Bizarre Love Triangle
"Goodnight, my beautiful thief," Kim said as she stepped on the thatch outside her window. Shego floated the hoverpod lower, so that they were close. Kim could not resist, her eyes zeroed in on her target.
"Sleep well, Prin-" Shego's glowing eyes widened as the red-head lunged forward capturing black lips with her own. Kim was sure that she could feel the mystical communication between their two beating hearts.
So soft...
Finally, Kim broke the delicious connection. Shego opened her eyes slowly, her gaze unfocused. The girl opened her window, pushed aside the lowered curtain and slipped into her room silently. She paused, giving the dazed woman one last alluring look before letting the drapery fall closed behind her. A nice hot shower and then bed... she hummed a light merry tune on her way to her en suite bathroom.
“Kimberly Anne Possible. You are in big trouble,” said a firm male voice as the lights flicked on.
Kim froze. Her heart trip-hammered with dread. She turned slowly, a sick pallor on her face. Yet when she turned around, there was nothing.
"D-dad?" Kim turned around again. "Dad?"
Okay.... too much sex can make you hallucinate... Kim thought.
"Over here young lady," her mother's stern voice sounded behind her. Kim swallowed and turned, only to see the Kimmunicator, its minute extensible claws propping up the tiny device on her bedside table. On the miniature screen was her mother... but in Wade's room? Kim dashed over to the machine and picked it up.
"Okay... what's going on here?... Wade." Anne's throaty chuckle came out of the tiny blue apparatus.
"Right in one, Kim," her mother's voice distorted along with her image to reveal the brown skinned youth.
"Wade, why are you disguising yourself as my parents?" Kim's confusion was only amplified when she found herself speaking from the Kimmunicator.
"Because, silly, Ron and I had to cover for you while you were off having wild lesbian sex with Shego," the Kim on the small screen teased. Kim felt as if her head would explode from the sudden rush of blood.
"I,... wh-what..?" Kim squeaked, clutching at the device.
"I'm just kidding, Kim! Look, Ron called looking for you and found you weren't home. Your parents were getting all cranked so he made up a story about you probably off to see him about a small emergency with Hana and said he'd get you to call when you got there." Kim blinked. "Then he beeped me. He was worried you might have been kidnapped or something, or that Dementor had connected his transportulator to some sort of beam or something, like Drakken did with the Pan Dimensional Vortex Inducer."
"Transportulator?" The screen Kim shrugged and gave an eye roll.
"That thing that Drakken tried to get you to steal from Dementor. Anyway, I ran the security feed in your house backwards and saw you... uh, getting into Shego's hoverpod." Screen Kim looked a bit disturbed by that and crossed her arms. "Your parents beeped the Kimmunicator ten minutes later, asking why you hadn't told them why you'd left without a word, or to tell them where you were. I used this tweaked version of Drakken's cyber-clone and pretended to be you, at Ron's house while Ron and Hana made noise over Ron's Ronuminator." Kim's heart fluttered suddenly.
"I was... we were just.... I mean," Kim's mind simply wouldn't stop whirling.
"I'm operating on a need to know basis here, Kim. You don't need to tell me anything, unless you think I need to know," screen Kim put up a hand.
"I-,... thanks Wade. And as cool as it is talking to myself, could I talk to Wade now?" Her image on the screen wavered to reveal the portly black boy sitting at his terminal. Kim paused a moment before asking what was really on her mind.
"Uh,... you didn't... tell Ron why I wasn't at home, did you?"
"Look, Kim. I'll be 15 this year and I already have four Doctorates. “
"Four? You already got the one on Cryptography? Spankin'!”
"Thanks, and no changing the subject. What I'm getting at is I'm not slow. I know something's up with you and Shego. I think you're nuts; but I trust you. If you haven't told Ron yet, it's not my place to do it. But a word of advice: do it soon."
“This coming from someone who's version of love was built into a raygun?” Kim teased.
“I was young and desperate. I mean really what does a twelve year old genius know about romance except the biological response? Besides, science can solve a lot of things,” Wade smirked, then turned serious. “But not human foibles. So. Ron?” He raise an eyebrow.
"I know.” Kim looked at the image of her genius friend of 4 years. When Wade had contacted her, via email on her babysitting site, she had thought it was a joke. But as she chatted with him, his frustrations with the laws that refused to protect the products of his genius, and started getting increasing hits from legitimate high risk jobs, she had taken up Wade's offer of tech guru, all-round information hound and mission screener. He'd become the indispensable hub that Team Possible orbited; a friend she trusted. Kim raised an eyebrow. “You seem rather calm about this.”
“You spend enough time on the Internet you see the dark hidden things that people do. Just like you can also get to know the people who are the bright lights in the world.”
“Like one world-saving teen cheerleader, her best friend and his pet?” she suggested with a grin.
“Yeah, something like that,” Wade returned her smile.
“Thanks Wade, you ro-," Something in Kim's mind suddenly clicked. "Wait a minute! You have saved security feeds from inside my room?" Kim growled, her eyes glinting dangerously.
"It's for security purposes, Kim. I never look unless there's need. We thought you might have been kidnapped! You know with saving the world, we have to watch your back. Some of the people we throw down with are more than willing to put the hurt on you and your family." Kim hesitated.
"So you don't sneak peeks at me while I'm undressing? Watch me in the bathroom, way wrong stuff like that?"
"No Kim, I'd never!" Kim looked at Wade skeptically for a moment.
"Well, okay. But I want you to make me a copy of all my room feeds for the last four months, and then destroy the originals. All of them."
"Uh... okay. What do you need the footage for?"
"A little surprise," Kim smirked. "And Wade? You rock."
* ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ *
Villains for one reason or another crawled out of the woodwork. Perhaps it was because of the Valentine Holiday; Kim supposed it was hard for mad scientists wanted for crimes against the world and humanity to get dates. Or perhaps it was because it was spring.
She foiled Duff Killigan's mad scheme to turn the Sahara into his personal golf course; the resultant drastic change would have wreaked havoc on the global climate. She foiled Senor Senior Junior's plot to capture both Brittina and MC Honey and force them to back-up his non-existent pop career. Senor Senior Senior had threatened to fix the FIFA World Cup so that his own team of players could win. Frugal Lucre, Summer Gale and AdrenaLynn had some weird cocked up plan to mutate all beans into jumping beans; that one did not end well for the three villains when they were overrun by the larvae. At least Kim was able to prevent the resultant explosion of moths and save the world bean industry. Monkey fist was the most active, hitting several archaeological digs in South America, Africa and Asia. Kim, Ron and Rufus finally tracked him down in a hidden villa on the slopes of the Himalayas, somewhere in Tibet.
And that wasn't including the locust problem in Mexico, the flooding in China, several research teams that needed rescue from the deep jungle in Africa or the multitude of small calls as people found the warming weather a great way to get themselves into trouble. The hikers in Yosemite. The free-climber on the Eiffel Tower. The ice skaters on the Potomac.
Kim was increasingly irritable and agitated. She had trouble sleeping. Her libido was driving her insane. She wanted Shego. Her body wanted Shego. Her chest constricted at the thought of the green-tinted woman.
Through it all, she agonized about the comet powered woman.
What's she doing? Why hasn't she come around? Couldn't she even just leave a message? A flower? A note? She's an awesome and amazing thief, godammit!
At cheer practise, the squad discovered the true meaning of hell. They had heard the rumours of Kim's expulsion from midget league coaching, but had brushed it off as sibling oneupmanship. They now discovered the unfortunate truth. The cheerleaders noted her intense focus, her cheery know-it-all do-it-all attitude and the sudden increase of incredible difficulty of Mad Dog cheer routines. Ron's name was dropped from the BF list.
Kim desperately wanted someone to speak to, but didn't want to monopolize Monique's time, or seem too tweaked.
After a week, she had worse thoughts.
Was Shego just in it for the thrill? Had she made a woman out of me, taught me the amazing world of intimacy with a loved one, and then lit out? Was she laughing behind her hand all this time? Has she... dumped me? Has Shego found someone else?
The cheerleaders hid their worry behind pompoms and quick getaways after practise. Oblivious to Kim's increasing agitation, or perhaps egged on by it, Bonnie continued to deliver her cutting remarks at the teen hero at every opportunity.
During one practise...
"Hey K, I see you're your cheerful self. Got dumped, again?"
Jim and Tim were on hand with the Mad Dog Mascot routine, with Ron looking on, giving them pointers about the most effective use of his Mad Dog Froth Formula. Kim said nothing, glaring hard. That was nothing compared to the sudden inferno of fighting aura that poured out of her. Bonnie squeaked, retreating away several steps, her cheer shoes screeching on the gym floor as she suddenly backpedalled from the murderous look Kim had delivered. Bonnie, rarely ruffled by a simple scowl, could not understand her sudden desire to either flee screaming or fall to the ground and grovel in abject fear. And in front of a trembling with rage, accredited Kung-Fu master. A registered lethal weapon. She felt as if she was staring down the barrel of a very large, very deadly gun named Kim Possible. Always sensitive to their sister's moods, the younger siblings paused, sensing the hair-trigger temper their sister had been nursing for the last two weeks was about to go off.
"Ow-owr-wr-wr-wrooooo!" Ron howled, sliding in between the cheer captain and the vice captain. He stood up and turned to the shell shocked twins.
“And that, is how you do the howl and slide, boys!” Out of the corner of his eye, he watched his best friend since pre-kindergarten shake herself out of her murderous haze.
She took a very deep breath and exhaled slowly, the sound echoing in the silence of the cavernous gym.
"Bonnie, please lead today's practise," she said in a soft voice. "I'm not feeling well." She turned on her heel and headed for the locker room. Even before the gym door slammed shut behind her, she could hear the hushed whispering of the uniformed girls.
In the shower, Kim rested her head against the tiles as the scalding water sluiced down her in sparkling rivulets.
Where are you, Shego?
Why haven't you buzzed me?
No email.
No number to call.
I can't even get a hold of you!
Kim let out a low growl of frustration and spent the next five minutes trying to keep herself together.
* ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ *
"Kim!"
The red-head turned as she stepped out of the locker room. Ron strolled up in his typical yellow-trimmed, red sports jersey and baggy cargo pants. She sighed in relief as the blond can alongside her.
“Hey Ron. Sorry about that...” Kim trailed off.
“No worries, KP.” Ron thought for a moment. “Although I hope Bonnie has a spare change of underwear. She's needed to be taken down a peg or two for a long, long time.” Kim nodded morosely.
“So, Kim. You, me, Rufus and Bueno Nacho. My treat. Whaddaya say?” Kim thought, this was the perfect opening. When will I ever get a better chance to spill? Kim mustered her courage.
“Sure Ron, but it'll be a dutch treat.”
“Uh, okay. But KP, you know that Bueno Nacho is Mexican, not Dutch, right?” Ron smiled as Kim sniggered.
Maybe this won't be so bad.
* ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ ** ~ *
Oh. My. God. So the drama!
Kim sat agonizing in her booth. Across was Ron, but he wasn't eating. On the table was Rufus and he wasn't eating. They sipped at iced drinks, two pairs of eyes watching. Waiting.
“So.... Kim. Is there something you'd like to tell me? Because, I'm all ears. And it's not just because I'm Jewish.” Kim roused herself and offered an off kilter smile.
“Ron... I've realized something a-about myself. Something new, a-and, weird. And I-” Kim swallowed, sipping her own beverage before continuing. “I'm.... afraid... it could change what we have.” Was it harder because Ron was uncharacteristically serious? In the past he'd always helped her get past things with his goofy ways and a certain levity that made everything shift into perspective.
“KP, there isn't a thing in the world that can tears us apart. I'll always have your back, you know that.” Ron paused as Kim stared at the cup in her hands. He waited and then said, “I'm gonna get a refill. You want one?” Kim could not respond, wrestling with emotions that jerked and bucked and pulled, trying to escape her fiercely determined control. Forcing down a sigh, he stood and turned.
“Ron, I'm seeing Shego," Kim said in a low voice. Ron froze, not sure if his mind was playing tricks on him.
“KP, could you say that again? I think I didn't wash my ears out or something...”
“Shego... is... ” Kim's face flamed bright red. “... my...” here it is, I'm gonna say it this is it, say it say it say it now! “...girlfriend.”
And with that, all the tension, all the ferociously gorchy feelings that had been pent up under her skin, that tormented her, was released, leaving a euphoria of acceptance. It was as if simply by speaking it lent a weight to it, made it more real. It was as if something settled in her mind, giving it a space to live and thrive in her existence.
Ron's brown eyes opened wide. His mouth opened, closed, opened again then closed. He sat back down, his face blank. His eyes began to dart back and forth.
“Shego's my girlfriend.” Kim said with more confidence and a bit of pride, a giggle of emotion thrilling up from the pit of her stomach to the top of her head. I've said it. Twice! That dangerous, beautiful and ferociously dead sexy thief is MY GIRLFRIEND!
Rufus staggered and fell against the blond's forearm. Then stared up at his friend, whose eyes now darted back and forth so quickly that Kim started to worry.
“Ron?”
“Oh my god, YOU GUYS ARE LIKE GUACAMOLE!” Ron shouted, an ecstatic expression on his face. Kim and Rufus stared at the blond boy.
“Uh-oh,” Rufus tsked, shaking his head and whirling a pointed finger at his head. “Snapped!”
Guacamole? What the heck?
“R-ron, are you...”
“Okay? Yeah. Wow. Guacamole...” Ron shook his head.
“Time out Ron. Explain this guacamole thing to us non-cooking types.”
“Guacamole is easy to make, but hard to make well. It takes time and practise. Too much avocado, which is light green by the way, and it becomes too thick, browns too quickly. Too much tomato, ahem, red, and it gets too watery. But that and add in just the right amounts of lime, salt, coconut milk, red onion, black pepper, cumin, garlic and cilantro, whip it all up... and it's a dip that's fit for the gods themselves.” Ron looked up with a dreamy expression and held up a hand in benediction.
“Whipped, minced, chopped and diced
Lime, salt, onion, pepper, milk
A true red-green dream.”
Kim and Rufus stared at the blond as the haiku settled around them, their mouths open in what the blond thought was awe.
“Uh-huh, yep snapped, tsk, tsk, tsk,” Rufus shook his head.
“Oooookay, naco-boy, you're gonna hafta come back from orbit.”
“Huh? Well, it's obvious. Guacamole is like the Royalty of Mexican Dips. It has almost an infinite number of taste and texture combinations, but it is sometimes, the dip or garnish that can hold a meal together. I mean, the secret ingredient ...” Ron's eyes suddenly widened, then darted about. “Uh... I mean,... not supposed to talk about that... non-discombobulating clause and all that...”
“Non-disclosure. And I already know Ron. I was your test subject, remember?” Kim smiled.
“Aheheheh... Oh, and guacamole goes great with tacos!” Ron gave a lopsided grin. Kim covered her mouth, but a giggle escaped. Rufus began to chuckle. Kim tried to hold back a guffaw and failed, breaking into a series of rip-snorts and chortles, before just outright laughing. Rufus fell on his back and rolled with mirth.
When they brought their hilarity back under control, Kim wanted to be sure.
"I... didn't think you'd take it so well," Kim admitted. "Even better than Monique."
“I'm alright with you and Shego. I mean from one angle, it could be so many levels of wrongsick. But KP,” Ron looked up at her with smile. “You know lesbians are just so totally hot! And man, you and Shego? Wow.” Rufus looked at his two favourite teens chatting happily. He could read their pheromones, and they smelled like they were going to settle into another one of their long, nearly incomprehensible BFF sessions. He took some money out of Ron's wallet and headed for the Bueno Nacho counter.
“Yeah, she is a wow.”
“So are you a...?”
“Not sure. Still think some guys are attractive, but Shego's just so ferociously hot.”
“And you can have barbeque without a grill too.”
“Only if you want your food tasting like ozone.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“So how did it happen?”
“Well, she's my stalker.”
“What?! No way, really? So it was her...?”
“Yeah, my saving angel. How weird is that?”
“Nothing to do with weird, that's a twelve on the freakmeter.”
“And about three thousand on the joygasm meter.”
“No!”
“Yep.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“So you guys?”
“Yep.”
“And it was that?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“Aw, man. That's another first you got before I did.”
“That's okay, potential-boy. I heard from someone that there hasn't been a shortage of the ladies for the Ron-meister.”
“Ye-e-e-ah, the R-man still hasn't gotten past second.”
“What?! With all those nights you were out? Monique would text me every time! And you never got freaky? Like, what?”
“C'mon, Kim! You know I'm not.... like... that! For me, it's gotta mean something!”
“That's... both sweet and dumb Ron.”
“Part of the Ron-charm, bay-bee!”
“You're probably the only guy these girls have ever run into that would say no to sex.”
“I'm not saying no. I just haven't found that special someone to share it with....”
“What? Not with Yori?”
“KP, we live on opposite sides of the world. You know how much it would cost to keep up a 'ship like that?”
“What about Monique?”
“Wrestling and Monster trucks, she's like a guy friend.”
“Tara?”
“Sweet, but taken. Mankey. Damn you Mankey...”
“Amelia?”
“Gone for college. Even if she did, she's way too stuck-up for me.”
“Bonnie?”
“...”
Snicker.
“Aw, you know what I mean! It's gotta be special!”
“Yeah.... actually I do.”
“Huh? You mean, you and Shego?”
“Yeah.”
“I... wow... that's... uh.... wow...”
“You said that already.”
“Okay... Did you tell her?”
“Yep!”
“That's just like Felix and Zita.”
“Other than the fact they got engaged on their first 'non-date', yeah, I guess.”
“But then if everything's been so great, what was with that thing back at practise?”
“Oh. Well, I, uh,... haven't felt,... seen... or heard... from her in... two weeks...”
“...Huh. I would've been burning up my minutes if it was three hours.”
“I remember.”
“So really, nothing?”
“...”
Ron sighed at his best friend's blushing face and sat back, spreading his arms along the top of the booth bench.
“It's gonna fine, KP. But ya know, we've been so busy. Dontcha think Shego has buzzed your place, but you haven't been there? She can't just have the time to sit around; I mean I just can't see her waiting on you. She doesn't have any way to reach us that might be untraceable, especially if we're on mission, and if she leaves anything in your room, heck anybody could find it...”
“But she put a picture in my locker, like two weeks ago! She didn't seem to have any problems then.”
“Picture? Lemme see it... omigawd. That is four thousand degrees of hotness right the-e-e-re... amp down Kim, I'm just playing with ya, no need to jell!”
“Well, why doesn't she do something like that again?”
“Why would she want a repeat performance? Her romance tank can't be dry, she's a woman.”
“I know she's a wo-... man,...”
“KP?”
“... a woman...”
“You okay? KP!”
“...”
“Earth to Kim!”
“...”
“Control to Bubble-butt!”
“Oh. My. God. I am such an idiot! I can't believe it!”
“Huh? What?”
“I'm acting like the girl!”
“Uh, hate to break it to you, KP, but you are a girl.”
“But Shego's a girl too.”
“Really? And here I thought she might be a man or something, she's always so angry...”
“Ron!” Kim laughed as she swatted plafully at her blond friend. “What I mean is, when a girl dates someone, we sometimes wait for the 'morning after call'. We don't want to look to clingy or desperate. But both Shego and I have never had girlfriends before... what if she's waiting for the 'morning after call' too?” Kim's wide eyes turned from saucer-eyed realization to seductive plotting in an instant. “And I've got just the right 'thinking-of-you' gift!” Kim lunged across the table and embraced her startled friend. “Thanks, Ron!”
“Uh... yeah.... you're welcome.” Ron eeped.
“...”
“Uh, KP? Not that I mind a bi-sexual hugging me, but from a sister-like BFF, it's a bit beyond sick and wrong.”
“Sorry.” Kim released her best friend.
“Yeah.” The hero stood up, her face already beginning to glow. Ron could see the girl was entering mission mode.
“I gotta go, I want to get started right away.”
“On what?”
“The perfect gift for my girlfriend.” Kim left with a smirk and a spring in her step. Ron stared after her as Rufus came out of a naco induced stupor. The small pink rodent watched Kim's retreating figure then up at his friend.
“Awww, Shego?” he chittered. Ron sighed.
“Yep. She's got it bad.”
* ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ *
Her gift took a lot longer than Kim expected. First there was just way too much material. Second, she wasn't sure what her lover's taste in music was like. Third, she was called away five times that week for missions, two of which required inter-hemispheric travel. By the time the gift was done, she was into her third week and was definitely seeing signs of withdrawal.
Is she okay? Had one of Drakken's harebrained schemes killed her? Or... or maybe... another villain... or even worse, an evil non-villain organization... had decided to wipe out the interfering Doctor... had they taken her out too?
Wade traced some shipments of material Drakken was known to favour but to no avail. No recent thefts that Shego had been present at; Kim was sure after brief stops to investigate, even if she was mid-mission. Wade, with all his resources simply noted that they seemed to be active, but was unable to trace the materials being purchased to their end point. His hypothesis, however, was that Drakken had some sort of underwater base.
Kim slipped the case beneath her windowsill and prayed for the best.
It was still there the next morning. That afternoon, during school, Team Possible was called away to save five hikers who had gone missing in an avalanche in the Rocky Mountains. After three hours of searching on rocket propelled snowboards, Rufus caught wind of them and found them holed up in a small cave. By the time she returned home, she had finished her homework and was ready to rest her exhausted body. Before she slipped into the covers, she checked her windowsill.
The case was gone.
And in its place?
A small card with a black lip stick print.
The hero grinned.
“Yes!”
A glorious rush of adrenaline had her jumping from foot to foot, a little dance of joy as she spun.
* ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ *
Beep-Beep Be-Beep
“Sorry, Mister Barkin! I gotta take this!” Kim called as she stuffed her books in her bag and lit out of English. She could hear the hulking man's growl muffle as the door closed behind her.
“What's the sitch, Wade?” said a cheery red-head as she sped down the hall to the exit.
“Uh... Doctor Director was wondering if you might have some time...” Wade said, not meeting her eyes. Alarm bells were suddenly going off like no tomorrow in Kim's head as she pushed open the outside doors.
“Wade, has something happened?”
“Sorry Kim. I ran into Global Justice's newest hacker recruit. She caught me snooping around some of Hench Co.'s coltan subsidiaries. You know, the ones funding the war in Congo. I didn't say anything, but you know Doctor Director... she's a genius when it comes to correlative relationships...”
“Newest hacker recruit?” Kim blinked. “Coltan... that cellphone stuff Drakken uses for his synthodrone brain chips? So I guess I should be expecting- Eeep!” Kim stifled her surprise when a hole opened beneath her feet. She fell into a capsule like transport module which then rocketed through a series of twisting yellowish green transparent tubes.
As the wind whistled past her, she sat, placing her satchel on her lap and crossed her arms. She'd never liked the GJ chutes; it reminded her of the time she found out exactly where Gemini's own chutes ended. It took her three weeks to get over the sight, another month for the knowledge.
What's going on? Why would Doctor Director call on me like this? We haven't had a GJ sanctioned mish since the flood in Istanbul!
After a few minutes, Kim noted the rapidly warming air and slid her hairbrush from her satchel before looping the strap over her black and burgundy trimmed spring jacket. A moment later, the capsule stopped and the doors slid open. A few strokes of the brush and she was ready. To the side, a stiffly correct figure in a blue jumpsuit stood waiting.
“Miss Possible.” The man's deadpan voice had always rubbed Kim the wrong way, ever since his rude outburst within five minutes of their first meeting, where he called her an "amateur".
“Mr. Du,” Kim managed to match his tone of smug reliability. In the dark cavernous room, large screens dominated the walls, the only light illuminating the dimly lit controls panels manned by other blue-suited figures: the Command Centre of Global Justice.
"This way, if you please," Will gestured down the left, between the transport tubes and the consoles.
"Doctor Director's office?" Will Du, brightest and most accomplished Agent of the Global Justice corps, was not someone Kim would like to know to any greater degree. It wasn't because his skin was not white or black; she suspected South Asian. It wasn't because he had ears that stuck out; heck her best friends since pre-kindergarten had the same. It wasn't because his hair looked like a helmet, or that he had a very slim build. Or his painstakingly memorized rules of engagement and policies. It was all about respect.
Kim found it very difficult to respect someone who simply refused to respect her. That, and he'd used the hidden taser in his high tech watch and zapped Ron just for wanting to shake his hand.
As Will lead her along the corridors of the Global Justice base, she wondered if there could be any guy who was more stiff than Will. She'd seen wooden boards that had more give.
They stopped at a desk that sat before a security door. Behind the desk, a stunningly pretty brunette looked up as they approached. New assistant?
“Miss Flage,” Will nodded.
“Will,” the woman replied with a sweet smile. A smile that deepened as her eyes travelled to the redhead.
“Ms. Possible.” Kim blinked. Had the smile grown?
“Uh... Kim's fine.”
“Then you can call me Camelia. Doctor Director is waiting inside, please go through.” Will moved to a chair that was by the desk and sat. Without hesitation, Kim pushed open the door and walked through.
“So that's Kim Possible?” Miss Flage sounded amused.
“Cammie...” she heard Will's frustrated sigh as the door closed.
The lighting in the room was dim, like the rest of the base. Morose colours on faded greys dominated the decor. Opposite the door was a heavy utilitarian metallic desk. To the left was a small table with four chairs, the right, a coffee table and a drab couch.
“Kim,” called a warm contralto from the desk. “Have a seat, I'll join you in a second.” Tall and as well endowed as any Reuben, Betty had an hourglass figure that Kim had always been jealous of. Her full, short brown hair and eye patch gave the woman a rakishly handsome air that was effective in masking the great tactical genius behind her pleasant face.
“Sure,” Kim replied, somewhat nonplussed. She opted for the couch and sat.
“Water? Pop?” Betty asked as she stood.
“Uh, water.” Kim started getting nervous. Was this a business meeting or a casual one? Since her stalker-shaking days, Kim had popped by to see Betty periodically, trying to shake the presence tailing her. Had Betty taken that as a sign that Kim was relaxing around her with some casual familiarity?
Betty passed a cool bottle to Kim, in her tight fitting Blue Global Justice suit. Kim noticed that Betty seemed quite a bit more filled out than Shego, then lowered her gaze and blushed, opening her bottle while grappling her wandering eyes into submission.
“Kim, I'm glad I could see you on such short notice,” Betty said, twisting open her own bottle of water and sipping from it. “How have you been?”
“Good. School's been good, but missions have been really hectic the last few weeks. I've been all over! The travel's fun and it gives me time to finish my homework.” Betty nodded.
“And how's your parents?”
“Mom's good. She's going to be the proctor for this year's national neurosurgeon exams, so she's busy arranging for cadavers and such. Dad, well you know. He's working on some Japanese funded project. Comes home sometimes; he says they're in crunch right now.”
“Kim, I called you here because I've seen a report that worries me,” Betty sighed. “I don't know why it wasn't brought to my attention earlier, but when I heard that Wade had been snooping around the Hench Co. coltan stocks... well.”
“What is it?” Kim felt a tremor of anxiety.
“About four weeks ago, one of our satellite sensors detected a massive plasma surge in or near around your house. Three days later, a massive phenomena of plasma was observed in the sky in the lower layer of the mesosphere.”
Shego!
“Do you know anything about this?” Kim weighed her options. Would it be smart or stupid to dissemble at this point? Even if she lied, could she do so convincingly?
Darn it...
“Doctor Director...”
“Yes, Kim?”
“Betty. I-... I think I should tell you something... It might be hard to understand... even I don't really understand it...” Was a strange look was blossoming in the brunette's eyes?
“Kim...? What is it?”
“Betty, Shego is my girlfriend.”
“Your... girlfriend.”
“Yeah.”
“And so... uh, but you're... and she's still?” Betty's brow was scrunched up with the effort of assimilating Kim's information.
“When we get together, we just hang out and stuff. I don't talk shop at all.” Betty suddenly reached out and took Kim's hands in her own.
“But Kim, she's a wanted criminal! You can't even claim to be innocent here; you know she's wanted. You could be arrested just by association!”
“Betty, I'm telling you because I trust you. And I hope you trust me too. Don't ask me to do anything to capture Shego, 'cause you know I won't.” Kim's gaze was clear, her leaf-green eyes calm pools of assurance. Betty shook her head, unable to comprehend what was happening.
“Kim,... I don't know... right now, we have a level 2 surveillance order on her, a do not approach, do not contain. She's dangerous! Are you sure she's not trying to trick you?”
“I'm sure.”
“How? How can you be sure?” Kim was surprised to see a bit of sparkle at the corners of the woman's eyes.
“Because I love her.”
“Kim...” Betty's wide-eyed incredulous gasp hurt.
“Please, Betty... don't make me regret things. Because it won't be the fact that I love an international thief that I'll regret. If Wade calls me out to take on Drakken and Shego, Team Possible will do our job. I promise you that. And if I do put Shego in jail, so be it. I won't lose, not even to her. She knows this. Just like I know she won't go down easy, just because it's me.” Betty took a deep breath, pulling her thoughts together.
“One condition, one of my agents has to be part of Team Possible.”
“Okay. Just not Will. I'll take anyone else, but that guy just won't listen to me.”
“Alright.” Betty shook her head. “Kim, I know you said you wouldn't regret this. Please don't make me regret anything either.”
“You know my motto.” Betty laughed hollowly along with her.
* ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ * * ~ *
It was almost another month before Kim saw Shego again.