DECEMBER 19TH
The next morning Kim woke to find Shego already gone. Somehow she'd slipped out of her tight grip during the night and out of the room without disturbing her. Kim wondered exactly how good of a thief Shego actually was, seeing as she'd never really seen her try to be sneaky. All of their encounters during high school had her in more of the 'head henchmen' role instead of the independent pincher that she had initially built her notoriety from.
Stretching the kinks out of her back from sleeping on the floor Kim reluctantly picked herself up and shivered at the morning chill when her blanket fell away. It was already past eight, according to her clock, which was late for her. She'd always been a morning person, even given her youthful nightlife, and was surprised that she'd easily slept past daybreak the first night back in her old bedroom since her second year of college.
Slinking over to the mirror, Kim checked her appearance before heading downstairs. No sense looking like a swamp monster even if it was just her family and her lover down there. Kim rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and moved away from the mirror.
The stopped. She backpedaled to the mirror and looked more closely. She blinked and then scowled.
“Shego,” she swore.
Moving her hand up she gently rubbed the dark spot on her neck. A hickey. One that Shego had apparently given her in the morning without waking her up. Kim imagined the thin, slinky, dark haired woman as she grinned that stupid grin of hers as her mind came up with the idea of leaving a mark. She was a damn good sneak, Kim had to admit.
Kim started digging through her drawers for some clothes to toss on. Her parents may be comfortable with she and Shego being together, but she was pretty sure they did NOT care to see evidence of their sex life.
Kim stripped out of her tank top and pulled on a heavy wool turtleneck sweater and some tight fitting jeans. Shego loved to cause trouble, and Kim was generally okay with that. But for this she'd have to get revenge, and -- oh yes, it would be sweet.
Grabbing a brush off her dresser she started to head down the stairs. While pulling the tangles out of her red mop, Kim glanced over the pictures hanging on the wall beside the stairs. They were pictures of her and her brothers during all different stages of their life, like a living timeline. She saw the picture of her, Ron and the toddler tweebs during Chrsitmas when she was six. That was the first time Ron came to join in the Possible family events.
Beside that was a picture of Kim when she was about twelve. She was wearing those thick rimmed non-prescription glasses that somehow she'd gotten into her twisted head made her smarter. She sighed on behalf of her clueless self, ten years prior.
Finally, there was a picture of her and Ron holding hands, the tweebs, Nana Possible and Kim's parents. It was the vacation they all went on in the summer after Kim's Junior year of high school. The first summer she and Ron were together.
There were no more pictures in the line, but if there were, Kim knew there would have been an absence of smiles in the next one and then an absence of Ron in the one after that. Kim sighed again. At least now they could add another happy one, maybe one with Shego in it.
Kim was about to finish descending the stairs when something tickled the back of her mind. She stepped back up and looked at the pictures of herself on the wall. Six years, twelve years, seventeen years. She tilted her head. There was something significant about those ages, but she couldn't recall what it was.
“Kimmie, dear, is that you?” Kim's mom called from the kitchen. Shaking her head, Kim finished descending the stairs and combing her hair. She walked into the kitchen to find her mother making pancakes.
“Mmm,” said Kim. “Smells great.”
“Good morning, sweetheart,” said Judy, flipping several pancakes. “I'll have a plate right up for you.”
Kim looked around. “Where is everyone?” she asked as she headed to the silverware drawer to pull out a fork and a knife.
“Your father got pulled into work this morning,” said her mother. “Some emergency issue at his lab that I think has to do with next week's shuttle launch. Who knows where your brothers are.” She shook her head. “As soon as they learned to drive it was impossible to keep track of them anymore.”
Kim laughed. “What about Shego?”
“She said she had to step out for a while,” said Judy, stopping and looking up as if trying to pull a memory from thin air. “Something about checking in with a guy named Hench?” she ventured.
Kim nodded. “Ah, right,” she said. “I was hoping she still had that job, I hadn't heard much since… well, since the GeneNominal thing.” She grabbed a glass and headed for the fridge. “When did she leave?”
“About an hour ago.” Judy flipped some pancakes onto a plate and brought them to the table while Kim returned with a glass of orange juice. Kim sat and began liberally applying syrup. Judy watched intently.
“Is something wrong, mom?” asked Kim while cutting a piece of pancake.
Her mother sat down next to Kim. “You know your father and I accept you, and your decisions, no matter what they might be, right?”
Kim smiled warmly and nodded. “Yeah, I know,” she said. “I'm sorry I acted all spastic yesterday.”
Judy chuckled, “He was egging you on.” Her expression turned serious again. “Listen, I know things have been rough for you in the last few years, much more than anyone expected. You know we've always supported your heroism even when it got you into the types of dangers that make parents cringe and stay up late thinking about. You know what you want to do with your life and we won't interfere with that. We love you.”
Kim nodded as she slowly ate her pancakes. “I know, mom,” she said kindly. “Believe me, I'm infinitely grateful for it.”
“Then, understand that we just want to make sure you know what you're getting into before you commit too heavily,” explained Judy. She hesitated then continued. “I don't have a problem with you being gay at all. But tell me about Shego. Before yesterday, the last time I saw her she was trying to kill you with that Plasma-Cannon thing mounted on that giant tank Drew had built. It's a little hard to reconcile that person with the one we met yesterday.”
Kim thought for several moments while she chewed. “It might be better to explain something else, to help you understand,” she said finally. “About me.”
“You?” asked Judy.
Kim nodded. “To be honest, I've been kind of jealous of you and Dad and even the tweebs for a while.”
“Jealous? Why?”
“Because you guys are really smart,” said Kim. “I mean, not just 'hard worker' smart but, like, genius-smart. Neurosurgeon, rocket propulsion scientist, even skipping something like 3 grades and still outperforming everyone in school. I feel like, compared to all of you, I'm the normal one. And worst of all, the violent one.”
“Oh, Sweetheart,” said Judy. “There's nothing to be jealous about. And you're far from normal and definitely not violent for the sake of violence.”
“I've come to realize that a bit,” nodded Kim. “But for a long time I've been uneasy about it. I tried so hard to stand out in other ways, to do everything possible to compensate for the fact that I wasn't as smart as you all. Then, one day, I felt like I'd been chasing some imagined version of myself all my life only to realize that it's not me. That I wasn't that person.”
Kim flushed slightly. “The person I am with Shego… that's more like the real me.”
Judy looked at Kim, almost in awe.
“I don't really want to explain all the crap that Shego has gone through in her life,” Kim continued, staring at the remains of her pancakes. “That's really her right to tell or not tell. But if it helps to understand her, then you should know that I think for a long time she felt the same way as me.”
Kim looked up and she saw her mother looking… happily at her, although it looked like there were tears welling in her eyes. “Mom?” asked Kim, hesitantly.
“Come here,” Judy finally said, moving in to hug her daughter closely. “My little girl,” she said into Kim's hair. “You had it all wrong.” She stroked her daughter's back. “You're the smartest of us all.”
( KP )
Despite the display of familial love that had occurred over breakfast, Kim still got the impression that her mother didn't feel comfortable with her being with Shego. Naturally, the years of cutthroat fighting to which her mother could only be an observer (with few exceptions) couldn't be reversed with a few teary words and a hug, but there was clearly something else that her mother disliked about the situation. Kim tried to figure out what, but was distracted by the clock on the cable box telling her it was nearly noon and Shego still hadn't returned from wherever she went this morning.
Tossing the magazine she was reading aside, Kim jumped onto her feet and paced around. She and Shego were supposed to be meeting Monique this afternoon and if this was the green woman's means of escaping that, Kim was going to have words with her come dinnertime. Of course, there's no telling what Jack Hench could have wanted, seeing as things in GJ were a mess after Allucinere escaped and Shego hadn't been allowed back in at all in the weeks since. Not that Shego minded, she spent nearly every minute watching over Kim, during and after visiting hours. Kim imagined the confrontation that took place between Shego and the night nurses who probably asked her to leave. Nobody got hurt, as far as Kim knew, but that doesn’t mean a few poor attendants didn't get singed a little.
Kim stopped and decided. Even if Hench had an earful for her girl, Kim expected Shego to at least call and let her know where she was. This was unacceptable. Grabbing her coat and her cell phone, Kim headed for the door.
“I'm going out, Mom,” she called.
“Out?” came an uneasy voice. “Out where? How long?” Judy came in from the study where she'd been pouring over some medical reports for the last hour.
Kim slowed as she approached the door then turned. “I'm going to look for Shego, she's been gone too long.”
“Are you sure it's safe?”
Kim blinked. “Since when did that enter into our conversations?”
“Tromper could be out there.” Judy frowned. “I thought you said you weren't going to go anywhere without a bodyguard until she was caught?”
“Shego was my bodyguard,” said Kim. “I can't very well go out with my bodyguard when my bodyguard is missing. Besides, I don't really need a bodyguard, it's just Middleton. I'll be back in an hour or two. Hench is in the city.”
“Can't you just call her?” asked Ms. Dr. Possible.
“Shego doesn't believe in cell phones,” Kim rolled her eyes. “Too easy to trace, she says.” Kim put her hand to her hip. “Don't worry, mom, I'll be okay.” Kim put her other hand on the doorknob behind her and twisted it.
“Kim,” called her mother, but Kim turned and opened the door. She took one step through and had to stop as she came face to face with an older woman with short brown hair and a black eye patch. She gasped, startled.
“I think you should listen to your mother, Kim,” said the woman with a serious look on her face.
“D-Dr. Director?” asked Kim, surprised. A second later she leapt back through the doorway landed with her legs apart and her hands at the ready. “Stay behind me, mom,” she said urgently to the side.
Judy took a half step back. “Who is that?”
“Dr. Director,” said Kim, guarded. “I think.”
The woman who looked like Betty Director stepped through the door way, took her hands out of her long coat, and spread her arms. “It really is me, this time, Kim.”
“How can I be sure?” asked Kim.
Dr. Director looked up and to the side for a moment. “I don't know, actually. We should have established some anti-Luminocodec protocol after the attack, but we were all a little worried about you at the time. I'm not sure I have a reliable means of identifying who I am that couldn't have been compromised by a PossiBot. Aside from that I doubt Allucinere would use the same trick twice.”
Kim narrowed her eyes and looked the woman up and down. She certainly looked like Betty Director, but looks were entirely too deceiving. She sounded like Betty too, but Allucinere's expertise in creating ICs meant that couldn't be trusted either. The only thing Kim could do was make a gut decision and hope she was right.
Kim stood up a little more straight and lowered her arms. “What are you doing here, anyway?” Kim leaned to the side to peer out the door behind Betty. “And where's your entourage? Don't you usually go everywhere with a barrel-full of other agents?”
Betty smiled weakly. “I've been relieved of my duties at Global Justice,” she explained. “My entourage is following the acting director of operations right now.”
Kim frowned, and motioned Dr. Director to come in. “I'm sorry to hear that.”
Betty closed the door behind her and stepped further into the room. “I figured it was coming, after the mess in the hospital. Officially, I'm just on suspension pending investigation, but because we're in an Alert-Orange security condition, suspended agents aren't allowed in the facility. So I'm pretty much completely cut out of the loop.”
Kim looked down. She felt bad for Betty, for all their bad blood, GJ had helped out Kim a lot over the years, even they blundered with Allucinere.
A hand gently touched Kim's shoulder. “Kimmie?” asked Ms. Dr. Possible softly.
“Oh,” said Kim, looking back up at Dr. Director. “I completely forgot. Dr. Director, this is my mother. Mom, this is Dr. Director.”
The former agent stepped forward and held out her hand. “Just call me Betty,” she said with a smile.
Kim's mom reciprocated. “Judy,” she replied. “Why don't you have a seat?” She motioned towards the chairs in the living room.
“I don't mean to sound rude,” said Kim, taking a seat but never letting Betty get out of her sight. “But if you're ex-GJ now, why are you here?”
“A couple reasons, actually,” Dr. Director leaned forward. “First is to, well, to let you know I'm not in charge anymore. I don't know how important your safety is to my replacement, but if you haven't been contacted since leaving the hospital yesterday, I wouldn't count on GJ 'officially' having your back.”
“Officially?” asked Kim.
Betty nodded. “Unofficially, however, Agent Load, Agent Du, and I will be doing everything we can to keep you safe. It probably won't be much, just letting you know what intel that GJ has uncovered about Allucinere's whereabouts, but hopefully it will help.”
Kim looked down. “You don't have to do all this, you know.”
With a sigh, Betty stood and moved towards the window, staring out. “I do,” she said. “I really do.”
“Why?” asked Kim.
Betty didn't move. “This is all my mess. You came to us back then, when you realized that the PossiBots were acting strangely, and I ignored you. If I had listened to you then, if I hadn't been so … arrogant about GJ's power, nobody would have needed to get hurt.” She turned slightly to glance at Kim. “Not you. Not… Senior Senior Senior.”
Kim shivered at what Betty was alluding to and got quiet. The 'PH' device. The elder Senior had been the first to be subjected to it, and Kim was the last. She still felt uneasy when she thought about the experience. But at least she survived. Senior Senior Senior, on the other hand…
“Would you like something to drink, Betty?”
Both Betty and Kim looked up, startled at Ms. Dr. Possible's suddenly words. They'd almost forgotten she was sitting there. “Please,” nodded Betty and Kim chimed in as well.
While Judy was in the kitchen, Betty fully turned back to face Kim.
“It's not…” started Kim but couldn't complete the sentence. “Well, it was a big deal, but nothing we do now will undo it.” She sighed. “Don't worry about it anymore.”
Betty moved to a closer chair Kim. “There's was something else too, something you were never told.”
“Is it really important to tell me now?” asked Kim.
“It's about Maya,” said Betty. “She was… infatuated with you.” Betty hesitated for a moment. “She was in love with you.”
Kim blinked. “Well, yeah,” she shrugged. “She had all those disgusting PossiBot SexBots around her in the end. I sorta figured as much.”
“We knew,” said Betty.
Kim frowned. “What do you mean, you knew?”
“Before we assigned her to the PossiBot project, we already knew she was obsessed about you. It came out in her psych-evaluation prior to joining GJ. Since she worked on the research-side of GJ, she didn't have to have a clean bill of health, but it was noted as a possible problem.” Betty closed her eyes. “We thought that her obsession with you would drive her to make the most accurate IC possible.”
Kim let her mouth hang open for a few moments. “Well, you screwed up there.”
Betty opened her eyes. “We--”
“No, wait,” Kim interrupted angrily. “What's the point of this, huh? Why are you telling me all this now? You trying to make me hate you, is that it?” Kim stood and stormed a few steps away before turning. “What possible good could digging up all this old dirt do for me now?”
“She turned out to be unstable, Kim,” Betty said sternly.
“No kidding!”
“Because she was in love with you,” finished Betty.
Kim froze. Her brain, however, sped up a hundredfold. Thousands of thoughts spun through her head, all connected to a single, originating statement. “How dare you!” she seethed.
“How far can you trust--” started Betty, but there was no way Kim was letting her talk anymore.
“Don't even finish that thought!” snapped Kim. Her eyes burned as she stared at the former GJ agent. “What right do you have to ask that? To even imply that?” Kim shook with rage. “You don't care about me. You're just trying to justify yourself!”
“You screwed up,” said Kim. “But no, wait, you didn't! She liked girls, and girls who like girls are unstable, so it wasn't really your fault. Better watch out for that Shego woman though.” Kim grit her teeth. “So what about me, Betty? When am I going to snap?”
Betty bit her lip and remained silent. Kim stared at her for a minute then turned and walked towards the stairs. Just before ascending she stopped and looked back at the motionless Director. She opened her mouth to say something else, something hurtful to match the pain Kim was feeling but she just stopped. What would be the point?
Without a word, Kim ascended the stairs to her room.
( KP )
Kim had her head buried beneath her pillow on her bed when she felt the touch. It was soft and warm and gently caressed her shoulder in just the right way that she knew who it was. Without a second thought she sat up and wrapped her arms around Shego, who quickly held her close. There were no words as they sat on the bed, holding each other. And the seconds seemed to last forever.
Eventually Kim softly pushed herself apart and then quickly punched Shego in the arm.
“Hey!” yelped Shego. “What was that for?”
“Where were you?” asked Kim. She glanced around. “What time is it?”
“Almost 3:30,” said Shego. “And I was talking with Jack about--”
“Monique!” Kim interrupted. “We were supposed to meet her at 3!” She leapt off the bed and ran to her dresser. Looking in the mirror she gaped at her fussed hair and grabbed a nearby brush.
“Well, you're quick to recover,” commented Shego.
Kim hesitated, then moved back to the bed and kissed Shego on the cheek. “I just don't want Monique to think we abandoned her. We'll talk when we get back.”
Shego raised her eyebrows then shrugged. “Don't forget to put on pants though.”
Kim looked at Shego with a puzzled look. “Pants? I already…” She looked down at her bare legs, then looked up with wide eyes. “How…?”
“You looked so very peaceful,” said Shego, impishly. She pointed across the room. “They're over on your chair.”
Kim walked purposefully towards Shego. “You really think you're being funny, don't you?”
“You're smiling,” offered Shego.
“Yeah, well,” Kim looked around before focusing back on Shego. She pulled on the neck of her sweater. “What was this all about?”
“Oh, right, I forgot about that.”
“You're trying to torture me,” concluded Kim.
“Nah,” Shego shook her head. “Just trying to make you less of a prude.”
“I'll have my revenge,” said Kim with a nod. “Just you wait.”
“Wow, if that's not a line from Drakken, I don't know what is.”
Kim rolled her eyes and headed towards her desk. She slipped on her pants and then gave herself a once over to make sure Shego hadn't left any other surprises. She couldn't find anything else, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything.
“Are you ready to go?” asked Kim, heading for the stairs.
“Always,” Shego said. She quickly slid beside Kim and walked with her down the stairs.
As they neared the bottom Shego suddenly purred. “Mmm, what's cooking? Smells like saffron.”
“I'm not sure,” said Kim, glancing along the staircase towards the kitchen. “Maybe some spiced rice or something.”
Shego shook her head and headed towards the kitchen. “No, that smells more like the makings of Chicken Biryiani.” She licked her lips and followed her nose. Kim blinked and trailed after her.
In the kitchen, they discovered Judy quietly toiling away at a chopping block with a multitude of ingredients surrounding her. “Hi girls,” she said glancing up for a minute.
“Already cooking?” asked Kim, looking around. “For an army?” she added, quieter.
“Just getting ingredients prepared for dinner,” Ms. Dr. Possible said as she finished chopping some melon. “So I can just toss everything into the pan at dinner time.”
“Smells great already,” said Shego as she walked casually though the kitchen and somehow ended up with a piece of melon in her mouth on the other side.
Kim laughed to herself and shook her head. “Come on, connoisseur, we're late already.”
Shego dutifully turned around and headed back to Kim, smiling as she popped another cube of melon into her mouth as the approached the door. Kim looked at her as they left the house. “This is what you use your world class thievery skills for?”
“Hey, you won't let me use them any way else,” said Shego as she started to glow again. Kim slid beside her and soaked in the heat as they headed for the car.
“Uh-nuh,” Shego shook her head as Kim started heading for the driver's side. “I'm driving this time.”
“I'm a great driver,” said Kim with a fake pout. She pulled away from Shego and moved to the passenger side. “You probably don't even know where we're going.”
“I think I spent as much around here as you did,” said Shego. “Between nano-tick bombs, humiliation ninjas, tri-city conventions and the odd Jewish ceremony to crash, I think Drakken had me here twice as much as we were at any of his lairs.” She sat behind the wheel and started the car up. “'course if it makes you feel more 'in charge' to direct me to the mall, feel free.”
“I take it all back,” said Kim, grimacing. “'Eager-to-please-me Shego wasn't all that bad after all.”
Shego laughed.
Kim was silent for the first few minutes of the brief trip, which was apparently enough for Shego to try and start up conversation. “So, do you want to tell me what happened with Dr. Director?” she asked bluntly.
Kim frowned. “She called us both crazy.”
Shego considered the statement. “Sounds about right,” she replied.
“No,” Kim curtly said. “She was serious. Mentally imbalanced due to lesbianism.”
Shego nearly swerved off the road when she looked at Kim. Only her reflexes kept her from running through the shoulder. “Seriously?” she asked after getting the vehicle under control.
“Seriously,” repeated Kim.
“What… what could possibly have given her that idea?” asked Shego, incredulous. “She doesn't seem to be the type to jump to conclusions.”
Kim sighed softly. “Maya… had a thing for me.” She looked out the window then turned slightly to glance behind them as they passed a department store. “Dr. Director called it an obsession, and she was probably right. Maya viewed me as 'perfect' and just sort of ignored the screw-ups I'd made in my life.”
Kim rubbed her temples. “I'm not sure what caused her snap specifically, but it was related to her idolization of me. Somehow she'd created a template for the 'perfect agent of justice' based on my life that I didn't fit into anymore. Her PossiBots, though… they fit.”
Kim turned to Shego. “By not matching her ideal, she'd decided I'd betrayed her.” She looked back at the road. “After that, it got messy.”
Shego frowned as she looked at Kim out of the corner of her eye. “You blame yourself for her.”
Kim shook her head. “No. Not really. I suppose I do have some fault for giving up my name to GJ, but there was no way I could have been what she wanted. And much of this conflict went on without my knowing.”
“Dr. Director knew, though,” said Shego.
“Yeah, well, that's what she just told me this afternoon,” said Kim. “I started to figure some of it out back then, but she told me not to worry, that it was under control. That the things I was noticed were missing 'context.'” She shook her head. “I still trusted her back then.”
Kim breathed slowly but she could feel her skin crawl at the memories. “Can we--?”
“So what's our approach with your friend Monique?” asked Shego, in a lively voice. “She doesn't know about us, right?”
Kim looked to Shego and then smiled warmly. A second later she responded. “No, but she may have heard something through the grapevine.” She hesitated then raised a finger. “Oh, wait, actually, she knows that we've become friends. I did tell her that on the phone a few months ago.”
“How'd she respond?” asked Shego.
“The same way everyone's been responding, pretty much,” shrugged Kim. “First shock and surprise, then with guarded statements. Anyone who knows you probably suspects you've got me mind chipped.”
Shego shivered. “Ugh, I hate those things.”
“I feel the same way,” nodded Kim. She glanced in the side-view mirror again and felt uneasy.
Shego turned the car onto the ramp into the parking garage at the mall. There was an enormous amount of traffic today thanks to last minute shoppers. It would continue to get worse right up until the 24th then quickly ease off. “This reminds me, we need to buy some Christmas gifts.”
“Oh fun,” said Shego, sarcastically. “I hope you have a list, to make this less excruciating.”
“Right, because I had all this time to search online while I was drugged up in the hospital.” Kim folded her arms. “'Good Shego' should care what my family thinks of her.”
“I think your family has pretty well established opinions of both me and 'Good Shego' already, and I doubt they include a huge amount of charity.” Shego opened her window and grabbed a parking ticket stub for the garage.
“I thought you liked shopping.”
Shego waved her finger. “You've confused shopping for others with shopping for me. I love shopping for me.”
“Well, it never hurts to exceed expectations,” said Kim.
“Fine, whatever,” said Shego as she pulled into a parking spot. “Just remember the trunk on this thing is about as big as a watermelon.”
The two headed into the mall from the garage, stopping only to confirm where the food court was before nearly jogging over there.
“It's 3:45 already,” said Kim in a strained voice. “I hope she doesn't hate me.”
The food court at the Middleton mall was a hemisphere of franchised food stores, bathing the small section of tables and chairs with their multicolored neon signs. Due to the holiday rush, it was packed to the brim.
“We probably should have established a less crowded meeting place,” noted Kim. “I don't see her anywhere.”
Shego squinted. “Drakken could hide in this mess and not be seen.” She shook her head. “I'll go up to the 2nd floor, you look here. Meet back in 5 if you find nothing.”
Kim nodded and began wading through the sea of shoppers. She glanced back once to see Shego vanish up a staircase to check the second floor of fast food restaurants. She hoped Monique was still around. She'd hate for her to find out through someone else about her and Shego, she owed her close friend more than that. But being late didn't figure into her plan for the day. Nor did Dr. Director's sudden visit…
Five minutes later, however, Kim relented and returned to where Shego was already waiting.
“Nothing?” asked Shego.
“Nothing,” confirmed Kim. “Ugh, this is not how I imagined this visit to Middleton going.”
“It's a dangerous sort of business,” quoted Shego. “Going out your front door.”
“I'll call her when we get back to my folks' place,” said Kim putting her hands into her pockets and frowning. “Over the phone will work too, I guess.”
“Don't beat yourself up, Princess,” said Shego. “If she's a close friend, a little lateness is just water under the bridge.”
“I supp--” started Kim, then she froze. Her eyes flickered over the crowd of people in the food court and just outside. Her face turned to a scowl.
“What's wrong?” asked Shego, looking where Kim was.
Kim looked at Shego, then casually moved close and whispered into her ears. “Those two have been following us since we left my parent's house,” she said.
“What?” Shego turned. “Where? Wait, which two?”
“Black cap and yellow scarf,” said Kim. “Hey, don't stare at them, they'll know you've seen them.”
“I didn't notice--”
“They were in the green SUV that followed behind us until we reached the garage,” Kim said. She moved slightly away from the food court over to a central atrium with a large stone piece of 'art' that looked more like a giant glob of clay slightly shaped to resemble a snake or a worm of some sort. Kim walked around the large monolith dragging Shego by the hand. Once the statue was between her and the food court, she turned.
“Keep talking as if I'm still here,” said Kim. “I'll try to get around behind them.”
“What? Are you sure they're following us?” asked Shego, skeptically. “And shouldn't I be the one doing this, I'm the bodyguard.”
“You're too tall, I can hide beneath the crowed easier and get right over there in a minute.” Kim put her hand to her hip. “And don’t get all protective, I'm just as capable as you are.”
Kim turned and bumped into someone enough to disrupt the constant flow of people moving through the atrium then swiftly entered the flow, keeping her knees slightly bend enough that her stark red hair didn't give away the deception. She had to arc way out towards the department store on this end of the mall to avoid coming out in the open, but a couple minutes later she was heading back and keeping the two goons in her vision out the corner of her eye.
The two men appeared beefy, and didn’t look at all like Kim or the PossiBots that she remembered, but that was the trouble with Allucinere's Luminocodec technology, it could create mask any shape with a holograph to make it appear bigger or taller of either gender. Kim caught another look at the two men as they chatted to each other, looking back in Shego's direction only once every 30 seconds to keep their target spotted. Kim was annoyed they'd followed her this long but somewhat relieved that Monique wasn't around to get caught up in this.
After another minute of mulling with a particularly slow group of shoppers, Kim was in position behind them. As swiftly as she could she came up directly behind them and kicked out the backs of their knees, causing them to fall to the floor. Quickly moving beside them she grabbed one of the arms of the men and spun him so he landed on the other thug.
“What the--” started the man on top as he landed on his cohort.
“All right, spill it, who are… you… guys?” Kim started then trailed off as she stared at the man's face. “Why do I know you?” she said suddenly.
“Oww,” said the man on top rubbing his knee as he slid off the back of the other man. “We -- geeze -- I don’t' have the body armor on this time.”
Kim blinked. “Oh my -- Shego!” she called out angrily.
“Hey, yah,” Shego said finally getting through the crowd over to Kim. “Sorry.” She shrugged and made a weak smile. “I thought we could use the help.”
“You could have told me!” replied Kim before reaching out a hand to the fallen men.
“Ah, no thanks,” waved off one of the two, as he pushed himself back up onto his feet. Then he reached into his coat and pulled out a small ID badge that read: 'HenchCo. Security.'
“I'm sorry,” said Kim. “That's twice I… I really am sorry.”
“It's alright ma'am,” nodded the man, pocketing his badge again.
“I never got your name the first time I attacked you for doing your job,” said Kim, somewhat sheepishly.
“Ben Elliot,” said the man. He motioned behind him. “This is Carl Weatherly.”
“Ma'am,” said Carl with a nod.
Kim turned back to Shego and stared accusingly.
“That was one of the things I was talking with Jack about this morning,” Shego said. “I was about to tell you when you woke up but then you remembered the Monique thing and… uh, it slipped my mind.”
“I don't believe that for a second,” said Kim. “But I'll deal with you later.”
Kim turned back to Ben and Carl. “I appreciate the help, guys,” she said. “I don't think it's necessary but I guess it could be nice having someone watch my back for a change.”
The two security men nodded.
“But while you're both here,” said Kim with a grin. “Maybe you can help with our shopping.”
Shego looked alarmed. “Run, now,” she advised. The two men cautiously regarded Kim, but stubbornly stood their ground.
( KP )
Despite Shego's dismay, the shopping didn't take very long through a combination of Kim's quick assessment of what each member of her family might like and the realization that much of what was worth shopping for in the mall would already have been sold out. Still, they managed to get most of their gifts taken care of and even bought a gift each for Ben and Carl who had helped carry their bounty to the car.
Once back at home, Kim was surprised to see her father's car in the drive at six o'clock. “I guess Dad got off work early,” she commented as she and Shego gathered up their bags from the trunk.
“He usually works late?” asked Shego.
“Almost always. Although I imagine he doesn’t have to, he's just a workaholic.”
“Government employees get overtime too, I think,” said Shego, closing the hatch on her car.
“Not everything is about money, you know, Sheeg,” said Kim with a smile.
“I didn't say it was his motivation, per se,” replied Shego. “Just that it didn't hurt.”
The two quickly moved up the path to the door since Shego couldn't do her magic heating trick with all the flammables they were carrying. Kim had to juggle her bags to get the doorknob but she gave it a half-twist she checked the door with her hip to get it to fly open the rest of the way. Without a second's hesitation, the two girls filed in and shut out the cold behind them.
“That's quite an entrance there, sweetie.”
Kim looked up, not quite sure who just spoke. It didn’t sound like her mother but it was definitely a woman's voice. Kim scanned the living room to see her parents sitting on the couch, each casually with a drink, and welcoming Kim and Shego back. Beside the couch, on the old armchair, a much older, but still trim and athletic looking, sat, nursing a cup of tea.
“Nana!” cried Kim, as she dropped her bags and rushed to hug her grandmother.
Nana gave a strong hug in return and patted Kim's back. “There's my little granddaughter.”
“Heh,” laughed Kim. “At some point you'll have to stop calling me that. I'm far from little anymore.”
“Everyone starts to look like once you get a certain age, dear,” she said, then motioned to Kim's father. “I still think of him as this little boy running around mine and Edwin's house, taking apart the radio whenever we took our eyes off him.”
“Nana,” said James Possible, looking slightly red. “I always put them back in working order.”
“Of course you did,” nodded Nana. “Well, except the time you improved your father's stereo and started broadcasting Jethro Tull to all the other radios in the neighborhood.”
Kim turned as Shego came up behind her and smiled to her raven-haired lover. “Shego,” she said gently grabbing onto her arm. “This is my Nana, whom you've met before, I know.”
“I do remember,” smiled Shego, holding out her hand. “I'm sorry for the trouble Drakken caused you back then.”
Nana laughed. “No trouble, just lost a few Lemon Squares, and it helped me get closer to my granddaughter in the end.” She winked to Kim. “My name is Leslie,” she said, shaking Shego's hand.
“Lily,” said Shego, with a pleasant smile.
“That's a nice name,” said Nana, nodding. “Why did you use such a boyish name all the time?”
Shego laughed. “My boorish brother named me that when we got our powers. He felt it made a super-hero team stronger if everyone had a rhyming name. I really hated my parents for a while too, so I did anything to disavow they had anything to do with me. Which included losing the name they gave me.” Shego looked at Kim. “I've recently come to a better understanding of my past, though, so I've been thinking about going back to it.”
“Well, it's a lovely name,” repeated Nana. “So, you were part of a super-hero team?”
“Uh, yeah,” said Shego. “Team Go, in Go City.”
“I've heard of them!” said Nana. “Your whole family became super-powered?”
“It's a long story, but yes.” Shego shrugged. “We fought crime mostly in Go City for a while, but, well, it didn't last. Hego still does it, part time, but I think my other brothers have moved on with their lives.”
“It’s a hard job,” nodded Nana. She sipped her tea. “I've met a few would-be crime fighters over the years, most were in it for fame, and the rest…” she trailed off.
“You've met other heroes, Nana?” asked Kim, sitting on a nearby chair. Shego looked around and eventually lounged on a loveseat opposite Nana.
“Sure,” said Leslie. She smiled enthusiastically. “For instance, when I was in BUDS, there was this young Ensign with extraordinary talent who later became a vigilante in Boston. Named… uh… Silver Streak, I think. He was one of the lucky ones. Fell of a rooftop and fractured his leg, got out of the business.”
“That's lucky?” asked Shego, incredulous.
Nana nodded. “Too many boys with dreams ended up getting in over their head and were injured far more grievously than a broken bone.” She nodded to Kim. “That's why I really didn't want to see you get caught up in this mess.” She looked into her empty tea cup. “I wish I hadn't been right, though.”
Kim looked down, feeling morose over the memories of her first contact with Allucinere and her 'PH' device. “I'll get you some more tea, Nana,” she said standing again. Gently taking the cup, she left the living room for the kitchen.
The kitchen was a symphony of smells, as things were baking and slowly cooking in preparation for dinner. Somehow her mother had set everything up to require little monitoring. Looking at the display, she realized why her mother was preparing dinner so much earlier.
Moving to the cabinet, Kim pulled out a small box filled with tea and picked out Nana's favorite, Darjeeling. Placing the small packet in the teacup, she doused it with hot water from the still steaming kettle on the stove.
“Kim.” Kim turned to see her mother walking into the kitchen.
Kim smiled. “Mom.”
“Are you all right?”
Kim put the tea kettle back onto the stove and then turned back. “Yeah, I'll be fine.” She stirred the teacup slowly. “I didn't know Nana was coming for Christmas.”
“I thought it might be a good time for you to have your whole family around to support you,” said Judy. She went to one of the pots on the stove and freed the plumes of steam from the steel can. “After Nana found out about you being in the hospital, your father and I had to spend quite a while talking her down from coming right away.” After stirring the pot a couple times, she replaced the lid. “She was very worried about you.”
“It's just not a good time for her to be around though,” said Kim. “That run-in with Dr. Director this morning, and then again with Hench's thugs at the mall, just made me think that if Allucinere were to come after me, anyone near me could be in danger.” Kim pulled out the tea bag and tossed it in the trash. “I would never forgive myself if Nana got hurt because of me.”
“I think you know your Nana is pretty good at taking care of herself,” said Judy. “And if you extend that logic of yours, you could never be close to anyone anymore.”
“It's not a bad idea,” Kim said. “At least while she's out there.”
Kim's mother looked at her daughter with a thin smile. “Your father and I decided long ago that we wouldn't interfere in your heroism. But we would keep an eye on you to make sure you didn't lose yourself in it.” She put her hands on Kim's shoulders. “We've never even had to consider stepping in before. After everything we talked about this morning, don't lose your balance now.”
Kim tipped her head to rest it against her mother's shoulder. Older, but warm arms wrapped comfortably around her. “I knew getting out would be harder than getting in,” said Kim. “I'm trying my best not to get you all involved.”
“We know, dear. You can't take responsibility for everything, though.”
Kim nodded. “Nana's tea is going to get cold,” she said. She broke away from the hug and headed back towards the living room.
“Tell everyone dinner will be in just a few minutes,” called her mother.
“All right.”
Kim carefully made sure not to spill any of the tea when she entered the living room, but the sight alone nearly made her drop the cup.
“Carnival Jim?” laughed Shego, nearly doubled over. “He took on the United States Navy?”
“The marines mostly,” said Nana, laughing. “We were stationed in the Persian Gulf, when his hot air balloon just flew over. It was like he never considered that a getaway vehicle should be fast.”
Shego further exploded in laugher. “He -- he,” she started but had to pause to catch her breath. “He was always up in arms over these 'great crimes' he used to commit. Had a panel at the last Tri-City Villains Convention on 'furthering your criminal ambitions' or something like that. I never believed a word of it.” She shook her head. “A hot air balloon, huh?”
Nana nodded. “We shot it once with our AA guns and he just drifted slowly down into the water where we picked him up. Locked him up for probably… twenty years?”
“Yeah, that would fit,” agreed Shego. “First Tri-City was about eleven years ago, and he's supposedly one of the longest guests.” She got a smirk. “I've got to make sure this gets out just before the convention, next year. See the liar sweat a little.”
“What's going on?” asked Kim as she handed the teacup to Nana.
“I was just telling Lily about some 'super villains' I've run into over the years,” said Nana. “Turns out she's met some of the same ones.”
“You met villains while in the navy, Nana?” asked Kim, sitting next to Shego on the loveseat.
“Of course,” she nodded then sipped her tea. “Ah, quite good.”
“I never heard of this,” said Kim, looking between Shego and Nana.
“There wasn't much to say, really. Just because an enemy of the US dresses in bright colors doesn't mean they're treated any differently.”
“I guess not,” mused Kim. “I just never thought they were that many of them prior to my first run-in with Drakken.”
“I don't think they got in the news much previously,” said Nana, placing her cup aside. “Few heroes or villains have reached the level of popularity you enjoyed in high school.”
“Team Go certainly didn't,” added Shego. “Outside of Go city they were relatively unknown.”
“But why-” started Kim but was interrupted by the front door suddenly swinging open and a pair of boys come stamping in. Kim turned to see Jim and Timothy by the front door pulling off their coats and wiping their shoes.
Timothy was the first to notice the people in the living room. “Hey Nana!” he said, rushing over to give her a hug. “When did you get in?”
“Just an hour or so ago, dear,” said Nana with a smile.
Jim came quickly over as well and repeated the greeting. “How's Florida? Any wicked parties going on down there?”
“I'm sure I wouldn't know if there were,” laughed Nana. “How are you two doing? It's been a while the two of you have caused trouble together.”
Jim laughed, but Timothy responded. “We're trying not to get on each other's nerves, which is harder for some-” he glanced once at Jim, “than others.”
“It helps that we have a joint goal right now,” said Jim with a shrug.
“What rocket propelled annoyance are you two scheming now?” asked Kim, her eyes narrowed.
“Ah,” started Jim, then looked to Timothy.
“It's a secret,” said Timothy, looking serious. “You'll be the first to know when it's ready to be unleashed though.” He smiled.
“Hmm,” mused Kim.
“Dinner's just about ready,” said Kim's mom as she walked into the room. “Boys, where on earth have you been?”
“Around,” both Jim and Timothy said in unison.
“Staying around long enough for dinner?” asked Judy.
“Sure,” said Jim. Timothy nodded in agreement. “We just need to check one thing first.”
“It won't take long,” added Jim. The two then dashed up the stairs.
“I think I may have liked it better when they were not getting along,” said Kim.