Kim shut the door behind her softly as she entered the room, looking around she sighed heavily before walking over to her bed. There was much to do before she left, and she didn’t feel like putting it off any more.
Picking up her Kimmunicator, she called up Wade with a few quick button presses. “Hey Kim, what’s up?”
“I have a couple things to talk to you about Wade, and a favor to ask,” Kim replied seriously.
“Sure, no problem,” Wade responded before turning his full attention to Kim, even going so far as to remove his fingers from his keyboard. “Let’s start with the news.”
Kim fell silent a moment to gather her thoughts. “The first item is that I’m going to be going underground with Shego to get some training on my little plasma problem. She’s taking me to the person who had trained her.”
“So she really did quit working for Drakken,” Wade said with a bit of shock in his voice, “I just got a notice of Drakken looking for a replacement henchmen because Shego quit.”
“Seems about right Wade,” Kim replied with a smile. ‘So Shego’s giving up crime to help me, maybe she’s willing to become a hero again. I think I can be more accommodating than her brothers ever were.’
Wade nodded and scratched his chin in thought a moment before shaking his head and looking back to Kim. “What’s next?”
“This will lead to the favor,” Kim explained with a nervous look to the door. “I’m making Joss a member of Team Possible…”
“Would you like me to make her a communicator?” Wade offered as though reading her mind.
“Please and thank you,” Kim responded with a laugh.
“I’ll pull out one of your spares and reset it for her, even add in a few new gadgets if you’d like,” Wade said while reaching off screen to pick up the said item, “Should be done in about an hour, want it delivered through the robo-door in your closet?”
“You rock Wade,” Kim said with a smile, “If you could please, I don’t want her knowing about it until I tell her.”
“Will do Kim,” Wade said before looking back up with a worried look on his face, “Have you called Ron yet?”
Kim’s face fell as she lowered her eyes to the floor. “He’s next… I hope he understands…”
“I’m sure he will Kim,” Wade said before returning to his work, “I’ll let you go then.”
“Bye Wade, I’ll call when I get back,” the red head said before she closed the connection. Lowering her head a sigh escaped her lips. Lowering her hands so that the Kimmunicator was in her view, she frowned as she tried to get her thumb to press the call button.
Fifteen minutes later, Kim sighed heavily as she stared at her Kimmunicator silently. ‘Why is this so difficult? Why can’t I just call him up?’
Groaning in frustration, Kim stood up and started going through the motions Shego had shown her earlier, relaxing her body and calming her mind. She couldn’t afford to set the house on fire over something like this. Letting out her breath at the end of the kata, Kim picked up her Kimmunicator and hit the button to call the RonCom.
When Ron’s familiar face filled her view screen a small tremble of fear rippled through her body. Taking a deep breath she forced a smile onto her face. “Hey Ron…”
“Hey KP,” Ron’s voice said cheerfully, “Sorry about not making it this morning, the folks were out all night at a convention, and I didn’t want to bring Hana along in case Shego was mad.”
“No big Ron,” Kim responded as she pulled out a few shirts and started folding them, “I called to tell you that I’m going to be gone for a while… Shego is going to train me to control my plasma.”
“Are you sure KP?” Ron asked with worry in his voice, “I mean I know you and her are somewhat friends now, but can you trust her?”
Kim bit her lip as she tucked the shirts into her travel pack having decided to pack light. After a moment she sighed and shook her head. “I do Ron… I know what she’s like when it’s just her and me, and she’s pulling in a major favor to do this. Even if I didn’t trust her, what choice do I have?”
Ron sighed as he shook his head. “I don’t know Kim, I guess you don’t really. Just… watch yourself ok?”
“Yeah, I will,” Kim replied as she dug out a couple pairs of pants from her dresser and put them on top of the shirts. “Ron… we’ve been dating for a while, and been best friends for longer than even that… and what I’m going to say next is hard…”
“What’s that Kim?” Ron queried worriedly.
“I think we should break up while I’m away,” Kim blurted while she pulled out her undergarments and tucked them away. “Please don’t be mad Ron… I just don’t want to tie you down while I’m gone.”
“You can’t be serious KP … What … what if I meet someone … what if you meet someone?” He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, she was trying to make it sound like they could just jump back together the way things were if they hadn’t met someone. “Kim I … I don’t want to.”
“What? Take a chance and maybe meet someone new?” Kim smiled softly at him over the digital connection. “Ron I don’t know what’s going to happen while I’m away but you need to be free to make new friends. If that happens to include finding a new girlfriend … I can be ok with that.”
Ron couldn’t wipe the shock off his face, “Kim I don’t want to. We’ve been together since…”
“Exactly Ron it’s always been ‘us’ for you even when I was trying to find someone for me. You looked but never made any other female friends.” Kim scowled, Ron was acting childish she thought. She might end up dead or unable to be close to anyone ever again. It was even possible she might not come back but she couldn’t tell him that outright and she didn’t want him to be mad. “I’m sorry Ron I … just think this is the best way for us … especially now with my … problem.”
Ron matched Kim’s scowl for a moment. “Kim are you sure?” He had forgotten in his haste to try to keep her as his girlfriend that, right now Kim was in a very dangerous state both mentally and physically. “I mean really sure, about trusting Shego?”
“I am, I can’t explain it Ron but I trust her.” Kim smiled sadly at the look on his face. “I’m sorry Ron I didn’t want to make you mad but I guess I did anyway.”
Ron’s face went slack with shock again. After a moment he recovered and shook his head to regain his sense. She made a lot of good, if terrifying to him, points. He did love her very deeply but he knew now that he thought about it he needed to meet new people. This would also be a test for their years at college. Kim would be on the other side of the planet most of the time for her classes and he was lucky to have gotten into Middleton U’s food preparation program. “Kim… I’m not mad at you. If you think its best this way, I trust you.”
Kim smiled sweetly as she pulled out a small brown box and tucked it inside the pouch where it would be safe. “Thank you Ron… you rock. I’m also expanding Team Possible to include Joss… I think she’s ready.”
“Isn’t she like 14?” Ron asked with a curious look to his face.
“No Ron, she was 14 when we went to the Lazy C two summers ago,” Kim said with a slight shrug, “Late bloomer I guess.”
“If you say she is KP, then I think it’s obvious she’s more than ready by my standards,” Ron replied. “So, what’s her communicator’s line going to be called?”
“I’ll let Wade name it,” Kim said with a laugh. “Bye Ron.”
“Bye Kim,” Ron said shortly before his face was replaced with black.
Kim slumped forward on her bed, sighing heavily, letting her Kimmunicator slip through her fingers to the floor. ‘That was too easy… I know Ron’s hurt, but it needed to be done… I hope he finds someone nice.’ With another sigh, Kim slide off her bed and gathered up some clean clothes. Afterwards she padded to the bathroom for a shower.
Returning a half hour later she found Joss sitting on her bed, looking at the bag laying there. Kim sighed at the saddened look on Joss’s face as she sat down on her bed, tossing her dirty laundry into the basket. “You’re early, what’s up?”
“Yer maw ‘ad a call at da ‘ospital, an I didn’t feel like bein’ alone…” Joss replied quietly. “I reckon that yer really goin’, huh?”
“Well, I guess makes it easier…” Kim said before standing and going into her closet where she took a small cardboard box from one of Wade’s delivery bots waiting for her. Thanking the voice of Wade that came through the bots speakers quietly she smiled and left the closet. Kim returned to her bed and set the box on Joss’ lap with a small smile and a gesture for her to open it.
Joss’s eyes fairly bugged out of her skull as she saw what rested inside, looking between it and her cousin she tried to speak. Inside rested a KP logo patch, and a replica of the Kimmunicator. Picking it up she pressed the blinking button, seeing a quick boot screen before Wade’s face filled the view.
“Oh, hey Joss, how do you like your JossLine?” Wade asked with a smile, “I built it custom for you, has some good gadgets in case you get into trouble. Welcome to the team.”
“T…thank ya Wade… and you Kim,” Joss said with a sniffle, “This is more than I coulda dreamed of.”
Kim smiled as Wade faded from view before she laid an unlabeled video tape into the box gently giving her a sly wink. “This is for your eyes only Joss, it’s a training video. Now if you’re ready for your first mission…”
“You betcha I am!” Joss squealed happily. “Oops, sorry ‘bout that Kim… I’m just so excited.”
Kim sighed and rested a hand on Joss’s shoulder to get her to settle down, not noticing the slight blush that formed on the younger woman’s cheeks.
“Joss, the first mission isn’t going to be as exciting or anything, but it is important. I need you to tell my parents what’s going on, and tell them not to worry,” Kim said in a solemn voice. “Can you do that?”
“Sure, I can,” Joss replied with a frown. “But Kim… I don’t feel right about you goin’ alone like this. That varmint may be up to somethin’, jus’ be careful, aight?”
Kim smiled and hugged her cousin closely, causing the younger girl to blush deeper. “I promise Joss, remember anything’s possible with a Possible.”
“Yeah, ya got that right. So, ya leavin’ now?”
Kim shook her head and indicated the door. “No, first I’m going to have pizza and watch movies with you for a few hours, then leave when it gets dark.”
Joss smiled and hugged Kim tightly, “Thank ya Kim.”
Together the cousins rose off the bed and walked out the door, hanging out and goofing off all afternoon together. Just as the sun was beginning to fade behind the horizon, Kim hugged her cousin a final time and walked off, her pouch slung over her shoulders to rest on her hip.
Walking off into the gathering darkness Kim sighed and felt her pocket where her Kimmunicator would have been. She had decided to leave it at home because she didn’t want to lean on it as a crutch, or get tracked down because of it. She had also left a note with Joss to give to her parents and made a call into Wade to inform him of her departure.
‘Am I doing the right thing?’ Kim’s mind asked as she trod onward to what was to be a long ordeal. ‘Will the world be alright without me? Wade did say that he would contact Global Justice for me, I really owe him for that, but I doubt Dr. Director is going to like that. I know Team Impossible will do their part, Dash agreed and Burn backed him up saying something about a good account with her parents … and then asked if Dad needed his taxes done again’
Kim turned down the side road leading to Shego’s hideout silently, her eyes searching the area for anyone following her. After a moment she relaxed enough to see Shego standing ahead of her, leaning against a car that could only have been hers. Not many people would have a green and black convertible, and fewer still would have it done in Shego’s trademark pattern.
Stepping up to Shego she sighed as she met the older woman’s eyes. “I’m ready;” she said quietly, “Let’s go.”
Shego nodded and reached into her car to pop the trunk, before leading Kim to the back to stow her bag of essentials in next to a duffle bag of what Kim assumed was Shego’s essentials. Shego only told her it would be a rather long drive to get where they were going, two days if they only stopped for sleep and ‘cleaning up’, Kim was glad she packed for a few days at the least. Stowing the two bags together the two women walked back to the front and climbed in, buckling up and driving off into the sunset.
Shego groaned as the picturesque scene was ruined by the ringing of her cell phone. Picking it up and flipping it open she answered without looking at the caller id. “This is Shego, make it good.”
An unknown female voice shrieked out of the phone’s receiver, making Shego eternally regret not looking at the caller id. “POLLYANNA HEIDI MARIE GO! HOW DARE YOU HANG UP ON ME LIKE THAT! I AM YOUR MOTHER!” the voice screamed, causing Shego to wince away.
“Mommy, please calm down…” Shego whimpered as Kim just stared wide eyed in surprise. “Can we talk about this when I get there in a few days? I’m driving right now with a friend…”
Kim couldn’t hear the response, but the blush on Shego’s cheeks made her almost wish she had. As the green-skinned woman lowered the phone and sighed, Kim pointed at the phone. “Your mother… sounded nice…”
“Oh, that? She’s mad because I hung up on her yesterday, because of you I might add, and forgot to call her back today… and please don’t ask about the name…” Shego begged with a whimper.
“I won’t…” Kim replied. ‘At least until after I’ve met you mother…’ Kim thought with a smirk.
Shego sighed and squealed the tires, tearing out of the city like a bat out of hell, as though trying to leave the embarrassment behind her.
Meanwhile Ron sat in his room, sighing heavily. ‘Why had Kim dumped him? Had he done something wrong? Maybe I hadn’t always been a great boyfriend, but I was always was there for her, wasn’t I?’
Shaking his head slowly, he stood and walked towards the window and stared off into the distance. ‘She trusts me to take care of everything… but I’m not ready. I know I sometimes have my moments, but I just don’t think I can do it alone. Maybe I should call in some support.’
Pulling out his RonCom he frowned at the list of people who he could call, no one was equal to Kim in ability, no one but… her. Ron gulped as he looked at the number, remembering how hard it was to get Yori to take the cell phone as a parting gift even after he explained the more technically inclined ninjas had made certain that it could not be traced.
He had meant it as a gesture of interest to her back then, but now that interest was coming back to haunt him. ‘I’m still with Kim… and Yori didn’t seem too interested in me last time…’
He blinked as he remembered; he wasn’t ‘with’ Kim anymore.
A few minutes later, a familiar voice answered the phone curiously. “Hey, Yori… its Ron. I need some help; can you come to Middleton for a while?”