The week prior…
Chaos and destruction as far as the eyes could see; such was the ruin that used to be the living room of the Possible residence. Shredded paper in every color conceived by marketing firms across the globe were littering the floor, and the brave remains of pre-folded cardboard parcels bore testament to the acts of atrocity committed here this morning. The snow and ice just beyond the windowpanes made the yard outside look like a barren wasteland, but the interior of the house was cozy and warm.
“Sweetheart, why did you buy them that?”
“It looked so adorable in the shop window, I just had to get it for them!”
The furry body of a massive brown teddy bear sat in the living room looking in the general direction of the tree, the ornamental lights twinkling in the glassy orbs of the beady eyes. Resting at an impressive five feet tall when seated, the bear towered over two tiny girls, themselves less than three feet tall. Wearing her cowboy hat for protection, Sheki was poking at the bear doubtfully with her six-shooter. The ottoman was ample cover for Kasy as she watched from a safe distance, a plastic arrow with a rubber suction-cup carefully nocked in her little bow.
“’Get it’? Show me the receipt.”
“Kimmie, it was figure of speech.”
“You stole it.”
“I did not!”
“The receipt, please.”
“I… must have thrown it away.”
“They already have so many stuffed animals…”
“Says the woman who still keeps her old Panda Roo beside her marriage bed.”
Kim sighed and hid her mirth; the holiday was going very well and she would not have soured it for anything. In truth she was not angry, but she did love to ‘tweak’ her mate when the other woman was accidentally exposing the childish side of her personality. This facet of the mighty Shego was rarely witnessed and it only ever happened when their children were involved and usually when only the four of them were together.
The slender redhead leaned back on the sofa and watched as her daughters did their best to either communicate with ‘Fuzzy’ or to determine if he was a threat. Kim was still wearing her pajamas on this festive morning and her robe was loosely belted about her waist. Pink bunny slippers completed the ensemble and she let slip a grin as her mate filmed the children with her new camera.
Shego was wearing something far more revealing and meager underneath her own robe, long and flowing and woven of black silk that contrasted with her bare limbs and face. Her hair was as black as the robe but greenish highlights made it stand apart from the garment. She was smiling as she captured for posterity the negotiations between toddler and plush. Kasy walked around the ottoman to join her sister. They both started poking the large toy, making it sway backwards several inches.
“This will end badly.”
‘Fuzzy’ rocked forwards again and over-extended his center of gravity; he collapsed onto the twin girls and buried them underneath his capacious body. The three year olds were nowhere to be seen and Shego lowered the camera and started forward.
“Baby, they’re Ok.”
“But, Kimmie…”
“They aren’t hurt; just leave them be.” Knowing that children judge most of reality by the reactions of their parents, Kim knew that if the girls saw evidence that they were supposed to have been hurt, they would behave as if they really were hurt and begin crying. Shego bit her lip and looked pensive but kept back.
In less than five seconds the tiny girls were crawling out from beneath the massive bear and looking at their mothers for support. One was calm and smiling and the other was fidgeting and barring her teeth in a worried attempt to smile, but the girls gave that the benefit of the doubt. Kasy gave ‘Fuzzy’ a timid kick and Sheki stuck out her tongue at him.
“See?”
“One day I’ll tell them how their Mommy left them alone to defend themselves against a bear and then we’ll see who gets set out on an ice floe in her declining years.”
Shego checked the camera to make certain that the brutal attack had been recorded before setting down the technological gift. She dropped beside Kim on the sofa and looked around at the scene of devastation, lifting her legs up onto the cushions and pulling her larger body over the lap of her wife.
“Ghaa, get off me, you load!”
“Should we clean up yet?” Shego ignored the ‘load’ comment and claimed a cheekbone with her lips.
“Nah, after breakfast.” Kim shifted to make herself more comfortable.
“What are we having?” The pale green woman nuzzled Kim’s neck.
“Scrambled eggs.”
“What, no pancakes?” Now Shego was blowing in Kim’s ear and running long pale fingers through the short red hair.
“Well, I was going to make pancakes but someone used up all the syrup last night.” It had been easier to ignore Shego’s amorous actions at first but now the woman was practically draped across her body. Kim brushed the long black hair from her eyes.
“What are you doing?”
A strong hand gently cupped a fair cheek and brought Kim’s head around. Shego was there with a feral look on her face.
“I wanted to thank you again for the negligee.” Shego peeled back just enough of the robe to expose the jade green lace. “I love it.”
“I knew that you would. I expect to see you in it later tonight.” Kim moved her lips close and they kissed.
“Yes, mistress.” The seated embrace lasted for a minute and when they parted the former villain wore her best attempt at the ‘Puppy Dog Pout’.
“Why didn’t you put on the one that I bought you? Didn’t you like it?”
“Baby, I love it!” The rosy blush lent credence to the claim. “It’s beautiful and it makes me feel sexy.” Kim purred against her mate and gave herself a little hug.
“Then why aren’t you wearing it?” Shego poked her long finger through the loose fabric of Kim’s robe and pajamas and only felt firm flesh beneath. “I mean, don’t get me wrong; mission clothes, nude…” Emerald eyes inspected Kim’s current attire. “Even frumpy you are the sexiest thing around, but I wanna see some skin!”
“Baby, not in front of the children!”
“You are so uptight. Quick, while they’re watching television!” In her wildest dreams Shego would have never engaged in openly erotic activities with the girls present, but hinting that she might was perfect for driving her lover nuts.
“Shego, do you realize that the girls are at their most formative stage right now? If they see us prancing around in our underwear all day, they’ll start asking some pretty serious questions; questions that I’d rather they not be thinking about yet.” Kim evaluated the look on Shego’s face. “You stopped listening after I said ‘prancing around in our underwear’, didn’t you?”
“Hmm? Sorry, Princess, what?”
“I can’t talk to you!” Oddly enough, Kim lifted a green hand to her lips and brushed it against her mouth
“And another thing, Pumpkin; do you always have to wear the baggiest night clothes you own? You always complain about your ‘attributes’ but then you go and put on this sack!” Shego huffed. “I swear that unless you gain about five pounds, the neighbors are going to start asking about the strange new man in my life.”
“Oh, no, you didn’t!” Kim whirled and grappled, pinning Shego to the cushions with a roar; the warrior smirked up at her.
“Kimmie, not in front of the children!” Two soft giggles drew their attention to the floor. Kasy and Sheki were pointing to the adults with glee.
“Mommy an’ Momma’s fightn’ ‘gain!”
The girls bounded over to the sofa and leapt up onto their parents. Shego was the closest and they converged on her; Kim thought briefly to call them away because she feared that the taller woman might not appreciate being jumped on this early in the day or that her garb wasn’t suitable for horseplay. Kim was glad to see that her worry was misguided; the warrior was giggling and tickling her offspring as they climbed all over their Momma.
Shego whispered something their ears and the girls scampered across the cushions to hug their Mommy.
“Now, what do we say for such wonderful presents?”
“ANK YOO!”
Shego leaned back without even smoothing down the wrinkles in her silk robe or inspecting the outfit beneath for tears; other than the embrace of her spouse there was nothing that she loved more in this world than contact with her children. She watched as the woman who bore these twins, a woman just a few years her junior and once a former rival and nemesis, laughed and held Sheki upside down while the little raven-haired child screamed with delight and Kasy impatiently waited for her turn.
These three were her world and woe to anyone that would take it from her.
“Did you get nice things from everyone?”
Excited nods and smiles confirmed that they had and the girls were off of the sofa and back on the floor, readily pointing out what they had received and who it came from, regardless that the adults had already watched each package being torn asunder just minutes ago.
The review of the presents gave the parents a few extra minutes to hold each other close and just watch the little miracles dance around the floor. Eventually the girls wandered over to the television where the annual holiday parade was being shown and plopped down to watch the colorful floats. With little effort, Shego flipped her spouse and reversed their positions on the sofa.
“Shego, will you please let me up?”
“Nope, nothing doing.”
“I need to fix breakfast!”
“Muwa ha ha, you’ll never get away, Kim Possible… blah, blah, blah…”
Shego repeated the words that she and her former employer had used so often in the past but Kim had to giggle at how absurd they sounded when spoken in jest. Kim knew that a valiant escape was warranted and, careful not to strain her back muscles under the weight of the larger woman, she gripped Shego tight and heaved them both up off of the sofa.
“Oh, yeah, you know that I like it rough…”
“Sorry, your vile attempt at a ‘trap trap’ has failed.” Kim flopped the long form over her shoulder and carried the pouting woman into the kitchen with her.
“Curses, foiled again!” Depositing the frustrated woman into a kitchen chair, Kim ran her tongue along the ridge of a pale green nose and tenderly stroked her wife there, and there…
“Chill, evil one. Your punishment will come soon enough, maybe as early as nap time.”
Kim left the pouting woman to start breakfast. She removed the carton of eggs from the refrigerator and pulled out four. She paused thoughtfully before removing the other six that had been in the box. With a quick flexing of her wrists, Kim began to juggle ten Grade-A large eggs.
Shego watched the supreme display of dexterity with awe, the old therapy exercise almost having been forgotten, before she recognized it for the distraction that it was. She growled and stood up from the chair.
“Come on, Princess. Please put it on for just a few minutes!” Shego shadowed Kim as the redhead slowly reined in the eggs and finished gathered the rest of the tools and ingredients for their morning repast. “After breakfast we’re taking the girls to your parents house, and then they’ll want to play in the snow when we get home and by then we’ll be too tired to fool around! Please?”
Kim shook her head and laughed in amusement.
“You never used to whine, you know that?” She watched her wife frown and scuff her bare feet and cross her arms as she snorted and huffed. “It really defeats the whole ‘gonna conquer the world’ theme.”
Seeing that she needed a new plan of attack, Shego changed the subject as Kim broke a few eggs into a bowl and proceeded to mix them by hand.
“Princess, there’s a perfectly good mixer right behind you.” Still eager to tweak, the emerald gaze sparkled. “Not still afraid to use one, are you?”
“So not; Home Economics class was a long, long time ago.”
“Then why don’t you use it more?”
“Doy! You tried to kill me with one! A big one!” Kim smirked. “Besides, who needs fourteen variable speeds to beat a few eggs?” There was silence from the far side of the room and the redhead turned. Shego was looking hard at the floor and her pale lips formed a rigid line. Taking a breath, Kim walked to her.
“Sorry, baby. No hard feelings. I shouldn’t have brought it up.” Kim pulled herself up and kissed a pale cheek. Her wife’s only response was to lean into the kiss; otherwise she kept her thoughts to herself.
The closest that Shego would ever come to true shame was when she was reminded of the few times that she had placed her angel in very real danger. The frequent death traps aside, Kim Possible was expected to escape from most challenges. There were a few traps over the years that were actual doomsday plans, however, and these were a sore point for the warrior. A few moments of silence reigned before she returned to the present.
“So, who’s coming to the New Year’s Eve party?”
“The usual suspects. It’ll be great!”
For the past several years and for the entire duration of Kim’s partnership with Shego, holiday festivities and family events were held at the home of Dr. John Possible and Dr. Anne Possible, Kim’s parents. They loved to entertain the extended family and all of the friends, but Kim had convinced them to allow her to host this year’s end of the year bash. Shego had been hesitant, mostly for Kimmie’s sake, and had become openly hostile when the idea was first presented but cooled down a bit as the date drew close.
“My folks will get here early to help us. They have a few friends from the space center and the hospital coming over, as are Monique and a few of my single friends from school.” Kim could see that her wife was listening in spite of herself. “The married ones all have their own parties.”
“Meh, screw ‘em…”
“Doc Betty will be here and she’s bringing little Daniel.”
“So Eddie’s coming?”
“Yep, I hope so.”
“Weird… who else?”
“Bonnie’s coming and she’s bringing Alexander.” Kim chuckled as Shego’s eyes popped wide open and she almost brightened… almost.
“So the buffoon is going to be here, too?”
“No eggs for you.”
“Damn ‘Breakfast Tyrant’.” A gleam shone in her eyes as a new plan of attack presented itself. As soon as Kim’s back was turned, the pale woman moved to the center of the kitchen. Shrugging off her robe, she posed in all her glory wearing nothing more than a smile and the sleek gift that her loving spouse had purchased for her.
“Oh, Kimmie…”
The greatest independent hero that Global Justice had ever known sensed the danger in those words.
“I’m not turning around.”
“Oh, but Princess, you really should.” Shego moved for her own pleasure, well aware that all Kim could do was hear her enjoying the sensations she gave to herself. “I look so… mmmm… very good.”
“Not gonna do it.”
“Pumpkin… this is for you. All for you.”
“Uh, uh. I’m strong, see?” Kim continued to mix the eggs, but her hands were noticeably shaking and a bead of sweat appeared on her brow. Shego could sense that her wife was weakening so she prepared to move in for the kill.
“We’re all alone in here, just you and I. You know that you want me, and that you cannot resist my charms.”
“Ok, now that’s taking it a little too far, isn’t it?” Even so, Kim slowly began to count down from one hundred in her mind, desperate to regain control as she set the frying pan on the stove and switched on the burner.
“All you have to do is turn around and take me.” Shego went for the final push. “Just turn around… and…”
There was a jab into her exposed posterior.
“Momma?”
Shego froze, the blood turned to ice in her veins and suddenly wanting to cover the exposed skin that her flimsy negligee failed to do more than highlight. Kim dared to turn around and saw her wife, a creature of unearthly beauty and animalistic passions being flanked by their twin three-year-old daughters. Kasy poked the pale green rump again.
“Momma?”
“Shego, your daughter is talking to you.” Empathetic to the sitch, Kim was nonetheless committed to let Shego sleep in the bed she had made for herself. The tall woman remained stock still except for a hard swallow before answering the little girl.
“Y-yes, baby?”
“Momma? You have a big butt.”
Kim’s own emerald eyes widened as Sheki nodded in agreement at her sister’s assessment of their mother’s backside. The tiny girl with the long black hair moved beside her red haired twin and also poked Shego.
“I like Momma’s big butt.”
“Uh, huh… we like Momma’s big butt.”
Shego’s pale green face became a dusky purple bruise and she narrowed her eyes across the room at her twitching wife. Kim’s own face was slowly turning red and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“Kimmie…” the word was loaded with warning.
“…”
“Don’t you dare…”
Little Sheki wandered around to where Kim stood and firmly tugged on her Mommy’s robe for attention.
“Mommy?”
“Yes… sweetheart…?” The words were forced out in a high-pitched squeak.
“Momma has a big butt.”
Kim didn’t respond, simply turning away and grabbing the edge of the counter top for support. Seeing that there was no hope, Shego exhaled.
“Oh, go ahead, Princess, before you have a stroke.”
“BWAHAHAHAHAH!”
Kim fell to the floor, howling with laughter and rolling. The twins watched in idle confusion as their Momma slowly walked out of the kitchen; they were back at the television and Kim was still rolling around on the kitchen floor by the time that Shego returned after having changed into her frumpiest set of night clothes.
“I’m calling Drakken and inviting him to next week’s party if you don’t shut up.” Nonetheless the pale green woman pushed the ratty sleeve of an old tattered bathrobe up her long arm as she took the mixing bowl and poured the eggs into the heated pan for her indisposed wife.
“BWAHAHAHAHAH!”
December 31st…
The morning had been much like any other wintry day; Kim and Shego worked out and sparred in lieu of Kim’s run at dawn and a few final cleaning tasks were performed to get the house ready for that night. Some small pieces of furniture were removed to other rooms to make more space for standing adults and playing children.
The food preparations were complete; every square inch of the refrigerator was devoted to storing the articles that would be set out that evening and even a few square feet of storage in the deep freeze in the basement. After her decision to make a home for herself with Shego and the girls, Kim had worked hard to improve her cooking skills. With training and advice from her own mother, as well as almost a full year of enforced recuperation in her ‘tender prison’ to practice, her culinary abilities were far better than before.
“Hey, this is good.” Shego was usually the test subject and Kim’s latest creation, a simple casserole, was proving to be delicious. Not that Shego would let her know that.
“Almost as good as Martha Stewart.” It had been a few months ago and the four had been seated for dinner.
“Really?” Kim was overjoyed. Shego made ready to bolt from the room.
“Well, from when she was in prison, anyway.”
Kim hadn’t reacted well to that at all and it had taken a lot of effort to make her understand that it had been a joke. Kim Possible was out to prove that she really could ‘do anything’, but for the past two years she was proving it to herself. Now that the Holidays were here, all was ready and she was more than up to the task.
As Kim was setting out the flatware and serving trays, her wife was in the bathroom washing the children. Being more familiar with the food, it made sense for Shego to wash the girls and then dress them for the party. A ‘thump’ from upstairs made the redhead pause. She listened and eventually heard the sound of running feet. Grinning, she returned to her work.
She didn’t react when two small and green figures ran giggling past the kitchen, leaving a trail of soapsuds. A larger figure stomped by after they had gone.
“Princess! Where are they?” The voice was husky and labored. Kim turned to see Shego, her casual clothes dripping wet.
“Who?”
“You know d… DARN well who!”
“Did you lose them again? You know that my folks will be here in a little while, so we all need to be clean and dressed.” Kim did her best to look nonchalant. “We don’t want Grammie to hear about this, do we?”
“No…” Shego was petulant and slunk away to continue her search. Kim maintained a straight face and returned to her work. She ignored the sounds of pursuit over the next several minutes as the other members of her family ran through the house, the foxes evading the hound.
The little girls made one final appearance before their ultimate capture; Kim watched as one of the most agile and graceful thieves in the Western Hemisphere caught her foot on the edge of a chair and crashed to the floor as she made a dive after her own daughters. The twins stopped, still dripping from their bathwater, as their Momma muttered silent obscenities into the carpeted floor.
“Girls, what do you say to your Momma?”
“SORRY, MOMMA!” Kasy and Sheki tottered back and leant down to kiss the back of Shego’s head. The pale green woman pulled herself up onto shaky legs and staggered towards the bathroom, her little daughters leading her.
By the time that Anne and John Possible arrived later that evening, everyone had been bathed and dressed and were ready for a night of food, drink, great company and eventually ringing in the New Year. The holiday lights and decorations had been left on and most of the room lamps turned down; every room was suffused with a soft glow, mostly white but with a few muted colors for accent.
Anne Possible made a careful inspection of everything.
“Geez, Princess, did she forget her white gloves?” Arms crossed and leaning against the wall, Shego frowned in minor annoyance.
“Shego! Mom’s just… really, really into the ‘right’ way to host a party.”
Kim’s smile was fixed and she was shaking like a leaf. Her wife noticed this and pulled the petite woman closer in a one-armed hug; this sort of personal stress was the reason she’d protested against holding the party here. Kim simply nodded and loosened up a little.
“She’s like Patton, for crying out loud…”
Shego was wearing a light gray dress for the party, and Kim wore one of pale green; each had decided to reverse their normal color scheme for the night and had also followed Anne’s advice to stick with something lightweight. All the better to withstand the crowding and warmth of the bodies soon to fill the house, also comfortable shoes better designed for hours of standing and walking than would high heels. Shego had wanted to wear something sexier but agreed that she should be restrained in the presence of strangers.
“Girls, it’s best to just stay out of her way.” John stayed well back against a wall as Anne prowled the rooms and inspected the preparations.
The twins followed her and pretended to inspect as well. Sheki was wearing a scaled down version of Kim’s own dress, with a large red ribbon for her long black hair. Kasy wore her best dungarees and a pink sweater over her favorite little blouse. The older woman had hugged and kissed her granddaughters but hadn’t even spoken a word to their parents yet. When she returned to the living room there was a huge smile on her face and the hint of tears in her eyes.
“Kim, you’ve done an excellent job!” She pulled her own daughter to her and gave Kim a big hug. “I’m so proud of you!” John raised both hands in a ‘thumb’s up’ sign that his wife could not see and Kim looked thoroughly relieved.
“Both of you!”
Hoping to keep out of range, Shego failed to evade Anne when the slightly taller version of her Pumpkin moved in and grabbed her as well. Loving Anne as a surrogate mother figure and liking her as a person was one thing, but the woman’s presence always gave Shego an odd feeling. She had immense respect and affection for the woman, but Anne looked just too damn much like Kim for comfort.
“You both have made a beautiful home for yourselves!” Anne released her daughter-in-law and joined the proffered arms of her husband. “Now, you tell us how we can help.” Directions were given and what few meager tasks that remained for the last minute were preformed before the guests began to arrive.
The night was cold and clear with few clouds to obscure the stars and the pale sliver of the waxing Moon. Passing slowly overhead, the celestial bodies cared not for the activities of the terrestrial creatures hustling and bustling below. There was one point of light that moved much faster, though, skimming the upper atmosphere and following a path not that of the stars above. It was searching the darkened landscape below for a very specific location, and it cared very much about the beings living there.
Faces new and known milled about the house and the music was set just right to ensure there would be no uncomfortable silences; conversation went unimpeded and one could listen to all manner of topics being discussed.
John’s friends from the space and propulsion center could be observed making their points about space exploration using crackers and beef stick to plot trajectory vectors. Anne’s friends from the hospital were busily outlining the proffered methods of hip replacement surgery on a honey-glazed ham and arguing the best way to bisect the corpus callosum using a plate of ‘brain loaf’.
There were more than just her parent’s cohorts here this night; there were neighbors and local officials from the Middleton town council as well as the odd visiting dignitary. Scientists and adventurers and old school friends alike were talking and laughing and waiting to see the old year close.
“Bon-diggity bash, KP!”
Ron Stoppable had arrived shortly after the Drs. P and had been twice as eager to help; all the more reason for all preparations being completed ahead of time. The lanky young man stuck close to his best friend in the whole world for the moment, blond hair hopelessly failing to retain its shape against his cowlick.
Shego was surprised to see that Ron’s outfit was actually quite stylish. On second thought, maybe not so surprising when she considered who was expected to arrive later.
Monique had also arrived early and was giving Kim the rest of the moral support that she’d need for this event; Shego’s empathy was deep but the former villain could only express so much and Monique was more than able to take up the slack.
“He’s right, Kim. Great party.” She turned to acknowledge the pale woman. “Both of you did a great job.” Kim was the only one to thank her.
Shego liked Monique because the young woman was a very good friend of her angel, and she was not being intentionally rude by ignoring the compliment; she had just been distracted. In fact, she was wiping port wine cheese from her forehead.
“WHO THREW THAT?” Several guests hastened away in trepidation but one face quickly rose above the crowd to admit the deed.
“Sorry, Shego! We were trying to achieve escape velocity!”
“Oh… well, Ok, John. I’d thought that Senator Blutarsky was playing a joke on me for a moment.” Anger dissipating, Shego turned away and glared at the younger folk that were enjoying themselves at her expense. She pointed to Kim first.
“You were going to get yanked into a closet at Midnight. Now you can forget it!” Kim pouted but Shego had already focused on Monique. “And you are officially cut-off from the ‘Monique-Wade Secret Letter Pipeline’!” Kim looked to her friend in shock but Monique just frowned and hung her head.
“And you ‘Blondie’, do you know what you are?” Ron looked back into those hot emeralds like a dear caught in headlights.
“You’re…!”
“Uh, Shego, there are ladies present!”
“… cut-off from the food!”
“No way! I’ve prepared for that possibility!” Ron was holding two plates of snackage; a tiny pink rodent was perched on one of his forearms, further burdening his load as it happily chewed on a slice of sharp cheddar.
“The Ron-Monster and Ruf-Daddy are here and ready to PAR-TAY!”
‘APY NOO YE…”
“Not, yet, little man! We’ve got a few hours to go before that.” Ron glanced down at the naked mole rat in mock disgust. “The ball has to drop first, ya’ know.”
Shego saw an opening.
“Yeah, Rufus. The only person to have a ball drop recently is Stoppable here.”
Eyes wide and mouths slack, the look shared by Monique and Kim was identical. All color drained from Ron’s face and Rufus looked from one shocked expression to another, having absolutely no idea what they were talking about.
Kim was the first to regain control; she took one look at the face of her best and oldest friend and then moved to hurriedly drag Shego out of the room. Monique was at a loss to understand, but she took the plates of food from the blond young man and put her arms around him for comfort as she gently led him away from the other guests, who were blessedly ignorant of what had happened and had not overheard the comment. They were distracted by a loud yell, however, which disrupted conversations briefly.
“Damn it, Possible! Let go of my hair!”
As the evening progressed, two things were happening that no one could have suspected. One was that a small airborne object descended to earth in the backyard on a pinpoint column of flame. The color of burnished steel, the object appeared to be a featureless cylinder less than a foot long until four spidery legs unfolded from the body and a sensor bulb protruded from one end. Taking careful bearings, the legs moved and the object began walking to the exterior wall of the house. With its thin legs only a few inches long, it would have been difficult to spot even in full daylight.
Finding purchase where it could, it slowly scaled the outside wall until a window was encountered and quickly opened. The darkened room beyond the jamb was empty; toys and games and child-sized furniture were detected. The questing machine closed the window behind it before beginning a thorough inspection of the contents of the room.
It was inspecting the various toys. It paused at one toy in particular, a huge stuffed bear with the not-unlikely name of ‘Fuzzy’ stenciled on his tag along with washing instructions. One leg extended upwards and sliced a small cut into the polyester hide; the device easily climbed up the bear’s chest and crawled inside the body cavity, squeezing around the foam padding.
Once inside, the spidery legs extended further and further, telescoping until they formed an armature within the limbs of the stuffed bear, giving it a metallic skeletal structure. The sensor bulb was similarly extended until it rested between the beady plastic eyes.
‘Fuzzy’ stood and walked to the door, seven feet tall when standing, and listened to the merriment downstairs.
The other incident was a little easier to interpret, but was no less mysterious; a large truck slowly turned the corner at the end of the street and parked within a few dozen yards of the Possible home. Those inside waited for the right moment to strike.
“What the Hell did you say that for?”
“You know damn well why!”
Kim had dragged Shego away from the party and out into the garage by means of the interior door. They were alone and less likely to be overheard yelling or fighting if it came to that.
“I know that you don’t care for Ron…”
“’Don’t care for him’? He’s a moron for never telling you how he really felt about you when he had the chance and also for holding for you back as a hero!”
A bit of the old days had returned and Shego loomed over Kim, using her height as a way to intimidate the petite woman; this didn’t phase Kim in the least, the shorter woman looking right back up into her wife’s angry face.
“Bullshit! He’s always been there for me, for both of us! I owe him my life! And if anything… I held him back.” Kim was furious. “What you said was hurtful. Why would you do a thing like that?”
“Princess, why is he here?”
“Because I invited him, of course!”
“No, I mean why is he REALLY here?”
“I don’t…”
“Because she’s going to be here; because they’re BOTH going to be here!”
“Why does that bother you?”
“She’s a friend, Kimmie! She’s our friend, and that gutless wonder won’t even admit to what he did!”
“’What HE did’? How about what THEY did? From the details I heard, it was a mutual arrangement, and the last time I checked it still takes two to Tango!” Now that the sitch was clear to her, Kim calmed down a little. She now knew her wife’s motivation for the rude comment.
“So why won’t he talk about it? What’s the big secret?”
“What do you care? You just told me how you feel about him.”
“I… I just want to hear him… I want to hear him tell you to your face.”
“We already know, don’t we?” Kim looked for a clean box to sit down on.
“I want to hear him say the words!” Shego huffed, also calming down and starting to feel foolish. “If he’s such a friend to you, he should tell you. You deserve to ‘know’ for real, not just through association. And if he respects her, he shouldn’t keep it a secret.”
“Maybe this was her choice. Did you ever think of that?”
“Yeah, and I still don’t like it. If anything, he’s not doing himself any good.”
“Now what are you talking about?”
“Kimmie, one of the reasons that I still think of Ron as ‘the buffoon’ is because he hasn’t grown up. For whatever reason that they’ve kept this a secret, he’ll never be a ‘man’ in my eyes until he looks you in the face, with her in the same room, and tells you point blank.”
They stayed in the garage for another minute before Kim broke the silence.
“We need to get back to our guests. I ask that you be civil to Ron for the rest of the night.”
“Princess, I’m sorry for making a scene but I won’t apologize to him.” Shego stood tall and crossed her arms over her chest, her chin held high.
“You’ll notice that I didn’t ask you to. I’m going to apologize for you…” Kim raised both hands to halt Shego’s protest and waived it away. “I love him like a brother and I won’t have his feelings hurt. But I want you to know that if he ever sits me down and tells me to my face, then you’ll owe him an apology.”
“Trying to make me feel guilty, Pumpkin?” Still angry and feeling the fire, Shego gave her best smirk.
“No. Why ever would I want to do that?” Kim betrayed no emotions as she walked to the door leading back into the house. “Now let’s get back to the party.” She went inside, leaving Shego to fume for a few moments by herself until the fire started to die. When only damp ashes remained, Shego felt alone.
“Shit… how does she do that to me?” The tall woman hung her head and followed.
With still a few hours to go until midnight, the adults were having a grand time. It wasn’t a dry party but the Possibles had always run with a crowd who believed in moderation so no one was in danger of getting seriously intoxicated.
Jim and Tim Possible had offered to bring a keg with them but their father squelched the idea before they had arrived. Regardless, the Tweebs had plans to toast the New Year just like everyone else. They were currently chatting up Justine Flanner, telling her about an old equation of Albert Einstein’s that they had found on the correct way to split a beer atom, and were making a total nuisance of themselves in the process.
When she returned to the living room, Shego snagged the first person she recognized and asked where Kim was; they told her that her wife had been making a change to the music selections but was now taking a shift with the children. Many of the guests had children; some of them as young as Kim’s own, and special arrangements had been made to accommodate this.
The den, rarely ever used as such, had been converted into a playroom and several of the parents had agreed to stand watch in shifts. A little time in the den also gave the adults time to relax and play with the children and regain their strength for additional merry-making.
Shego surmised that Kim wanted time to cool down and since neither Monique nor Ron was in sight it was likely that they’d opted to give her a wide berth as well.
Shaking off the embarrassment of her guilt, Shego was distracted by the ringing of the doorbell. Seeing that John and Anne were refreshing the snack and beverage stations as they mingled, the warrior decided she could survive as the official greeter for a while.
Maybe this is my punishment by the Fates, she thought, as she opened the door and saw who had arrived.
The woman was tall and slender, built like an athlete and beautiful in a severe manner with a dark blue conservatively cut dress that somehow managed to look like a uniform on her. Her auburn hair was cut short and moderately styled and the eye patch she wore did nothing to mar her looks. She smiled warmly at Shego and was holding a baby in her arms.
The man accompanying her was tall and broadly built, solid muscle over a large frame, with long thinning hair swept back from a receding hairline. Horribly dated, his hairstyle was complimented by a long mustache. His clothing was of a higher quality than Shego had ever seen the man wear before, which was not unexpected since she guessed that the outfit had been selected for him.
The man was holding an empty baby carrier in one hand and his other hand was resting on the head of a little girl.
“Hey, Shego! You live here? Whoa, this house hurricane rocks, ser…”
“Yeah, seriously, Eddie. Drag it in here, will you? It’s cold outside.” The couple entered and Edward Lipsky stood back and let Betty Director move forward to greet the woman that she’d once hoped to imprison. They shook hands, each wearing a half-smile that bespoke respect more than friendship.
“Hey, Betty. Glad you could make it.”
“Happy Holiday’s, Shego. Thank you for inviting us.”
“Kim made me.”
“And she made you sign your name to the invitation, as well?” The gaze from the single eye pierced more strongly than any two eyes ever could.
“Well… uh, yeah. She did. You look good.” Shego was doing her best to stay reserved while speaking with her former enemy but her face brightened when she looked down at the baby. “Oh, my… is this Daniel?”
She automatic moved forward to inspect the tiny form, just as Betty held out the child to give Shego a better look, but they quickly found a large obstacle blocking their way. The large man was standing between them with his hands raised.
“Hey, listen, seriously. We go back, like, a long way, right? Seriously. Some good times, but some bad times too, right?”
The man still occasionally referred to as ‘Motor Ed’ had stunned the respective communities of heroes and villains alike when he had entered into an apparently serious relationship with Dr. Director, former chief executive officer of Global Justice. He had retired from criminal activities, as had she from ‘GJ’, shortly after the birth of their child.
“Your point?”
“You’ll be careful with them. Seriously.” His voice was soft, not a threat but something just as strong. She had never heard Eddie talk like this before but, then again, he’d never had a family before.
“Geez, Eddie! And this coming from a man who stole a kid’s wheelchair.” Shego ushered them out of the foyer and into the hall. She crossed her arms and looked him in the eyes. “When have you ever heard of me harming a child?”
“Edward, she does have two of her own, now.” Betty looked bemused and was eager to show off her son, just as Shego was eager to see him. “I’m fine with this, Edward.” Betty rolled her eye. “Seriously.”
“Ok, babe, Ok! Just, like, making sure she doesn’t do the green magic! Seriously!”
He moved away and the women converged; little Daniel was the center of attention for several seconds as the two battle-hardened woman cooed over him.
“Betty, I never thought that the day would come when you’d quit ‘GJ’.”
“Neither had I, until…” The luster in her eye dulled for a moment. “It is only with the danger of loss that we learn the true value of things, do we not?” She looked down at her own healthy child. “The value of things shifts in the heart.”
“Amen to that, sister.” Shego suddenly wanted to go back to searching for her Kimmie. “So what are you two doing when not chasing rug rats?”
“Edward and I are both on retainer with Global Justice as consultants, which is something that would have been unheard of in my day.” Betty grinned and accepted Daniel back.
Shego had just given the infant a kiss on the top of his bald little head before she remembered seeing another member of the group. Looking down, she saw the little girl hiding behind Ed’s legs. She knelt down and cautiously observed the child. She didn’t think that Ed had any other children of his own, and she knew that Betty did not.
“And who is this?”
The girl appeared to be just a little older than her daughters, maybe four years old, and had very short black hair. Her eyes had a haunted look to them and she hugged Ed’s leg tighter as Shego watched her. Ed reached down and lifted the girl into his massive arms while Betty moved aside with discretion and joined some of the other guests that she recognized and that had seen her enter.
“This is Anna.” Ed was watching for a reaction. “Her name is Anna Lipsky.”
“And she’s…”
“Drew’s.”
“…oh…”
The news hit Shego like a ton of bricks.
“Seriously.” He kissed the little girl on the cheek. “You can say ‘Hi’ to Shego if you want, Anna. Seriously.” The child turned away and hid her face.
Shego stared at the little girl in Ed’s arms; she had none of her father’s chemically induced coloring, thank goodness, and her hair was so short that the only explanation was that it must have been growing back after having been shorn. Ed kept the little girl in his arms and guided his host away from the door and off to the side of the activity; Shego moved like a sleepwalker.
“I’ll tell you her story, seriously, but she’s gone through a rough time and, like, she’s been with us for a few weeks.”
“So, any word on where he is?”
“No way, Shego, seriously. Drew’s been all, like, bad news for the last year and I’ve had nothing to do with him. Seriously.”
“Would… um, would Anna like to play with the other children?”
“Hey, that’d be great, seriously! Thanks! We, uh, really wanted to come tonight and Anna doesn’t like to be alone, seriously, but all these grown-ups, you know…”
As they walked towards the den, Motor Ed told Shego the short unhappy history of Anna Lipsky.
The large black truck had waited until the party was in full swing; only a few hours left before Midnight and almost all of the guests should have arrived by now. The man at the wheel of the vehicle gently depressed the accelerator and brought it closer to the house at the behest of the strangely dressed man beside him.
“Das is gute. Ve haf only a little time left to vate, ya?” Beneath the black helmet the man sneered in the direction of the house. “Und zay haf even more-little time!”
“’Less time’, sir.”
“ZILENCE!” While shorter than his henchmen, the man’s voice roared at the driver. “VATEVER!”
“Sorry, sir. Cheese log, sir?”
Professor Dementor swiveled his seat around and faced his men; each and every one of the highly trained and combat-ready mercenaries were wearing small party hats and nibbling on snacks.
“Yah, please und zank you.” He inspected his men with pride. “I am zorry zat I haf called you avay from hearth und home for zis mission tonight, but ve haf der chance to rid ze vorld of both Keem Possible und also take hostage zum of ze most influenzial people in ze fields of zience und medicine alive today!” Dementor accepted a proffered cracker with cheese on it.
“Und be zure to try zee gooze liver, it iz do die for!”
It seemed that all three of them had wanted a ‘time out’ with the children.
Ron was in the den watching a ‘Snowman Hank’ DVD with the kids that were still awake and he looked like he might be there for a while. Kasy was dozing in his lap and Sheki was leaning against the young man and singing along with the cartoon snowman but her eyes were heavy. Kim was only hiding for a few more minutes before she went to make her rounds among her guests and Monique had been vainly trying to get Ron to talk to her.
The young man sang and joked with the rest of the children but seemed not to notice his friends’ presence. Rufus was still perched on his shoulder, as always, but kept looking from his friend’s pensive expression to the abandoned plates of food, then up to Kim and Monique before looking back to the plates of food again.
The hostess did notice when Shego and Motor Ed appeared at the doorway with a little girl standing between them. Kim moved to the door and held out her arms to Ed.
“Hey, Eddie! It’s good to see you again!”
“Red! Likewise, seriously!” From the way that Kim hugged him, one would never have guessed that he had once been a former enemy or was the cousin of her greatest foe.
“Cool digs, seriously! Betty and me just rolled in, you know?” The two made idle small talk for a few seconds, neither having much personal background in common except for their history as hero and villain, but Kim was genuinely pleased to see Motor Ed at her party.
Kim lowered herself to greet the little girl who held on to Ed with all her might and was actually able to coax little Anna away from Ed and introduce the child to the rest of the kids in the room. Shego was amazed, though she knew that she shouldn’t be, at how her Princess could make anyone trust her implicitly, even this poor little girl whose history and identity Kim wasn’t aware of yet. The story would be told soon enough, but now was not the time.
Ed excused himself and left to search for Betty. Shego stayed back against the wall and out of the way because Kim was doing to her the one thing that she absolutely hated; Kim was ignoring her. As Anna gravitated towards the television set, Kim stood and walked past her wife and over to the doorway.
“I’m going to go talk to Betty for a while.” She looked down at her best friend where he sat on the floor with the kids but was speaking to Monique. “Will everybody be alright in here if I leave?”
“Sure, Kim, I’ll stand a turn at the door just in case anyone shows up late. He’ll be Ok in here with the children.” Monique left her chair and gently patted the unresponsive young man on the shoulder as she left the room. All that Shego got was a cold glance in her general direction. She wasn’t sure but she suspected that Rufus had flipped her off behind her back.
Hey, she thought, I’m Shego, damn it! These whelps can kiss my…
They can go and…
I’ll…
Nuts.
Shego inspected the kids to ensure that all of them were either watching the DVD or sleeping before she took Monique’s place close to Ron. Rufus eyed her warily.
“Stoppable, I…”
“I know what you want me to do, Shego.” His voice sounded tired, or as if his throat were numb.
“You do?” She hadn’t expected him to respond.
“I’m not stupid.” He smirked humorlessly and shifted his eyes her way. “Well, at least not about this, I’m not.”
“Ron, look… it’s just that I really think that Kim…”
“… deserves to know.” The young man finished her words, this breath coming out in a rush of frustration. “Yes, she does, as do you and anyone else that I consider a friend.” He remained seated on the floor but turned to face her; there was no fear in his expression, only regret. He lifted his hands in a feeble shrug.
“This is bigger than just me.”
A giggle from the ‘peanut gallery’ distracted them for a second, and they decided to let the conversation die. Skirting the edge of this unknown territory was uncomfortable for either of them, Ron for lack of experience and Shego for lack of practice. By silent but mutual agreement they focused their attention on the children and the DVD; Snowman Hank was more appealing than their own thoughts at this moment.
Pleased to see that little Anna Lipsky was raptly watching the cartoon as she sat on the floor, Shego bent down and lifted the sleeping form of Kasy into her arms; the three year old had drooled on herself and Shego gently wiped the pale green cheek with a tissue and recalled the first time that she had held the child. How could she have been any happier, any more proud? Her angel had created not one but two miracles and she had wanted to tell the world about it. How could anyone not feel the same? This was the keystone in her anger at Ron Stoppable, the anchor that kept her from feeling anything but disgust with him these days.
Years of training in stealth and surveillance meant that she was always very aware of her surroundings; a subtle feeling alerted her to a pair of eyes watching her and she looked up to find Ron smiling at the tender sight of mother and child.
“Don’t you think that I want everyone to know it, too?”
The buffoon sounded sincere, but she would reserve her final judgment for the nonce. Choosing to remain silent, she forced herself to be content just glaring at the young man until they heard a gentle tap at the doorway.
“Ron, there’s someone here to see you.” The dark eyes were smiling even if Monique’s face was neutral.
Even thought she had to set Kasy down, Shego was on her feet instantly but both women were left behind as the lanky young man passed between them and was halfway to the front door before they could even leave the room.
For a house of moderate size, several architectural design features had been incorporated into its construction that made it an optimal buy. The backyard was quite large and private, there were several bedrooms for guests, and there was even a separate stairway at the back of the house for privacy and so as to not disturb the sleeping residents with foot traffic in the middle of the night.
This secluded stairway was just perfect for a seven-foot tall stuffed bear to amble its way downstairs and creep ever closer to the den, now temporarily bereft of adult supervision and occupied solely by small innocent children.
Forcing his way around the partiers as politely as he could, Ron was oblivious that the final chapter of the old year was fast approaching. The guests were starting to become more festive and boisterous in anticipation to the big moment just over an hour away.
He arrived at the door to see Kim talking excitedly with another young woman; they held each other close and were both laughing at something one of them had said but that he hadn’t gotten there in time to hear. Being of the same age and height as his best friend, this was the extent of the physical similarities.
Bonnie Rockwaller had also been a cheerleader and had been Kim’s rival as the squad leader when they had attended high school together. Years of exercise and a vast amount personal vanity had kept her fit and trim and the intervening years had been very kind to Bonnie regarding her appearance. The birth of one child just a few years ago and the recent birth of her second child had made her already curvaceous body even more voluptuous and lush, her skin still perfectly toned and tanned and glowing.
Beauty being only skin deep, there was more to this woman than just her amazingly sexy looks; she had suffered a personal tragedy when her first child had died as an infant and this had given her a hard-earned maturity. Rising above this hardship, as well as the terrible events that they had all dealt with just over a year ago, Bonnie had pushed aside the bitterness and loss and had chosen to start her life over.
Ron was now close enough to hear their conversation.
“And your dress is gorgeous! You look so hot! Shego is going to flip!”
“Oh, crap, please don’t leave me alone with her!” Bonnie blushed and covered her face with her hands.
“I mean it, you look wonderful. How long are you in town this time?”
“Just for the Holidays. I wanted to come over sooner but I couldn’t get away from the family. They all went crazy over little Alex and you know how my mom is.”
“Are things… any better with them?”
“A little. Actually they’re a lot better, but I’m not ready to move back to Middleton yet.”
Ron watched this tableau from several feet away, not certain how to approach the brunette, when he saw Kim lean down and lift a little blond boy, not more than two years old, into her arms. With his fair skin and freckles, the child giggled at the attention Kim was giving him and Bonnie stood there with an enormous grin on her beautiful face.
Ron suddenly realized that nothing could be easier in the world. He walked forward; Kim noticed him and muttered something to Bonnie as they moved apart to let him come closer.
“I’ll just take this little man to the playroom, if that’s Ok with you?” Kim winked at her old rival and she left them alone.
Bonnie had nodded and waived goodbye to her son before she moved to face the only person that she could have turned to, once upon a time, to give her the one thing that let her rebuild her world.
The two young people stood in the foyer just looking into each other’s eyes, knowing full-well what they felt but unsure how to but it into words.
“Hello, Ron!”
Staring into her brilliant eyes was making him feel weak. Seeing that his master was lost for a moment, Rufus ran down from Ron’s shoulder and waived to her.
“hawt momma!”
Bonnie giggled and reached out to pat the naked mole rat on his head. This motion shook Ron out of his stupor and before she could lower her hand he had taken it in his own.
“Bonnie… it’s really good to see you.”
“Thanks! It’s great to see you, too.” She glowed brighter, it that was humanly possible. “I’m glad that we could make it.”
The ‘we’ was all he needed to make his decision.
“Bonnie… we really need to…”
CRASH!
The front door suddenly burst open and slammed back into the wall, cracking the adjacent sidelight and scaring every occupant of the ground floor into stunned silence. Before Ron could react or speak, several huge men armed with threatening devices in their hands stormed into the foyer and spread out among the guests, knocking a few of them down in the process.
Clothed in black armor and wearing masked helmets, the invaders moved quickly and their direction was well orchestrated; they took key positions around the partiers and established themselves well, blocking any chance to hide or leave the ground floor
The horrendous noise and commotion around her had made Bonnie almost too shocked to feel the blast of freezing air at her back from the sudden invasion, but she did feel the iron grip of one armored mercenary, his fingers clamped tight around her shoulder and his weapon humming ominously at the side of her head.
She also noticed the diminutive man wearing the scarlet and black uniform as he strutted around her to face the houseful of guests.
“Ladies und gentle-peoples, please be excusink me, but I haf un announcement to make!”
Ron froze in the act of charging forward; the need to move, to act, to FIGHT for the safety of this very special woman burning him under the skin. Bonnie wasn’t moving either; she kept perfectly still in the clutches of the large man behind her and barely even breathed. She could hear all that went on around her but had eyes only for Ron.
“Mein compatriots und I haf plans for several of you… plans zat vill make us rich! Zo, you vill all come quietly, yah, und maybe no one vill become hurt!”
“Oh, little man, you’ve made a really big mistake.” Shego had arrived and was hanging back, standing between Dementor and some of the guests but not moving forward to attack.
“Oh? Am I? Und vy iz that, eh?”
A slender redhead sidled up beside the taller woman.
“Because you’re screwing up my party, asshole!”
Those standing close to Kim shifted away, the look in her green eyes more frightening at that moment than whatever it was that the mercenaries were pointing at them.
“Kimmie-cub, language.”
“Oh, John, honestly…”
“SHUT ZE HELL UP!” Not even five feet tall, Professor Dementor seemed to grow larger as he surveyed the room; he felt in control over the situation and nothing was going to foul his scheme. Kim glanced around the living room and over her shoulder. She then swiveled her head back around to see Shego also taking stock of the sitch; the look on the pale green woman’s face told Kim that things could have been better.
If we could just gain the element of surprise, then we’d be in better shape if we could get the drop on them somehow, Kim thought ruefully, refusing to panic. So how do we do that?
Get the drop on them… heh.
“Well, Rockwaller, after all these years I guess that you’ll get to perform the finale all by yourself.” Kim was a statue, her eyes fixed on Dementor and her muscles flexed and ready to spring. Bonnie slowed her breathing and held at bay the fear she felt for her child’s life. She thought about what Kim was saying to her; it had to be for a reason.
“Yeah, Bon-Bon, that was the best season the Mad Dog’s ever had…”
“Vat in der Holy Himmel iz you talking about?”
The brunette remembered, and understood. She refocused her attention onto Ron.
“Hey, ‘Mad Dog’, I guess that it’s too late for me to split, isn’t it?” She winked at him with her teal eyes.
Momentarily confused by first Kim and now Bonnie, the stress of the sitch and the danger to this special woman were all he needed to feel the power building within him.
‘Mad Dog’, cheerleading, split… hey, yeah!
“Nope, Bon-Bon, it’s never to late to split.” He gave her his own wink.
Bonnie smiled, let out a breath… and dropped to the ground with her legs spread outwards, falling away from the firm grip of her startled captor and removing her from immediate danger. The goon standing behind her was now fully exposed to the most righteous Mystical Monkey Power roundhouse kick that Ron could muster.
Taking full advantage of the surprise attack unloaded by Ron, those best able to fight opened their own cans of whup-ass and proceeded to share accordingly. Kim and Shego were no longer standing out in front; they had moved off to single out and take down as many mercenaries as they could. Ron was also moving, dodging fists and focused discharges of energy the properties of which were still unknown.
“Scheisse…” Dementor was shocked with the speed at which the tables had turned, but he quickly attempted to regain the upper hand.
“Ztun zem all und I vill zort zem out!”
Two of the armored men spun around, raising their weapons and preparing to fire into the crowd of guests. They were dropped like a bad habit when two glowing fists slammed into the back of their helmets. As Shego moved on to another mercenary, Monique slipped up behind one and hooked her arm around his chest; pulling him backwards with all her might, he lost his balance and she was able to trip him as he tried to remain standing. Several guests came to her aid and helped her to club him into submission.
Kim was already on the move, practically leaping from shoulder to shoulder as she flew over the startled guests; she flipped one man over and disarmed him with a kick to the stomach before reaching up to grab two other men by the mouth guards of their masks. Lifting her feet from the floor and using her meager 110 lb body to its full advantage, she yanked the men forward and down. They collapsed, obscuring her from view.
“Kimmie!”
Shego had just dropped another man with a plasma-charged slash across his chest when she saw her Princess drop from sight. Hurrying over to that location, she was relieved to see her angel climb out from under the armored bodies, give each man a hard jab to the kidneys and then turn to blow a kiss at Shego before selecting another dark figure to confront.
Seeing that the home team had taken the initiative, the guests were already moving away from the action for safer parts of the house. While Team Possible & Co. were otherwise occupied both Anne and John Possible were guiding folks out through the back door. This gave the defending mercenaries fewer targets and potential hostages, as well as providing more elbowroom for the combatants.
Knowing that the mysterious weapons presented the most danger, Shego moved quickly to slash and melt as many of them as she could, throwing a punch or a kick where she was able. Without their armaments, the men seemed to be only moderately trained in unarmed combat, relaying on numbers and strength of arms rather than small unit tactics. It also made it easier for some of the more rambunctious guests to step up and take a hand in the melee.
Motor Ed had been in the kitchen with the Tweebs; he’d caught them in the act of opening a can of beer and, while admonishing them on the harsh realities of underage drinking, he polished off the can so as to remove the source of temptation. Hearing the fracas from the other rooms, Ed told the boys to stay put while he charged out of the kitchen and grabbed the first mercenary he saw.
“Are you Ok, Eddie?” Kim had located an empty serving tray and was using it to parry blows from the only mercenary not afraid to face her in unarmed combat. This didn’t last too long as he soon made a fatal over-extension of a left cross, giving her an opening for a swift punch to his chops.
“Oh, YEAH, Red, this is one ROCKING party! Seriously!” One final punch dispatched his armored foe. “aahYAAAAAAAAAAAA! The Motorman is in the house! Seriously!”
Betty had just come out of the down stairs bathroom when Dementor had made his initial speech, and she had slowly moved to where she could see what was happening. Reaching under her dress and drawing her firearm from the holster at her ankle, she used the compact device to emit a calibrated harmonic and drop a mercenary that had been attempting to hide in the hallway. When enough of the guests had dispersed to give her a clear shot, two more armored men became nauseous and passed out without even knowing why.
Betty smiled to herself; she knew that everything would be all right the moment that she heard Edward’s air-guitar.
Monique had decided to leave matters in more experienced hands as she made her way towards the den, all the better to check on the children. She was almost to the playroom when she was accosted by one of the few mercenaries remaining, this one still brandishing an undamaged weapon and she froze as he held her in his sights.
“FOOD FIGHT!”
A handful of crab dip hurtled past her face and splattered the mask of the assailant with yuck, effectively blinding the man. The young woman had enough time to dodge out of the way as a burly man, the very person who had thrown the dip, charged forward and tackled the mercenary to the floor. She moved back and helped the man to his feet when the enemy had been pummeled senseless.
“Senator Blutarsky, are you Ok?” She gave the middle-aged gentleman a quick inspection, noticing that Kim and Shego were also standing nearby.
“TOGA! TOGA!”
“It’s Ok, Monique, he’s fine.” Shego just nodded at Kim’s assessment of their friend’s health.
Bonnie Rockwaller had not moved since her first cheerleading performance in a few years. She remained on the floor but had pulled her legs in and was curled into a loose ball while two men fought above her.
His unpredictable Monkey Powers under his control, Ron as still evenly matched by the world-be conqueror and his weapon; the handheld devices were apparently some type of stun ray, non-lethal but with a cumulative effect on the target. The young hero had made several palpable hits, drawing blood to the nose and mouth of the madman, and would have been the victor had it been a purely physical fight.
Professor Dementor was getting quite a workout as he dodged and swung, very few of his punches landing but the stun ray making his opponent move slower and slower, Ron failing to make use of his mystical abilities beyond the average drunken brawl.
With the realization that he could not beat the science, even if he could have beaten the man, Ron Stoppable did the only thing that was within his power; he took one final swing and then gently lay across the subdued form of Bonnie to shield her from whatever might come next.
Mercenaries or no mercenaries, the day was NOT lost! He had beaten the vaulted powers of the mystical Monkey Gods and would claim his victory over Kim Possible! Dementor gazed down at the two young people near his feet; one of them would make a perfect hostage.
He decided to kill the other as an example to the rest.
“Hey, Dementor… sprechen sie Deutsches?”
Kim had walked back to face the mastermind who had hoped to ruin her New Year’s Eve party. She stood several feet away and was just out of the range of the stun weapon. Shego was glad to see that her Princess wasn’t even breathing hard.
“Ja…” The man could not see how the last night of this old year could get any weirder. Kim grinned as she stamped her foot down hard on the rim of an overturned serving tray that lay at her feet. The impact made it spring up and she caught it deftly.
“Then droppen sie dead!” Kim let the tray fly.
“… scheisse…”
The metal tray impacted off the nose guard of Dementor’s helmet with a resounding ‘gong’. He was jolted backwards through the still open door and dropped like a schnitzel onto the front steps.
Shego gave a victory cry and grabbed her petite wife in a hug. Momentarily surrendering to the cascade of kisses, Kim reined in her spouse as the household slowly brought itself back to order, and not without some scattered applause. Looking down at her two friends, she was relieved to see that Ron was moving better, the induced lethargy fading. He was speaking to Bonnie and she was holding him tight, her eyes moist but with a smile on her face.
“Shego… SHEGO! ‘Celebratory Nookie’ has to wait, Ok?”
“I heartily concur.”
“Ghaa!”
Betty Director had moved up beside the embracing couple and Kim blushed a deep crimson at the knowledge that she’d been overheard. Shego could care less and appraised the retired ‘GJ’ agent.
“Betty, are you packing a Roscoe?” The sonic stunner was still in Betty’s hand. “I thought you were retired.”
“Quite, but you never know who will crash a party, especially one of yours.”
“Kimmie, do we have to do this again next year?”
Shego had succumbed to the ‘Puppy Dog Pout’ before she even knew what hit her; they would apparently be doing this again.
Eddie had been helping the older Possibles round up the errant guests that had made it safely to the backyard and was guiding them back into the warm house. He stood at the side of his woman and grinned down at her as she withdrew a communications device from her purse and made a quick call to Global Justice for the collection and incarceration of Professor Dementor and his men.
“Ain’t she something? Seriously!” Betty blushed a little as Eddie gave her a one armed hug and she tried to continue her conversation uninterrupted.
Conscripting the Tweebs to help them, Kim and Shego used some thick plastic lock-ties to bind the hands and feet of the unconscious mercenaries. Betty ended her call and reported that some agents from ‘GJ’ would be arriving shortly to take chare of the invaders and the partiers were beginning to resume their festivities; most of them were well aware of how unusual a Possible event could become.
Kim saw that Bonnie was still on the floor and she moved over to see what was going on; Shego and Monique followed.
“Ron, is she…?”
“She’s fine, KP, just fine.” The blond man quickly wiped his face dry and slid back to let them get a better look at Bonnie; the brunette was smirking up at them and a little flushed.
“This is so embarrassing. I haven’t done that in so long!” She winced slightly as she flexed her legs. “I think I pulled a muscle.” The four of them gently lifted Bonnie to her feet and she gingerly leaned against Ron.
“My hero.” She kissed him tenderly.
“Some hero. I couldn’t even…”
“Ron, just smile and say ‘Thank you’.”
“Thanks.” Ron grinned and blushed, hanging his head a little. “You handled yourself pretty well, there, Bon-Bon.”
“I’m not in the shape I used to be.” She looked herself over and smiled ruefully. “I think I’ve gotten a little fat.”
“You look absolutely beautiful!” Shego planted a smooch on the tanned cheek and embraced the young woman. Monique thought that Bonnie might resist the contact, but she was wrong; Bonnie returned the hug with fervor.
“Now if you could just share your body-shaping techniques with ‘Stick Possible’ here…”
“Oh, ‘Spooky’, you are so dead.”
“You know, Pumpkin and I are going to eventually have our ‘Celebratory Nookie’ and you could always join us.”
“Kim, help me! Save me from this fiend!” Bonnie was giggling uncontrollably and Kim made a show of protecting her from Shego; at least it was mostly a show.
“Oh, well, I guess that if you won’t join us it’ll just be Kimmie and I with Monique this time.” All eyes turned to Monique, who was on the verge of catalepsy.
“Kim! Make her stop!”
“Ghaa! TMI!” Nonetheless, Bonnie hugged Shego and Kim together and laughed along with them.
With the party back in full swing, the five of them slowly began to walk towards the kitchen for some privacy, leaving Anne and John in control for a few minutes. It was at this point that Monique remembered something that she had very urgently wanted to do a short time ago.
“Oh, crap! I’d better go and check on the kids!” Looking at her in shock, they were startled to realize that, in all the chaos, the children had almost been forgotten. Since none of the mercenaries had ever made it to the den, of this they were absolutely certain, the safety of the kids hadn’t been at the forefront of their minds. Kim was the first to steer them in that direction.
“They all seemed fine when I set little Alex in with them to play.” Ron reacted to this and looked to the woman hanging on his arm.
“Bonnie, hang on a moment; I really need to talk to you about something.” He was relieved when the brunette nodded and they moved aside to let the rest of their little party continued towards the den.
“Are many of them awake?” Shego hoped that her daughters would be too tired to fuss when eventually placed in their own beds. Kim shrugged and waggled her hand.
“Some were asleep on the cushions, some were watching Snowman Hank or romping on ‘Fuzzy’.”
“’Fuzzy’? That giant stuffed bear?” Shego frowned. “When did you bring that down into the den?”
“Me?” They had almost reached the door at the end of the downstairs hallway. “I thought that you had.”
CRASH!
“Damn it, Kimmie, we are so NOT doing this again next year!”
The door to the ersatz playroom burst open and slammed against the interior wall. Standing at an impressive seven foot tall was ‘Fuzzy’ in all his polyester brown glory. The massive plush toy would have looked hilarious if it had not been clutching two of the small children from the playroom in his padded fists.
One of the children was Alex Rockwaller, the other was Anna Lipsky; looking more confused than frightened, the little boy and girl stared at the adults while they each struggled hopelessly at the arms of the huge bear that held them. The other children, apparently unharmed, were just visible around the massive toy, and there was a startled cry from behind the heroes as both Bonnie and Ron saw what was happening and whom it was happening to.
Kim and Shego prepared to address this new threat when ‘Fuzzy’ spoke to them.
“Not so fast, Kim Possible.”
The stitched mouth had not moved and the plastic eyes had not shifted, but the thing had spoken nonetheless. Instead of an organic sound, the voice seemed to come from within the head of the stuffed bear, a tinny reproduction of a human voice as if it were being electronically broadcast.
Muffled as it was by the padding within the toys head, the voice was easily recognizable.
“Happy Holidays, Shego. Did you get the card I sent you?”
“Always, Doc. And I always burn it unopened.”
“He sends you a card? How long has that been going on?”
“Kimmie, now is definitely not the time to be discussing this!”
“WRONG, ladies!” The stuffed bear speaking with the voice of Dr. Drakken pulled itself up to its full seven foot height and clutched the two children tighter, making them whine and struggle. “This is the PERFECT time to discuss this!”
“Drakken, you can ask Dementor if he’s regained consciousness or you can just take it on faith, but you’ve picked the wrong night to screw with me!”
“Princess, the children…”
“YES! The children!” Anna had apparently recognized the voice as well because she was starting to whimper. Alex was looking openly frightened and Kim knew that she might have a raging Ron, or even Bonnie, on her hands if they didn’t end this soon.
“Don’t think for ONE SECOND that I won’t snap their necks if you take one step closer!” Shifting almost like a human, the bear seemed to gloat. “That fool Dementor was a RUSE! A witless DISTRACTION!” The bear leaned closer and the stitched mouth almost grinned.
“It is I that shall bring about the END of Team Possible, and you will become my SLAVES while I hold your children HOSTAGE!” The speech began to dissolve into fits of giggling.
“It is I who shall…”
POOF!
Stuffing exploded in a gentle eruption from the chest of ‘Fuzzy’. Kim, Shego, Monique, Bonnie and Ron, even the huge bear itself looked down at the gapping hole in the center of ‘Fuzzy’s’ torso. Deep inside the chest cavity there was something that sparked and sizzled.
“Oh, snap…”
Kim had Anna and Shego had Alex before they could hit the floor. The bear sagged and slowly collapsed forward to land with a ‘thud’ at their feet. Once it was face down on the carpet, an equally large hole was visible in the center of ‘Fuzzy’s’ back and little Kasy and Sheki were standing right behind where the massive bear had been gloating at them just a moment ago.
Their little hands were raised and shining with a faint green glow.
Before the adults could absorb what had happened, there was noise and motion from the hole blasted through the bear at their feet. A small metallic cylinder with a dark knob at one end climbed out of the hole using stubby legs that hardly seemed to be under its full control. The small machine was scorched and dented from the plasma blast.
“You… you think you’re ‘all that’, Kim Possible, but… but…”
“Drakken, shut the Hell up!” Shego knelt down and ignited a fist; she drove her glowing fist down onto the damaged machine and crushed beyond repair what components weren’t immediately vaporized upon contact.
Like a display of marionettes with their strings cut, everyone just sank down onto the floor and let the children of their guests run around them as they left the den and scampered out to their parents. Kasy and Sheki stayed right there in the hallway, as did Alex and little Anna.
“Momma, you said a bad word!”
“Momma’s sorry about that, girls. Now what have I told you about using plasma in the house?”
“… sorry, Momma…”
“Shego, they did save some lives, you know?”
“Lighten up, Princess. They’re not in trouble; it was just a reminder!”
Kasy and Anna were holding hands and kicking at the fallen toy; Kasy would occasionally turn and give Anna a hug and the daughter of the madman who had just threatened to kill her smiled at the contact. Kim noticed this and promised herself to watch the girls closely as they got older. Sheki on the other hand was holding tight to Alex. Kim was closest to the little girl and was inspecting her to be sure that Sheki was unhurt when the child mumbled something to her Mommy.
“…”
“What was that, sweetheart?” Kim watched as her daughter leaned over and kissed the blond boy before responding.
“Alex is my boyfriend!”
“Shoot me now, Kimmie, just shoot me now.” Shego held her head in her hands and moaned. Bonnie just lay back onto the floor and started to laugh. They were all thoroughly worn out and they were feeling giddy as the stress drained away.
“Alex? Come over here, please.”
The little blond boy looked up at he sound of his name, even if he didn’t recognize the voice. The rest of them did recognize it and watched as Ron Stoppable held out his hands to the child. Alex threaded his way nimbly over the reclining group to reach the young man and innocently sit on Ron’s lap as Rufus moved in close and began to inspect the little boy from head to toe. Rufus couldn’t be certain, but the boy smelled eerily familiar somehow.
Ron looked to Bonnie and she gave him a loving nod of support. She took Ron’s left hand as he held the boy close with his right. Alex smiled openly at all of the strangers looking at him.
“Folks, I’d like you to meet Alex Rockwaller. He’s my son.”
It was five minutes to Midnight; the old year was ending and a new one about to begin. Dementor and his goons had been removed and everyone was prepared to ring in the New Year.
John and Anne Possible had disappeared for a few minutes after their daughter and her friends had informed them of the ‘Fuzzy Incident’. The older couple was shocked at what they were told but were confident in the abilities of the younger folk to have resolved the problem. No one was quite sure where they had disappeared to but, when they returned, they both looked a little flushed and John Possible didn’t stop grinning for the rest of the night.
Betty Director had given a brief statement to the ‘GJ’ Special Agent in charge of the pick-up and had promised to file a full report in a day or two. She didn’t know the full story about the stuffed bear but assured the Agent that she would have Kim Possible provide him those details at a later time. She and Eddie were dancing slowly together along with a sleeping Anna Lipsky; the little girl was being held between the two adults and her feet dangled above the floor. Little Daniel Director was sound asleep in his carrier just beside them on a chair.
Monique had struck up a conversation with the Senator; the man was hilarious and a wonderful dancer. He was also old enough to be her grandfather. Sen. John Blutarsky introduced the young woman to his chief aide, a young man named Spence, and the two young people were talking together animatedly by the time he excused himself for some political ‘hobnobbing’.
The Senator stole out to the garage for some privacy; the memories of many celebrations past were running through his mind and nothing was the same anymore without his late wife being there. He was surprised to run into Kim’s younger brothers out in this dim and chilly room. He was not surprised to see them about to open a beer.
“Boys, are you aware of the harsh realities of underage drinking?”
“No, sir.” They shook their heads in frustration; they’d been so close this time.
“Well, if you’ll just hand over that beer, I’ll tell you a story about a promising young man who made life difficult for himself when he was in college.” Sitting down on a box, the Senator saw that it was a pretty good brand and popped the tab as he told his story.
Alexander Rockwaller was getting very sleepy but had found a friend in the form of a naked mole rat. The sitch was reversed from that first day when Ron met Rufus; the rodent had barely been weaned and the human had been pre-adolescent, and this time Rufus was reaching his later years while little Alex was just starting to develop a personality of his own. The two played on the kitchen floor, spotlessly clean, while a deep discussion finally ended at the table behind them.
“Is he Ok?”
“Forget ‘Ok’! Is he breathing?”
“I think so.”
“Well, if you broke him, you bought him.”
Although she had not given her word to do so, Shego had made the apology to Ron that her angel had hoped that she would. When Ron had chosen to freely and openly acknowledge Alexander as his offspring, the young man had proven several things to Shego; he had affirmed his love for Kim as a friend, his affection and respect for Bonnie and their child, as well as his trust in Shego and Monique and anyone else that he chose to tell from this point forward.
He had also validated his self-respect and Shego could now think of him as ‘Ron’ and not ‘the buffoon’. But now he was sitting at the kitchen table with his mouth hanging open and his eyes glazed.
“You’re absolutely sure that he’s breathing?”
This had been nothing as simple as ‘I’m sorry’. This had been an all-out, heart-felt apology that exorcised years of resentment and disgust from Shego’s soul and allowed her to tell the young man how she felt about him now, today, now that he had eschewed this final ‘flaw’ as she perceived it.
It had been too much for his mind to take!
“You go ahead and see to your guests, he’ll be alright with me.” Bonnie smiled at the former villain and they stood up from the table.
They hugged again and Shego gave her Pumpkin’s former rival a light kiss on the cheek and she gave Stoppable a light rap on the noggin. He was still unresponsive. Shego smirked and left to find her Princess. Bonnie regarded the special man sitting beside her and turned to watch their son playing with a naked mole rat behind her.
Maybe if I placed our child in his lap?
Nah… Bonnie placed herself in Ron’s lap and proceeded to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Shego heard the exclamation of ‘BOOYAH!’ before she made it halfway across the living room.
The tall woman looked down to see her sleeping daughters reclining on the couch; they were under the supervision of their grandparents as the culmination of their festivities was about to commence. Someone had turned on the television in the living room and most of the guests had congregated there to watch the dropping of the 1,070-pound, 6-foot-diameter Waterford crystal ball in New York City in Times Square. The event was being televised on all of the major networks but the station selected was the local cable channel.
“This is Margo Ogram, reporting live for WACK from the outside of the Middleton Civic Center where dozens of local citizens have decided to ring in the New Year with the rest of the nation.” The video image shifted to show happy faced people laughing and mugging for the camera, ridiculous party hats on their heads and noisemakers in their mouths.
“We are about two minutes away from the end of the old year and this reporter wants to convey to all of our viewers a very safe and happy holiday season and a very Happy New Year!” WACK then transferred their programming to the network affiliate and Shego managed to confront the older Possibles in her never-ending quest for her angel.
“Have either of you seen Kim?” Shego wanted the petite redhead in her arms at the stroke of Midnight and could almost feel Kim’s firm body in her hands.
“Sorry, but she was just here a moment ago.” John looked around. “She was making yet another change in the music selection and then she disappeared down that way.” He gestured towards the den and turned back to Anne, speaking to his wife but easily overheard by Shego. “I just wonder what prompted Kimmie-cub to select this particular piece for her background music.”
10…
“What do you mean? I don’t…” Then Shego caught the lyrics.
9…
8…
I like big butts and I cannot lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an itty-bitty waist
And a round thing in your face…
7…
“Anne, what did I say wrong?” John was alarmed at the expression on Shego’s face as she stormed off. His wife wasn’t sure if it herself, but she was a little quicker at interpreting such things than her husband.
6…
“I’m not sure that we’re supposed to know, dear.”
5…
4…
Shego stomped down the hallway towards the den, the door still hanging open and the Snowman Hank still playing on a continuous cycle. She could easily see that her Princess wasn’t in there. She planted herself at the midpoint of the hall, turning her head to look op and down the length of the passage, wondering there her wife could be.
3…
She did not hear the door to the hall closet open behind her, or sense the hands extending to grab her until she was pulled off of her feet and yanked back into the closet.
2…
“Ghaa!”
1…
The grip firm, then yielding and calming; soft hands matched skill with experience, both in action and familiarity with the territory of Shego’s body as a slender form caressed the taller woman. Initial shock faded quickly as the larger woman submitted to the smaller, the heat of their bodies quickly filled the enclosed space. There was little fear that they would run out of oxygen; they were hardly using any as their mouths remained locked and they shared their passions together in the darkness. When they finally broke for air, Kim was the first to speak.
“Happy New Year, baby.”
Her hands were still busy, however.
“Mmmmm… Kimmie, what are you doing?”
“The girls were right.”
“About what?”
“Their Momma has a big butt.”
“I want a divorce.”
“A nice, firm, shapely, hot…”
“Now you’re talking.” Shego purred deep in her chest. “How soon can we politely chase everyone out of here?”
“Light up for a moment, please?”
“Kimmie, why…?”
“Please.”
Shego raised a hand in the darkness and made as certain as she could that there was nothing too close that might catch fire. She flared her plasma in as tight and low a field as she dared. The flushed and glistening face of her angel was made visible, the color scheme of her face, clothes and hair looking odd in the green light.
“I prefer to be able to see you, but the darkness was romantic, I’ll give you points for that.” Shego used her free hand to squeeze her wife tight to her body. “Why did you need light?”
In answer, Kim gently held Shego’s forearm and brought the light source lower; Kim hooked a finger around the neckline of her dress and tugged at the fabric, exposing what was under it.
“I want you to see what I’m wearing under my dress.”
“Oooo… Kimmie, you’ve got three minutes. I’m going up the back stairs and you’d better be in our room by then or I’m starting without you!”
“So not the drama. I’ll just ask Mom to see to the guests; I have a feeling that she’ll understand.” Kim grinned and adjusted her hair and smoothed out her dress in Shego’s pale glow.
“After all, what better way is there to start the New Year?”
A Beginning.
Author’s Notes: First of all I want to thank an aspiring young poet and author for allowing me the use of her character ‘Anna Lipsky’. Please check out Yuri18 at her Deviant Art page. Also, the lyrics from ‘Baby Got Back’ are courtesy of Sir Mix-A-Lot, and are used without permission. While wanting to do a Holiday piece, I expected the sites to be rife with excellent Christmas stories so I chose New Year’s Eve. Happy Holidays!