypassed the switches. Working quickly and carefully, she removed the picture from the frame and returned the frame to its position on the wall. She then reset the wiring to the proximity sensors and patched the hole in the wall.

She was sneaking past the security station when the beta unit in her pouch started beeping.