It’s amazing what you notice when you’re bored. No, that isn’t quite right. The word isn’t bored; the word is focused. It’s that mental state where one part of your mind takes over everything, leaving the rest to ponder the minutia of our day-to-day existence.
One such detail, that we would otherwise ignore, is how rivets can make excellent footholds when climbing. Another would be that ventilation systems really don’t have to be large enough to accommodate a human-sized being. This begs the question: why would an alleged secret lair have ventilation ducts that traverse the entire facility without some sort of security filters, or even adequate pest control devices.
There was movement inside a particular section of ductwork, so stealthy as to be undetectable by non-electronic surveillance. A grill at the ducts terminus was carefully removed and pulled inside the aperture, so carefully hat not a mote of duct was ruffled.
A lithe shape unfolded from the open duct. The fifteen-foot drop to the floor was accomplished by means of gravity; the fact that it made neither sound nor injurious impact to the intruder was accomplished by means of skill.
The hallway was moderately illuminated by means of fluorescent lights interspaced every few yards along its curved length. There were no shadows to hide in so the intruder was forced to cling to the walls as if painted there. Clad in a form fitting black crop-top and loose fitting cargo pants, the intruder had opted not to rely on camouflage.
Keeping low to the floor and using every sense to watch for enemies, the intruder moved in the direction most likely to achieve a certain goal.
Loud as thunder in the stillness, a mild cough announced the presence of danger. The intruder had reached a point in the hallway where it straightened out slightly; it created an obtuse ‘corner’ around which two guards were visible. The men wore matching uniforms of scarlet and jet, both expected and hated by the intruder. Behind the men was a massive door. The prize lay on the other side.
The size of the guards, while still within the realm of natural human development, bespoke a musculature easily rivaling that of the most powerful body builder. The two men were truly huge, apparently capable, and very likely well armed. The intruder was so very much smaller, slim and petite of build, and carried a mere fraction of the mass of a single guard.
Like a viper striking at a bear, the intruder leap on the nearest guard, using him as a shield against his cohort, while grappling the first man around the neck with both arms. Unable to breathe or steady his balance, the guard flailed with one arm as he attempted to pry the intruder loose with the other.
In his uncoordinated stumbling, the choking guard spun on his heels, allowing the intruder to lash out with both feet at the second guard, already advancing with weapon drawn. The double kick made the weapon an interesting footnote and rendered the man unconscious. The prolonged lack of air to the first guard made his movements sluggish; he was dropping to his knees even now.
Before the gasping man could regain his breath, the intruder brought to bear just enough strength to slam his head against the metal wall of the corridor. Both threats were neutralized in the duration of less than one minute.
The door itself was not without surprises. It was a minor insult to the manufacturer that the triple-encoded digital lock was so easily bypassed using a few simple hand tools. As a concession to their labors, cracking the lock did take more than one minute; it was at least two minutes later that the door was opening.
In contrast to the brightly lit hallway, the void beyond the doorway was as black as pitch. There was a single spotlight somewhere up in the ceiling that directed a shaft of light down on a lonely control panel. The large, bright red button in the center of the panel was clearly labeled ‘Self Destruct’.
The challenge of the darkened room presented several possible solutions. Choosing expedition, the intruder took quick strides away from the door and towards the control panel. Rather than be caught in the trap, the trap now had to spring itself.
Having closed only half the distance before additional lights were activated to fully illuminate the cavernous room, the intruder wondered if a special discount was offered with the purchase of so many XXXL scarlet and jet uniforms. Each guard wore a mysterious backpack and carried a metal baton; both were connected via cable. When the free end of each baton began to glow, their purpose and function became obvious.
Without pause and with no discernable loss of speed or coordination, the intruder jumped straight up. This action avoided one guard and was the beginning of a series of flips and rolls that allowed the intruder to visit each and every vulnerable point of each guard’s anatomy. To be sure, this activity took quite some time. If there had been more than twenty of the well armed, well-trained warriors, the battle might have taken almost five minutes.
Even in the improved lighting, the intruder didn’t stop to count her fallen opponents; the large, red button beckoned.
Maybe it was a sound, or more likely a faint pressure wave of moving air, but suddenly an unseen danger loomed from above. The intruder leap backwards, twisting mid-flight, to better prepare for this foreseen complication.
The new threat was not wearing scarlet and jet; instead it was entirely covered in a tight-fitting jumpsuit of green and black. Long black hair, scintillating with green highlights, flowed like a living shadow almost to the floor.
The newcomer was slightly taller than the intruder, longer of limb and more muscled, but still molded in the same lithe, athletic pattern. Another physical difference was that the newcomer had very pale skin with greenish undertones, contrasting the fair, pink skin of the intruder.
Instead of an artificial weapon, the newcomer flexed long fingers, each tipped with a metal talon. The gloved hands began to glow, a bright green umbra of deadly energy, radiating plasma that could burn like fire or increase the concussive force of her attacks ten-fold.
“Hello, Pumpkin. It took you long enough to get here.” The voice was feminine, husky and biting. The tone was of hard lessons learned and bitterness.
“There’s no blue ribbon for failure. Why don’t you just turn around and go home? Don’t you have school tomorrow?”
The intruder steeled against the verbal joust. This had also been expected.
“Move aside or get stepped on; it’s your choice.” This voice was also feminine, but of soft velvet and determination. There was nothing of bitterness or hatred, just an iron will and self-assurance.
“Bring it on, Princess.”
With a feral growl, the tall woman attacked, both hands laced with green death. She stopped short and feinted to the side with a kick at her opponent’s midsection. The smaller woman caught the foot with one hand while using an elbow to club down on that knee. Only slightly staggered, green claws balled into fists and came down towards bright red hair.
They never made contact. The impact with the floor was hard enough to loosen the metal plates, but no blood was spilled
“Not bad.” The green and black clad women adjusted her stance, no longer favoring the sore knee.
“Thanks. Now can we get this over with? Don’t you older folks like to get to bed early?”
What followed was much like a game of chess: moves, countermoves, feints and strategic sacrifice. First black, then red, then black again.
Seeing that the length of her arms limited the effectiveness of her glowing claws, the taller woman cupped her hands together around empty air. Within seconds the space filled with a ball of green plasma.
“Catch, Princess!” The ball was launched from within her palms right at he intruder’s chest. It was immediately followed by another, and then another.
A perfect cartwheel flip to one side, and then to the other, as enough to avoid the glowing plasma globes. A third struck the floor directly in front. The flash of the dissipating plasma caused momentary blindness, but the effect didn’t last long.
“Get ready to hurt, Pumpkin, get ready to hurt bad.”
The concussion of that blast lifted the intruder upwards and back. Even though she could not see clearly yet, she executed a series of back flips that carried her beyond the range of an accurate attack.
Blinking the last vestiges of the after-image from her vision, he intruder spun around and charged. Knowing that her opponent was temporarily unable to generate the plasma globes, at least for a short time. She hoped to gain the upper hand by taking the offensive.
Her charge was short, but calculated. Having run right up to her opponent, barely a hairs breadth away from the slashing talons, she lifter her foot in a kick at her attackers face. The tall woman dodged and lifted one hand to block the kick, leaving one glowing fist as her sole weapon.
The block was totally effective. It was unfortunate that the second kick went unnoticed, catching the tall woman in the ribs and doubling her over. She recovered quickly, but she was now on the defensive.
Neither combatant was wounded yet, not even breathing hard, but they knew that they were too evenly matched for an early outcome. This fight could have gone on for hours.
The red haired woman brought forth what appeared to be a hair drier, modified to fire a projectile grappling hook.
Having faced this particular scenario before, the taller woman had an immediate solution. She crouched and tumbled forward, then leap at her opponent’s out-stretched arm and prepared to flip the smaller woman.
Too late, she realized that it was a ploy. Using the proffered arm as a vulnerable target, the redhead dropped backwards onto the floor. Her legs were more than strong enough to carry her through her earlier maneuvers, and certainly strong enough to propel the slightly larger and heavier woman several feet across the room.
When the intruder fell backwards, she dragged the other woman down with her. The thrust with both legs was enough force and lift to throw the newcomer into the air and right down onto the brightly lit panel.
A green and black backside neatly depressed the ‘Self Destruct’ button.
Warning klaxons blared and the world became light and noise.
“Alright, open it up!”
The command seemed to come from the very air around her; the intruder regained her feet and waited for the outcome of her labors. Several unlikely events began to occur all at once.
A large section of wall opened up at the far end of the chamber. The unconscious guards climbed to their feet, not all of then steadily and a few only with assistance from their fellows.
“All GJ participants are to report to Debriefing Room Nine! Turn the rest of the lights on and TURN THAT BLOODY SIREN OFF… thank you. I could not hear myself think.”
This was the source of the commanding voice.
“Blood and thunder… I will have you know that in the years that I’ve been serving as Commanding Executive for Global Justice, never has an unarmed teenaged girl bested so many of our agents, each and every one specialty trained in commando tactics, not only single handedly but also in so ridiculously so short a span of time!”
Dr. Betty Director was often perceived as being uncaring and cold. The fact that she wore an eye patch as a result of an old injury didn’t help her appear any more accessible or friendly. In her position, she often had to give orders that put agents in harms way, or even to certain death. As a result, if you didn’t cultivate a hardened exterior, the stress of the decisions would eat you alive. That was why she was so grateful for this opportunity to feel pride and admiration in association with her otherwise thankless job.
“Good show, Kimberly. Very well done.” The woman was almost grinning.
“No big. After all, anything is possible for a Possible!”
The young woman adjusted her posture to something less battle-ready. She brushed a few errant red hairs away from her bright emerald eyes and smiled.
Her name was Kim Possible, and at one time she had been called ‘the girl who could do anything’. Now, and for the first time in a long time, she felt that she could.
Born and raised in Middleton, Kim had entered life as an average girl. At an early age she discovered that she had a natural aptitude for saving people, traveling the world to fight ruthless scientists and destructive psychopaths. She had gained many good friends and many hated enemies.
The room erupted in cheers and applause. Dr. Director advanced and gave the red-haired women a firm, but proper, hug before backing away and exiting after the dismissed agents. The applause was coming from several dozen other agents and off-duty GJ personnel that had come to watch the excitement.
After years of this hectic life, but while still in her late teens, Kim had encountered the one event that had brought her heroic career to a screeching halt.
Thrilled and a little embarrassed at this praise, Kim looked around for a familiar face. She wanted to find one face in particular but didn’t see it anywhere. Several of the staff congratulated her and shook her hand; others patted her warmly on the back.
“KP, you did it! Booyah!”
A lanky young man of Kim’s own age ran into the room and grabbed her. Only Ron Stoppable, Kim’s best friend since pre-kindergarten, could approach her in this manner without receiving a counter attack.
“I can’t believe how great you were! That was righteously badical! It’s like you were never out of the game.” Ron shook his head in amazed admiration. Dressed much like Kim in black shirt and cargo pants, he wore the male cut of what had become their ‘Team Possible’ uniform over the past several years.
There was movement from one of the oversized pockets of Ron’s pants. A hairless rodent, a naked mole rat to be specific, climbed out of it’s adopted borrow and scampered to the young man’s shoulder.
“s’riteshus!” The rodent’s name was Rufus, and he could speak after a fashion. He was beaming at Kim and had both tiny paws upraised in victory.
“So not the drama! I’ve been working out and training day and night for months getting ready for this evaluation.” Kim scanned the crowd again for other familiar faces.
“Where are Mom and Dad? Didn’t they stick around?”
“They sure did. They were cringing the whole time but they couldn’t take their eyes off you. You were kicking serious buttage! And you do look really hot on the mega-screen TV.”
“yeh’hawt!” Apparently the consensus spanned the human – mole rat species gap.
Ron’s enthusiasm, if not his way with words, lifted Kim’s spirits. In spite of the excitement of the day, she was distracted by the desire to speak to a special someone, and that someone was nowhere in sight.
“They’re over there…” Ron pointed through an access door.
“Catch you later, Ron, Ok? How about Bueno Nacho? It’ll be my treat!”
How Ron’s face could light up any more was a mystery for the ancients. He turned to his little compatriot and they exchanged a high-five.
“Did you hear the lady, m’man?”
“cheese!”
Threading between agents and servitors, Kim exited the training room and entered the exterior wing of the massive facility. She soon spotted her parents, and they were standing next to someone else Kim wanted to see. The throng was still breaking up and only her parents remained when she reached them.
“Hey, Mom! Hi, Dad!” Kim threw her arm wide and held both of her parents tightly. The woman had a few inches on Kim in height and her eyes were blue, not green, but Dr. Mrs. Anne Possible was otherwise identical to her daughter. Anne was a lauded brain surgeon and brilliant in the field of neurological research.
“Did you see me? How did I look?” The remaining adrenaline in her system was making it difficult for Kim to hide her exuberance.
“Of course we did, Kimmie-cub. Though I must admit that I’ve never enjoyed seeing you in danger, even if simulated.” The man spoke the truth but didn’t want to dampen his daughter’s moment to sparkle.
“You always make us proud, very proud indeed.”
The tall man was Dr. Mr. John Possible. He was a quiet man, a wonderful listener and given to deep introspection and insight. He was a genius in the field of both solid and liquid fuel propulsion and the division leader of several different independent projects.
“Um, can you tell me where S…” Kim paused when her mother laid a hand on Kim’s shoulder.
“She didn’t want to run off, but she didn’t want to hang around, either. She knew that would understand and she asked us to tell you that she’ll be waiting at her apartment.” The older woman made certain that she held her daughter’s full attention before she continued.
“Kim, please understand that while this day was very important to you, and none of us could be any prouder, this was very hard on her. I suspect that she’ll be having a talk with you about it, and your future.” This was not an easy topic for the older woman to broach.
“Sure, Mom. I understand. I had to yell my intentions at her for weeks before she would even take her hands away from her ears to listen. I saw her face today and heard it in her voice; she’s going to give me holy Hell.”
“Language, Kimmie.” John said this as a gentle reminder, not as a reprimand. He recognized that his daughter had left the bounds of his parental control, but she would always be his child.
“Sorry, Dad. I’m going to go straight home to take over for Monique. I expect to be out for a while, but then we’ll all be back for a late dinner. Is that Ok?”
“Of course, sweetheart. We’ll have your favorite waiting for you: brain loaf.”
Kim cringed slightly, even as she smiled back at her mother. Kim had never been a big fan of meat loaf, especially not after it had been customized by her mother into the shape of a human cerebellum.
“Oh, Kimmie, we almost forgot. Dr. Director wanted to discuss something with you tomorrow. Do you think you could make an appointment with her?” John handed his daughter a card with Dr. Director’s private telephone extension printed on it.
“Gee, why didn’t she hang around to speak with me now? She was just in the training room with me a few minutes ago”
“Well, maybe she wanted to give you time for your friends and family. Duh!” Kim giggled her father was so cute when he was trying to appear ‘hip’.
“Sure thing, I’ll call her shortly about tomorrow. Thanks!” With one more hug, Kim kissed them goodbye and ran towards the changing room of the training wing.
As Kim divested herself of her ‘mission clothes’, she reviewed her reasons for being here today.
Global Justice was an independent agency devoted to world security and, well, justice. Kim had encountered them many times during her career, sometimes as a hindrance but most often as a beneficial resource. Their outlook was a little too militant and covert for her tastes, but she had learned to look beyond her own naivety. As a white knight errant, what she viewed as freedom they called being a loose cannon. They had worked well together in the past, however, and Kim admired the strength of Dr. Betty Director.
After a forced hiatus of almost a year, Kimberly Ann Possible found herself in a world of doubt. She didn’t know where her place was in the world or if she had any right to even stake a claim. Had her mind gone numb from not having to out-think vicious opponents? Was her body even capable of the Olympic-level maneuvers and gymnastic skills she needed to fight any more?
Kim was a strong person, but her strength was buried pretty deep. She could fall victim to despair and self-doubt as easily as anyone without the love of those closest to her.
Her greatest fear was being considered worthless by her friends and family. As unrealistic as that event might sound, a part of her psyche was always waiting for that hammer to fall. In reality, Kim had nothing to worry about, so her inner demons actually served the valuable purpose of keeping her from becoming too arrogant or cocky.
The purpose of this morning’s evaluation was to see if she still had the skill and abilities to perform as she once did. In truth, she had never performed in the past as well as she had today.
As Kim changed into her more casual attire, she was oblivious to the appreciative looks that on-duty GJ agents gave her. Each and every one of them knew who she was, and they all respected her and would fight alongside her without hesitation. This did not change the fact that Kim Possible was a very beautiful woman.
Her athletic body was tightly muscled without being bulky, her feminine curves subtle but all too obvious. Her red hair made her stand out in a crowd, but it was her emerald green eyes that commanded attention to her soft features. Her skin was fair and unlined, but there were a few telltale scars here and there that bespoke of dangers past, and survived.
Wearing a white summer dress and pale pink jacket, Kim collected her purse and exited the training facility via an egress designed to appear inconspicuous to the general public. The external façade was that of a hardware store, and in fact it did sell hardware.
As Kim walked in the direction of her parked car, a musical tone chirped from her purse. As if to vindicate Pavlov, the small device was removed and lifted to her face in a motion that required no thought at all.
Its creator, who presumably was using it to contact her now, had dubbed this miraculous machine the Kimmunicator. A communications and scanning tool with a global range, the device allowed Kim to remain linked to her ‘Team Possible’ network day and night.
“What’s the sitch, Wade?” Glancing down at the tiny screen, Kim stopped in her tracks from shock. Then her shock gave way to amusement as her laugh caused several people to turn their heads in her direction.
“Whaaazzzzaaaap!” The young boy on the screen was wearing an outlandish costume. A child genius capable of designing and manufacturing miracles of technology while also maintaining constantly aware of world events and the flow of information over the Internet, Wade Load had no equal. He was the only member of ‘Team Possible’ not do field work; he suffered from an extreme case of agoraphobia and only left his room under the most dire of circumstances.
Right now, Wade was wearing a neon pink T-shirt that had ‘Kim #1’ emblazoned on it, a pair of glittering sunglasses on, a shimmering red wig of tinsel, and a large foam ‘#1’ hand on his own right hand. He was dancing in front of his web cam.
“Whaazzaap, yourself, Wade! What’s going on?” Kim didn’t know what was more hilarious; was it that this normally well-controlled boy was acting so strange, or that he obviously wanted Kim to see him like this.
Kim was answered by a falsetto voice.
“Hi, Kids! I’m Kim Possible! I kick serious buttage!” At this he turned around and bent over, the seat of his jeans pointed to the camera.
Kim quickly walked into a nearby alley before she burst out laughing.
“So I guess you’ve already talked to Ron?”
At this the boy pushed an unseen button; several pairs of robotic hands came into view, each holding a pen and writing tablet. Kim thought she could hear the strains of ‘Happy Days Are Here Again’. Again came the falsetto voice.
“What was that? I cannot hear you over all of my adoring fans!” Wade began to give mock autographs.
Kim decided to end this before she either made a scene or accidentally wet herself from laughing so hard.
“Alright, alright! I get the point! Now please knock it off or I swear that I’ll tell your mother how you dress when she’s not around!”
With a huge grin, Wade removed the wig and glasses, revealing his dark skin and well-trimmed black hair. Another unseen control caused the various props to disappear. Once seated at his normal post in front of his array of terminals, only the T-shirt and foam ‘#1’ mitt were out of character.
“Yes, I did speak to Ron, not more than ten minutes ago. Congratulations, Kim. I really mean tat; no one worked harder for this than you have. Not that I needed to get the ‘411’ entirely from Ron, though.”
Kim knew better than to acknowledge that statement over a potentially open channel. Wade frequently adjusted the broadcast encryption of the Kimmunicator, but neither of them wanted GJ to get a hint that Wade had long since hacked their security. He had likely been watching the whole show on their internal monitoring cameras.
As if reading her mind, he held up a home-burned DVD and a VHS tape cassette.
“Paper or plastic?”
“Plastic, please and thank you.” Wade placed the DVD in a cardboard mailing envelope to send to Kim later. Wade instinctively knew that Kim would want to review her moves at a later time and see how she could have done better.
“Wade, listen, you’ve always been a good friend and member of ‘Team Possible’. I can’t thank you enough for the way you’ve supported the network over the past year.”
“Actually you can; thank me enough, that is. You’ve done nothing but thank me and I don’t feel that I can live up to it. The world needs heroes, Kim, but you needed the time off. No one wants you safe and sound as much as Ron and I do, especially now.”
“So, when’re we getting the band back together? You know, the Team?”
Kim’s question seemed to strike the boy with sudden inspiration. He turned away from the camera and rummaged though his closet. He came back into view wearing dark sunglasses and a black fedora.
“The band. The band? The BAND!” A few quick keystrokes later, and Kim could hear the theme from ‘The Blues Brothers’ playing in the background. Wade started dancing again and raised his hands over his head.
Kim guessed what was about to happen.
“Wait, Wade! Don’t…!”
Wade took a few steps backward and flipped forward into a handstand. He was apparently going to perform a front-flip, but didn’t have the skill or training. He lost his balance mid-flip and his feet crashed down onto his cluttered desk.
Torn between feeling panic and wanting to laugh, Kim watched for any sign that Wade was unhurt. Eventually, a shaky foam ‘#1’ hand rose up and over the edge of the desk.
“I’m Ok, I’m alright!” The foam index finger poked blindly at the nearest keyboard until the desired key was pressed. The screen of the Kimmunicator went blank.
Smiling and with a heart that was buoyed with laughter, Kim giggled as she walked to her car.
The late morning traffic was mild as Kim drove across town. She was heading to her parent’s home to meet another good friend and also make a very special pick-up.
The house was not overly large, just the right size for a large and active family. Kim had started to think of the house as ‘hers’ less and less over the past few months, even though her parents had been adamant that she would always have a home there and would always be welcome.
Her life had taken a new orbit around a different star.
Parking across the street to avid getting blocked in once her parents returned, Kim walked up to the door. She felt like a stranger, though it had been less than a week since she’d last been here. Today’s events had led her through a doorway of greater import than any carved from wood; she had taken another step in the reinvention of Kim Possible.
The foyer was bright and quiet, but the quiet didn’t last long.
“Kim! Kim!” The same voice but from different throats. Two short bodies ran at her from different directions and Kim knew how she must react.
Quickly removing her jacket, she hurled it in the face of one charging form. Distracted, she was able to leap over it’s head with ease. Using her purse as another projectile, she aimed it the feet of the other running figure, causing it to trip. This in turn created a literal stumbling block for the first body; they both collapsed together in a tangled heap of arms and legs.
This gave Kim the time she needed to present her secret weapon: tickling.
The two boys were laughing so hard that their faced grew red and they were unable to breathe. Kim was relentless and did not let up until the tears ran freely and they were helpless. Then she at down on the floor beside them and pulled them close.
Jim and Tim Possible were twins. Born when Kim was around five years old, they were as brilliant as their parents and rambunctious as well. Dubbed the ‘Tweebs’ by Kim when they were all very young, they had been a frequent cause for consternation and conflict between the older and younger siblings for a long time.
The Possible household would not have recognized real strife, however. There was nothing but love in his family and Kim cared deeply for her brothers. She would go to the ends of the Earth for them and they in turn would have defended their sister only as brothers can.
“Oh! You two…” Kim was teary-eyed herself, crushing the boys against her in a hug.
“Say it!” She couldn’t tell which of them had spoken.
“You two Tweebs!” Kim laughed as she pushed them gently away.
The giggling boys clasped hands.
“Hoosha!”
They all stood and brushed themselves off. The ruckus earned the attention of another guest in the Possible home, but this time it was not a member of the family.
A trim young woman walked into the foyer. There was a determined scowl on her dark features and her brows were lowered over dark eyes. She did not look happy.
“You…” she pointed directly at Kim, who forced a serious look on her own face.
“… I will deal with later. As for you two… get your scrawny keisters back to the kitchen and finish washing the breakfast dishes. I will not have it said that I was not a suitable babysitter!”
The boys returned Kim’s jacket and purse, but she didn’t let them go until she had given them each a big kiss on the forehead. They ran towards the kitchen with a cry of “Hicka-bicka-boo!”
The dark woman advanced on Kim.
“Do you know how much noise you just made? What if you woke…”
“I’m really sorry. We were just playing, honest.” It was at this point that Kim brought out the big gun. If tickling was her secret weapon, the ‘puppy dog pout’ was her big gun.
Lowering her head on her neck, drawing in her shoulders and looking at the other woman with soulful eyes that suddenly seemed much too large for her face, Kim stuck out her lower lip and just stood there.
“Nuts! Damn it, girlfriend! Don’t… I mean it… ahh! My eyes! I submit to the ‘Pout’!
As quick as that, the dark woman walked to Kim and embraced her warmly. Kim returned the affection easily.
Monique was Kim’s other best friend. When the trials and tribulations of fighting crime or high school had been too much for a simple ‘Naco’ to cure, Monique was always there with fashion tips, suggestions on dating and a shoulder to cry on.
“Am I the first person to offer you their congratulations?”
“I promise that you are definitely among the first thousand people to do so!”
The two young women slowly walked deeper into the house, arm in arm, catching up on personal events that had occurred since they had last see each other.
Although to admit it opening would have sounded trite in her own ears, Kim was becoming tired of the praise she’d been receiving since that morning. The successful completion of the test had proven to her what she needed to know: she was as good as she’d even been, probably better.
Kim needed to feel loved, but she didn’t bask in the glory of her deeds. She wasn’t a hero for the praise or reward; she’d never collected one thin dime for her years of service, just cashed in the occasional favor for transportation somewhere. If it was accolades she wanted they could be had in abundance, and she’d have been welcome to them.
But right now, even if it had only been a matter of days since she’d last talked with Monique; nothing made her happier than just being a normal everyday girl.
Eventually the conversation turned to the inevitable.
“Can I go up and see them?”
“Wayamf?”
Kim still didn’t always follow Monique’s verbal shorthand.
“I beg your pardon?”
“What are you asking me for? Go ahead, I’ll stay down here and watch the terror twins.” Monique smiled as Kim started to climb the stairs to the upper level.
The door at the end of the hall was shut fast, but Kim still moved quietly. She carefully opened the door and entered the room, which had been her own room once upon a time. There in the corner across from the window were the two objects that had sent her life spinning in a totally unexpected direction. She would not have traded anything for it in a million years.
Sleeping like two little angels on a bassinette cloud were her twin daughters. Born only a few months ago, they were the result of a fiendish plot to remove Kim Possible from the world-saving business forever.
Although both the same size and weight, one child had bright red hair jut like Kim’s. This baby was the more active of the two and had to be watched constantly when she was awake. Her name was Kasy Ann Possible.
The other child had black hair and a more reserved personality. This baby watched everyone and everything, and listened intently when anyone was speaking. Her name was Sheki Go Possible.
They were both healthy little girls, which is very odd considering how they were conceived. Kim had been a virgin right up until about halfway through her pregnancy.
The plot was created by one of Kim’s more frequent arch-foes, Dr. Drakken. His real name was Drew Lipsky, once a peer of her father, and now a raving madman using warped science to attempt to conquer the world.
He had created a retrovirus designed to make Kim become pregnant. The only remaining ingredient was another sample of DNA to balance out the chromosomes. That sample had come from an unwitting donor, someone who not only wasn’t aware of Drakken’s plan, but also someone who became highly agitated when they found out what had been done.
Sheki’s black hair was a trait passed on by that donor. Both children had received another donated trait: they had inherited pale green skin with green undertones.
Kim bent over the sleeping children. Kim had been too young and too immature to become pregnant at that point in her life. Thanks to the love and support of her family and friends, two lovely little miracles had been brought full term into the world.
She could not have loved these two children more, regardless of how they came to be. Kim gently blew in their faces and nuzzled them with her lips; primitive though it might seem, it had always felt right to her. They were her offspring, a part of her mixed with someone else.
The tiny bodies stirred, opening their eyes and curling tiny fists.
“Hello, sleeping beauties. Mommy’s here.”
It was unearthly how babies so tiny could look at someone so pointedly. The little girls always seemed to recognize Kim and were as good as gold for her. They cooed and swatted at her face, their own little faces forming the closest approximation of smiles that they were able.
Kim moved her daughters to her old bed and lay down beside them. She played with them and checked them over carefully. She had just finished cleaning them up when Monique walked into the room.
“Did you wake them up, after what I said downstairs?” Monique’s face was serious, but her tone was not.
“Sorry, I just couldn’t resist.” Kim turned to Monique as the dark woman walked up beside her. They both coddled the infants together.
“I’ve been a baby sitter for as long as you, girlfriend, and I’ve never seen babies react to their parents like these two react to you.”
“My schedule today has been pretty full, but I can’t be away from them for too long. It starts to hurt, you know, right here.” Kim pointed to her chest.
“I really want to have them with me all the time, but I can’t exactly manage that, can I? I’m very fortunate to have great parents and great friends,” Kim hugged Monique around the waist with one arm, “to watch them for me. I hope that I’m not burdening anyone.”
“Girlfriend, I don’t think that you’re genetically capable of taking advantage of somebody.”
“Maybe not, but I did manage to have two babies in a most unorthodox fashion, wouldn’t you say?”
Monique was looking down at the tiny girls, who were already making signs of going back to sleep. She didn’t answer Kim’s last question but instead answered the one before it.
“Personally, I’m glad for this opportunity as practice for having kids of my own. I never thought about it much, until I started looking after these two. I think about it a lot now.”
Kim was surprised to hear this. Monique had simply never shared her thoughts about having children with Kim before.
“So, what do you have in mind?”
“Well, nothing as elaborate as you, TFS.” Kim took that to mean ‘that’s for sure’.
“Meet anyone special that I should know about?”
“No, still not going steady with anyone right now, but I’ve been thinking…”
As outspoken as she usually was, it was did for Monique to not finish a sentence.
“Thinking about what, exactly?”
“Thinking that maybe I shouldn’t stand on formality. Thinking that maybe I should cut to the chase and not wait around for ‘Mr. Right’. Like maybe I could just schedule a visit to the hospital and save some poor sap the cost of dinner and a movie.”
Kim wondered if Monique was feeling too much like she was discussing something ‘wrong’. It might be time to break the tension.
“Well, how about at least ‘Mr. Right Now’?”
Monique was glad to have Kim as her friend. She’d been discussing something personal with her best friend that was supposed to be happy, and not feel saddened or as if it were taboo.
“Sister girl, if you can introduce me to ‘Mr. Right On’, then we’ll talk. Until then, I have some more thinking to do.”
“Monique, I understand what you’re saying, and I don’t disapprove. Wanting a man is one thing, wanting a baby is another. These days the two issues don’t have as much to do with each other as they used to. When I say that it’s your choice, that’s exactly what I mean and you aren’t to read anything else into that. You are my best girl friend in the whole world and I’ll love you, and your children, no matter what.”
Monique was too choked up to speak right away, which was just as well because Kim wasn’t quite finished and her face grew serious.
“Except…”
“What? Except what?”
“Well, no it’s nothing.”
“Kim, except for what?”
“Well, the only thing that could ruin our friendship would be… no, never mind, it’s not important.”
“Ghaa! What are you saying to me?”
“Well, if you ever have a child, and I really hope that you do, it’d better be brown and not green.” Kim winked at Monique.
Monique lunged at Kim, who quickly alerted her to the fact that the babies were asleep again. The two women quietly exited the room and the door was gently shut before there was the sound of someone being slapped on the back of the head.
The two ran, laughing, back down the stairs.
Leaving her children again, even if only for a few more hours, pulled at Kim’s heartstrings. She would be returning to her family home later that evening, so it made little sense to take them with her. Regardless, it was as if she’d chosen to leave one of her limbs or an organ behind.
Kim’s busy day was just over half over. She still had one more person to face today. She’d been looking forward to, and dreading, this meeting all day.
The late afternoon traffic was rather heavy, and there were a few delays caused by those folks gong home from work. Kim remembered her hometown before it had grown up and become so developed. There were more business and factories at the outskirts of town than she ever recalled from when she was a child, and a few of those factories had been around log enough to close and turn to industrial tombstones.
Kim eventually reached the apartment building, but sat outside in her car for a few extra minutes. She was not preparing a mental speech; she had too much love a respect for the person that she was about to speak to for that.
Rather, Kim just wanted to clear her mind, let her reasons and intentions rest comfortably in her conscience. If she did that, and spoke from the heart instead of the mind, she knew that all would be well.
This was still going to hurt.
The door was locked, as usual. Her key gained her immediate access, which was expected. The rooms were all dark and silent; this was proof that this wouldn’t be easy for either of them.
Kim found who she was looking for in the bedroom. The rays of the lowering sun were providing enough illumination that she could see someone seated at the vanity table across from the bed.
There was a tall, well built woman seated at the vanity. She was long of limb and slightly more muscular than Kim was, and her skin-tight green and black jumpsuit made an excellent show of her feminine curves. She had long black hair, scintillating with green highlights that almost shimmered gold in the setting sun, and that hair flowed like a living shadow to the floor.
Kim was struck by the fact that there was still an outfit of casual dress laid out on the bed, and that the occupant of the room was still wearing her uniform from that morning. Kim walked across the room and perched on the edge of the vanity stool, facing away from the other woman, love-seat fashion.
They weren’t actually touching, but there wasn’t room between them for anything except their history.
The tall woman’s name was Shego; at least that was the name that Kim and much of the world knew her by. While some of her past was known to a very select group of people, much more of it was still a mystery.
Once upon a time, four brothers and their sister lived in a large mid-western town. They were presumably happy; they even had a tree house where the children would go to play. One day, a billon year old chunk of rock, after traveling uncounted distances and soaking in undreamt of energies, plummeted to Earth and struck the ground in the vicinity of the tree house. The children were fortunate to have survived.
As a result of the encounter with this meteor, each child gained a fantastic, but very specific, power. Shego had the ability to generate a field of super-heated plasma around her hands. The effect of the field allowed her to burn through the strongest substances, or to increase the force of her punches by many, many times their normal strength. She could reduce the power of the field to less harmful levels, and she could create globes of plasma that she could launch from her hand; these were accurate for short distances and exploded like a grenade.
Along with her brothers, Shego formed part of a team of heroes dedicated to keeping their city free from crime. In time, the stresses put upon her by the expectations of others, and those she had for herself, caused her to become disillusioned. Shego walked away from her family, her home and her past. She would deal with the world on her terms, alone.
Her powers had made her a desirable commodity and she had learned many other skills since she had left ‘Team Go’ years before. Shego had made a name for herself in the underworld community as a thief without equal, and her espionage skills were on par with any Federal agency known, or otherwise. She was also an excellent pilot.
When Shego first entered Kim Possible’s life, her main goal was to end it.
Marketing herself as a mercenary, Shego had been in the employ of Dr. Drakken when the two of them ran afoul of Kim Possible. What technology that Drakken couldn’t, or didn’t have time to, create on his own, Shego was paid to steal. She was paid very well. But the money was a secondary motivator to do the best job that she could; Shego wanted to make a name for herself as ‘The Best’.
Kim and Shego fought many times over the next few years, often as not to a standstill. Shego’s brute force and special powers were oddly matched by the determination and athletic skill of her slightly younger nemesis. That, and also that Shego often limited herself by thinking only within the boundaries she’d drawn from her own bitterness. Kim, on the other hand, was to naïve to know when she should quit.
In time, familiarity bred a grudging respect for each other’s abilities if not their beliefs. This was the basis of a deep trust that each formed for the other, though they would neither have admitted to it, nor made use of it except under the most extreme circumstances.
Those circumstances occurred when Shego’s DNA was used to impregnate Kim.
Since she had long known that the energies that had given her great power had also change her body at the genetic level, Shego had resigned herself to the likelihood that she might never be able to become pregnant or carry a child. Once learning what had been done to Kim, and how, struck a seriously sore point with Shego.
Once her initial rage had subsided, Shego made contact with Kim and fully explained the cause of Kim’s unexpected predicament. Shego also made it clear that she wanted to be with Kim during the younger woman’s pregnancy and to be there to help raise their child.
It was this event, and the adventures and stresses of the weeks that followed, that made it painfully clear to both of them that their feelings of respect and trust for each other were ready to become something so much more. They started to love each other.
While most of their differences were either blatantly physical or deeply rooted in their psyches, the two women complimented each other perfectly. Although there was a dark period when Kim refused to accept the thought that she might be gay or could feel intimate love and affection for another woman, Kim had eventually accepted that she did love Shego, regardless of labels or what that meant to other people. Kim accepted the other woman’s not-so-subtle advances and reciprocated with the same degree of love and affection.
This didn’t change who they were, and didn’t completely change who they were to each other. If anything, their relationship just kept getting more complicated to deal with.
And this was why Kim found herself sitting quietly to Shego this evening, and not defending herself from crippling blows. She would have preferred the later, however.
“We can talk about this now if you’d like. Or later, whichever you’d prefer.”
Shego had been sitting with her face lowered, the setting sun slowly darkening the room. She hadn’t spoken and didn’t move. She might have been a statue.
I’m not going to apologize. I needed this; you know as well as I do that I needed this.”
There was a deep intake of breath, as if Shego were returning to life.
“I did exactly what you asked me to do.”
“Yes, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart that you did.”
“…”
Shego was shaking but no words came forth. Kim reached around in front of Shego, and half turned so that she could embrace the woman that she was proud to call her wife.
“Please, don’t hold this in. I need you to talk to me about this.”
“I did EXACTLY what you asked me to do! Do you KNOW what that means?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I fought you with EVERYTHING I had. I couldn’t even BE with you last night, the night before one of the most important events in YOUR life, because if I even SAW you before this MORNING I wouldn’t have been able to try to KILL you this morning!”
Kim knew all of this, and Shego needed to get it out of her system.
“How could I live with myself if I couldn’t measure up to the best?”
“DAMN IT, you won’t kill! I CAN kill. You might as well have been locked in a room with a wild animal.” Shego’s face had raised, but she didn’t move one inch to look at her spouse.
“You used me.”
“I have my entire life to make it up to you, a life that only has value because you gave it value. You’ve saved me as surely as if you’d given me a lung or a kidney.”
“You are my WIFE, you are the MOTHER to our CHILDREN! And you asked me to fight you! No, not fight you; HURT you. Attack you with all the intention of KILLING you!”
“Hey, remember that I’m no slouch. I was ready for anything that you could do to me. We’ve been sparing weekly for months.”
Shego was looking at her now, tears running down her cheeks.
“I don’t have this switch in my head that I turn off and on to stop and start loving you! I had to force myself to NOT love you for the past twenty-four hours just so I could do what you wanted me to do this morning. I can’t do that. I won’t ever to that again. NEVER ask me to do that again!”
“Tell me if you understand.”
“You promise me that you’ll never ask me to do that again.”
“From the bottom of my heart, I promise that I will never ask you to do that again. Now, tell me if you understand.”
Shego looked away to the window. The sun was below the horizon and here wasn’t enough ambient light to see anything clearly anymore. She turned on the light over the vanity.
“Yes, I understand. If the roles were reversed, I would have asked you to do the same for me. I would have begged and pleaded, just as you’ve done for the past few months with me.”
“And it would be the same for me as it is with you. The only difference is that you’re stronger than I. You’re able to handle this better, both during and after. I might have failed you and done less than my best. You would ever trust me again.”
Shego found a tissue on the cluttered vanity and wiped her face. Kim knew that each of them had meant every word shared. It had to happen; it would cauterize the wound made in their hearts that morning.
“You aren’t wired that way, Pumpkin. You can’t do less than one hundred percent.”
“Well, I was able to learn from the best.”
“Yep, I’m the best. But if you’ve learned from the best, what’s that make you?”
Kim’s heart was lighter, knowing that they’d weathered this storm. If this morning’s exercise had failed, the least of her worries would have been the injuries she might have suffered. Trust would have been shaken, either for herself or for Shego.
“What this makes both of us is late for dinner at my parents house is we don’t get moving.”
Kim stood and grabbed Shego’s outfit from the bed.
“Still feel like going?”
“Sure, and let go of that blouse, you’ll wrinkle it.”
Kim relinquished the blouse and left Shego alone to get ready. She already heard the shower running before she’d left the bedroom. Making a quick telephone call to her parents to assure then that both Kim and Shego were still coming, Kim returned to the bedroom to find Shego already drying off.
“Wow, you could teach the Navy a few things about the ‘two minute shower’.
“I’ll let my hair dry on the way over.”
“I saw you talking with my parents this morning before you left.”
Kim had been curious about that all day. She let the question hang there; Shego would answer it or she wouldn’t.
“I’d called them a few days ago. I said that I was thinking of backing out; I wanted to know what they thought about that.”
Kim was floored. Minutes before, Kim had admitted to Shego the likelihood that she would have failed to perform if their roles had been reversed, if Kim had to have been the attacker. Now she was hearing that Shego had felt the same.
“And they said what?”
“That I should whip your ass and hand it to you on a silver platter.”
“Oh, really?” Kim adopted a very Shego-like smirk.
“Yup, they talked me out of quitting. This morning I just needed to see their faces and hear their voices to tell me that they still understood what you were doing. And that they could forgive me for the part I played.”
“What did they say?”
“Oh, no; that’s between them and me. I wish they were my folks.”
“They are, at least they are now. I thought you’d said that my Dad had a talk with you about that a few months ago?”
“He did. I’m just glad that we have them.”
“You and me both.”
Shego was ready to go. The night had claimed rule over the vanquished day and a million little candles lighted the town of Middleton.
“I can smell then on you.”
“What? Who, my parents?”
“No, the girls. I can smell them on you; the talcum you used when changing them, the detergent we use on their blankets. I haven’t seen them in over a day.”
Kim embraced the taller woman and escorted her to the door
“Well, then, let’s get you to them. They missed us both, I could tell.”
“No, they missed you. You’re more of a mother to them than I’ll ever be.”
Kim stopped so fast that she had to keep from tripping.
“Don’t ever say that again! They are as much yours as they are mine.”
Shego was shamefaced, something that would never have happened once upon a time.
“Sorry.”
“Damn straight you are” Kim hugged Shego tighter to emphasize that she wasn’t really angry.
“I just miss them when I’m away too long.” Shego pointed vaguely to her chest.
“There’s a pain, right here.”
The apartment door was closed and the two wandered out into the night, no longer lost, having found each other, guided towards family.
To be continued…