The Last Summer of Youth

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please be gentle. I was inspired by AlyssC01 and her KiGO fanfiction series, "The Touch of Green Fire"

s/3565753/1/The-Touch-of-Green-Fire

It's worth a read. If you have reviews or comments, I'll gladly take them! Constructive criticism is always a plus. Lastly, enjoy!

Graduation had come and gone, and now Kim Possible found herself staring down the barrel of a long summer, and the uncomfortable prospect of the separation between her and Ron at summer's end. She had, of course, received a veritable mountain of requests from colleges stateside and abroad. As the progeny of a Bona fide brain surgeon and a certified rocket scientist, Kim had the pick of anywhere on the globe, and the grades to back it up.

Sitting in her bedroom with a map of the continental United States, along with her laptop, Kimmunicator and a handful of the acceptance letters that she'd whittled the mountain down to, Kim hemmed and hawed over her choice of College. Of course, she had to admit the fact that she had often saved notable people and on the very rare occasions, whole cities also tended to tip the scales in her favor. If she was honest with herself, she'd be smart to pick the school with the best program in whatever she was interested in..whatever that may be. A part of herself envied Ron. He'd only gotten into a handful of schools, and was limited further by what his parents could afford, but for a single very notable exception: The Institute of Culinary Education in New York. The school had apparently gotten wind of Ron's insane and sometimes wildly successful culinary exploits, and offered a full ride. Needless to say, he'd taken to the idea with Ron-only levels of enthusiasm, and had been reminding Kim of his luck at every turn.

All of this left Kim in a very uncomfortable position. Did she go to New York, or somewhere similar on the East Coast, and find a notable school that had what she wanted? Certainly a whole coast had someplace that could provide her with the education she wanted, she reasoned. Even if the main reason was to be close to her boyfriend. Or did she go her own way-into the unknown, and away from the one unchanging constant in her life since Pre-K? For all the talk of nothing changing just prior to the Lowardian invasion...Kim had to quietly admit to herself that things had changed. Hell, even the house she was living in for the summer was new, the old one she had grown up in little more than dust and memories, itself a casualty of the Lowardian Invasion.

In a petulant sweep of her arm frustration accompanied by a soft growl, Kim swept the bundle of letters and the map into a heap on the floor. And as if relief came from on high, the Kimmunicator trilled the transmission signal. Grinning, Kim scooped the device up with a flourish, eager to focus on something she could handle. "What's the sitch, Wade?" She crowed, slapping the little device on her wrist."There's been a series of small-time heists across the Tri-City area." Kim grimaced, sighing a little. It sounded like small potatoes but right now, it was better than facing the future. "And?" she prompted. "It's all basic super-sleuthing spy stuff: Ropes, grapples, Night vision-all from different places. Normally I'd just alert police but..." Wade shrugged. "It seemed like a pattern worth investigating." Kim nodded. "Any idea where the next one might happen?" Wade made a few keystrokes, and a small map of downtown Middleton replaced his image. "Not far, actually. Place called Xtreme Adventure. They sell cheap knock offs of the mission equipment you use." Kim was already in motion, slinging on her classic mission gear as Wade briefed her. She paused for a split second, "There's a market for that?" she asked, incredulous. "Apparently you're a hot costume idea." Kim groaned, rolling her eyes. "So, I've gone from fashion statement to Halloween idea. Fantastic," she deadpanned. Kim sighed, then nodded at Wade's tiny image on her wrist Kimmunicator. "Okay. I'm on it. Let Ron know I'll be over to pick him up in a bit."

"You got it, Kim." Wade nodded curtly back at her, and the little watch phone when silent. Kim yanked on her mission shirt, and loaded up her belt and cargo pants and was out the door and down the stairs. Without missing a beat, her father called, as Kim sped by, "Let us know if you're going out of the country! We'll save leftovers!" Kim waved behind her as she bounded out the door. "I'll be fine! Just save me some of Mom's mashed potatoes!" She was in her car and on her way to Ron's before the front door finished closing.

Kim and Ron were on stake out, and had been for the last hour and half. Ron was in the car watching the front entrance, While Kim sat on the Roof watching the access door, wreathed in the shadow of the building's massive air conditioner. Her Kimmunicator beeped. "Go Wade." she murmured. To her mild but quickly fading surprise, Ron's voice sounded from the little device. "You decided yet on where you're gonna go, KP?" He asked. Kim rolled her eyes before looking down at the little screen at her wrist. "Not now Ron. We're busy." She grated. A short silent pause from Ron's end, then: "Busy waiting for what, KP? We've been here like, an hour and a half. Rufus is getting antsy and I'm having a serious hankering for some Bueno Nacho." The tinny voice of Rufus sounded from the speaker on Kim's wrist giving his agreement. "Wade thinks this is a likely target. When has he ever been wrong, Ron?" The tiny image of Ron on her screen quibbled. "Not recently?" Kim rolled her eyes and sighed in part humor, part exasperation. "Try not ever, Ron. As for the college stuff..Not yet." she answered, but then quickly amended: "But now's not the time." She offered Ron a weak and unconvincing smile. "Really, no big. Now, focus Ron. Promise we'll talk after." With a sense of finality she disconnected the call.

And, it seemed in not a moment too soon. Lost in the shadow of the massive air conditioner, Kim was in a perfect position to watch the would-be intruder approach. Whomever it was, they were very slightly built, trim but not overly muscled. Also presumably a woman, judging from the tightly woven long braid trailing behind the thief. Kim grimaced to herself as the mental list of possible suspects dwindled rapidly. Either it was someone new-or Kim strongly suspected Shego. The idea that she had so quickly gone back to thieving after her and Drakken had been honored at the UN for saving the world from the Lowardians made Kim feel mildly disapproving. For once in her life Shego had the freedom to live openly, and Kim found it strangely upsetting that Shego might have gone right back to her old ways. This was all assuming of course, that it was Shego. Part of Kim held out hope this was someone else.

She watched as the nimble thief completed several silent hand springs until reaching the middle of the shop's roof, landing lightly and quickly withdrawing...a laser cutter? Kim frowned as the figure spun in a smooth, perfect circle, the laser inches from their toes. At the completion of the circle the burglar spared a soft chuckle, then vanished down the hole. Kim creeped from her spot to reconnoiter the perfectly cut circle in the roof. "Ron!" she hissed into her Kimmunicator, doing her best to keep quiet. "Yup, that's the name!" Ron's tinny voice seemed to shout at her in the tense silence of the roof. "Rufus and I are just chillin' like a pair of villains here! Well, not real villains, but you get the idea.." Ron rambled. "Quiet! Our thief just went right past me, and cut a hole in the roof. I'm following. Get to the front door in case they make a break!" Kim hissed. "You got it KP!" Ron responded, doing his best stage whisper.

Kim edged to the rim of the hole and peeked down into the gloom, just making out her target perusing a selection of personal automatic winches. With the ease of a trained acrobat herself, Kim flipped though the hole and swung into the rafters, landing with feline grace. She kept her eyes on the figure below her, still struggling to make out any semblance of identity. If it was Shego, then she'd abandoned her traditional black-and-green number opting instead for swaddled black clothes. When she found herself directly over her quarry she dropped silently behind them. She held her breath for a split second, fearing her target would react. When they didn't, she grinned and nonchalantly tapped the thief on the shoulder. In a moment of life imitating art, they turned just as Kim swung her fist, and promptly dropped bonelessly to the floor. Kim dusted her hands on her pants, and waited an extra heartbeat for any retaliation. When none came she signaled Ron. "Come on in. All clear. I got her." She thumbed the cracker program on her Kimmunicator and pointed it at the electric door. Ron ambled though the front entrance as if entering a store in the dead of night with no one save Kim Possible and an unconscious body was normal. And perhaps, for Ronald Stoppable, after years of being Kim's sidekick, it was.

"Wow, KP. One punch? Just swing that ol' haymaker and POW! Lights out!" Ron crowed. "Remind me to never go into boxing against you." He looked around at the series of faceless mannequins with the same outfit as him and Kim draped over them, along with all manner of adventure gear that lined the aisle him and Kim and their unknown thief were in, then back at Kim. "You'd think I'd be all for it, with our stuff on'em, but those mannequins creep me out." Kim simply rolled her eyes and focused on the unconscious form between them. "Why would breaking into a adventure shop-in the dead of night-to steal clothes that look like me be so important to go to all this trouble?" Kim wondered aloud. "Biggest fan?" Ron offered. Kim shivered at the idea that fanatical worship of her crime fighting exploits had lead to a series of break ins. "I find that creepier than the mannequins, personally." she shot back at Ron, grinning. She bent down to pull off the wrapped cloth mask to reveal...someone she'd never seen before. A young woman, clearly in her early twenties, perhaps late teens. Dark black hair, but with a lightly tanned complexion. Pretty in a rugged, hard as nails sort-of-way. Kim put her hands on her hips and simply shrugged. "Huh."

~888~

Shego was bored. Ever since her and Dr. Drakken had helped Kim and the Buffon in saving the world, her thieving and sneaking not to mention-fighting-days seemed over. With all the money she'd made during various capers, and the bonus they'd received after all the fighting she'd done...She could easily retire to a life of cabana boys and drinks in the sun, if she invested carefully. Even if she didn't she could do it for months, even years. And so with some reckless abandon, she had. And for the first month and a half she'd loved it. Reveled in it. But by the third month she was beginning to get restless. It all felt so airy..so inconsequential. Like none if it mattered. She'd already nearly fried one server when he kept pestering her for more drinks, realizing he was planning on mining her for tips. She missed smashing windows, grabbing priceless artifacts and flying fast and experimental crafts on missions for Drakken's wild and often disastrous schemes.

But most of all, Shego missed the thrill of the fight. Except for some very rare occasions, when ever her and Kimmie ended up together, they were fighting. It felt like a dangerous ballet, a carefully timed dance and yet a competition. They had both saved each other from death on several occasions, and had just as readily let each other fend for themselves, confident that they would either save themselves or they just weren't worthy of being foes. Of course when the situation required it they'd fought together, back-to-back or side-to-side trading blows and enemies as easily as they traded barbs and jabs. Privately she admitted that she would be furious if anyone killed her Kimmie, most of all herself. They had cultivated a strange relationship as mutual antagonists, and Shego had to admit part of her wanted it back. She held up a hand and idly summoned a ball of latent green plasma, hurling it at the waves, watching it pop and flash satisfyingly against the churning water. She sighed. Maybe she should go back to Dr. D? Find out what sort of wild insanity he had cooked up this time? Rest was over. It was time to go back to work, Shego decided. It wasn't until she had reached her room to pack up, that Shego realized she was grinning.

~888~

Kim and Ron stood at the front doors to Xtreme Adventure, debriefing the middleton police force. This was the part of her hobby that Kim liked the least. Filling out paperwork had never been something she was generally interested in. Though Kim was more often than not spared from such drudgery because she was dealing with supervillans, leaving the more mundane clerk and cleanup work to Crime fighting organizations like Global Justice. On rare occasions she had to deal with government agents: INTERPOL, CIA or the FBI and had found them all generally distasteful. At least GJ had some standards. Police work, was often the most boring of all. Kim suffered through the interviews and filling out a few affidavits, often repeating things she'd told different officers multiple times. By the time the police released both her and Ron it was already 9:30, on a heist job where the action had started at 6:30. Kim stretched and yawned before her car, then pulled open the door and threw herself into the driver's seat. She looked over at Ron, who matched her look with similarly bored expression. "As tempted Cure for a slow night of crime fighting: Survey says late night Nacos." She said, grinning. As if flipping a coin, Ron's expression immediately turned to one of joy. "You're on, KP!" Ron grinned, and pumped his fist. At the mention of Nacos Ron's naked mole rat Rufus, who'd been napping in Ron's pocket the entire night, popped out. "Naco's?" He chirped, a wild grin on his face. Kim leaned back in her seat, started the car with a warm smile. Perhaps, she and Ron could make this summer worth it. Kim turned out of the parking lot, leaving the crime scene behind, and sped away, into the night.