A far more involved summary: The night following the Lorwardian Invasion, a master astrobiologist is kidnapped by an unknown organization. Kim Possible, Ron Stoppable, Drakken and Shego are partially recruited - partially held hostage - by a small, but well-equipped group known simply as Syndicate. They are secretive, and two of their members have begrudging, unbreakable ties to Drakken and Shego.
Global Justice (and Kim) doesn't approve or like them, but with the astrobiologist's disappearance and new - seemingly alien - threats develop across the globe, Kim, GJ, and Syndicate decide to team up. Drakken and Shego join the group, as well.
Twists, turns, moles, vagrants, violence, and moral ambiguity turn Kim's world upside down as she, Ron, Drakken, and Shego delve deeper into the Syndicate and its activities.
Things I will say about this story: It's dark.
There will be Kim/Ron and Drakken/Shego.
The story is AU-ish, and there will be OCs and OOCs. I've taken great lengths in developing them (the OCs, that is), so I hope you all like them.
This is my first attempt at a fanfic in general, so, please, no flames. If you don't like it, fine - but don't be rude or cruel about it.
Please R&R! Reviews are awesome! And you're awesome! Ergo - You leaving reviews is SUPER awesome.
Oh. Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible, its characters, its locations, etc.
In the hours following the invasion, the governments of the world took quick steps to try and rectify the situation. Sporting arenas and schools were converted to emergency housing and hospitals for people whose homes were destroyed and needed aide. People, whose homes weren't ruined, opened their doors to family, friends, and strangers who weren't as lucky.
However, helpful agendas were not the only ones being carried out. Across the globe, the same governments and their corresponding agencies were hurriedly collecting what scraps of the Lorwardian ship had plummeted to earth. Mostly, this was to make sure that people didn't go picking up things that were harmful. But, it was also to collect rare bits of alien technology, so that they could be studied further. No government officials were willing to say anything, but there were fears that opposing countries might try to manipulate the Lorwardian weapons and use them against each other.
This held true for the United States, as well. All over the country, the military had deployed several units to help its citizens, and to collect the wreckage. The artifacts gathered were then sent to Area 51 to be analyzed.
Artemis Vrishkov had been employed by the US military since the early 1990s. He'd grown up in the USSR, and had been taught and trained at the country's Academy of Sciences. He went on to earn a Ph.D. in astrobiology, and assisted in the last few stages of Sputnik's creation.
As the political foundation of the USSR began to crumble, Artemis was recruited by the US's space program, and he moved to Nevada to be apart of Area 51 and its research. His knowledge concerning astrology and astrobiology proved incredibly useful, and he quickly ascended through the ranks at Area 51.
Artemis, now, stood at the open docking bay that was situated at the North end of the largest concrete complex of the Area 51 base. It was about 11:30 PM in the evening following the Lorwardian invasion. In the distant darkness he saw the six yellow dots of incoming army trucks. Each loaded with remnants of Lorwardian weapons and parts of their fallen vessel.
Artemis sighed, removed the glasses from his beaky nose, and rubbed them on his lab coat. He was hoping that there was at least a limb or some other appendage in this next shipment of scraps. He, and the scientists under him, had sifted through several hundred pounds of debris, and they had found several items of interest and value; but astrobiology was Artemis' true passion. He really wanted to dissect the invaders' bodies, and see how they worked; see what made them physiologically different from Homo sapiens.
The three trucks were at the barbed wire gate now. Artemis shifted his weight, anxiously. There was a systematic whirring and clanking sound as the gate of the compound slid open. Artemis' heart rate quickened with excitement as the trucks pulled through and headed towards the docking bay.
The first truck stopped about fifteen feet away from the dock. Artemis waited a few seconds before he motioned to the truck to continue to drive forward. Nothing happened at first. Then the back two trucks turned off their engines and lights, leaving the front vehicle's lights blaring on Artemis.
'Something isn't right,' Artemis though to himself.
The passenger door of the first truck opened, and someone stepped out. Because of the lighting, Artemis could only make out the individual's silhouette against the black. The man began to walk forward. The crunch of the gravel beneath his shoes sent shivers up Artemis' spine. The man walked in front the truck's headlights, making the outline of his body more pronounced. He was tall and slender, but that was all Artemis could tell about him.
"Artemis Vrishkov?"
The voice was unfamiliar. It was a man's. The accent was undistinguishable – American, but the dialect, Artemis could not place.
"Yes?" Artemis said into the light.
Before he could tell what happened, there was a whistled, a bang, a bright light, a boom, and Artemis remembered no more.
The night after the graduation, after the ceremony, after the beach party, Kim and Ron found themselves sitting on the patio at Ron's house. It had been hurriedly decided that the Possibles would stay with the Stoppables until their house was rebuilt.
The two graduates sat, curled up together, on the cushioned bench staring up at the heavens. Rufus perched on the far arm, wriggling his nose, and nibbling on a tortilla chip. There was not a cloud in the sky and the stars twinkled perfectly. It was difficult to believe that only a few short hours ago that absolute and utter terror that was the Lorwardian invasion had occurred. Now, thanks to Kim and Ron (and a begrudging Drakken and Shego), the assault was over, and all that was left of the Lorwardian's presence were a relative few defeated destructo-drones, and collapsed buildings.
"Do you think they'll be back?" Ron asked suddenly.
Kim, who had grown used to the silence, was caught off-guard by the abrupt question. "I don't know," she finally responded. And she really didn't. Surely, Warhawk and Warmonga weren't the only Lorwardians out there; the universe was a big place, after all. "But," she continued, "if they do come back, all you need to do is whip out a big helping of Monkey Kung-Fu, and problem solved!"
"Mm-Hmm! Yep!" squeaked Rufus.
Ron chuckled at that, and tightened his arm around Kim's shoulder. Another moment passed until Ron voiced another question.
"What do you think Drakken and Shego are gonna do?"
Kim pursed her lips, pondered the question, and answered, "I don't think they can go straight. Not for long, at least."
"And they're still gonna give him a medal," Ron muttered, bitterly. " How many times have you and I saved the world? And what have we gotten? SQUAT!"
"I also heard a rumor that he and Shego are going to get their criminal records wiped clean," Kim said.
Ron rolled his eyes. "That's just great."
"Maybe I'm wrong," Kim said. "Maybe they will go straight; they've done more surprising things."
"Yeah, I guess," Ron sighed, somewhat defeated.
Again, the couple sat in silence. Kim rested her head on Ron's shoulder, and Ron rested his chin on the crown of her head.
'This is the most perfect moment,' Kim thought, smiling.
The biggest mission of their life was over, and now they had the whole summer before them. Hopefully the other villains in the world would be relatively quiet so that she could spend some quality time with Ron and her family before she had to go off to college.
Kim frowned at that last thought: College. She still needed to make a decision about that. She had been accepted to all the schools she had thus far applied to, and those schools were everywhere. From the local Upperton University, to the ivy league Yale University, to Oxford University in England, and several others in between.
Ron on the other hand, had been very mum about college. Kim knew he had applied to 'everywhere', but she didn't know which, if any, had responded to his applications.
Kim truly believed what she said: "See? So not the end of the world".
However, she could not completely squelch the feeling in the pit of her stomach about being potentially separated from her best friend and boyfriend for extended periods of time. Thinking of that prospect made Kim snuggle even closer to Ron. As he brought his other arm around her in a tight embrace, the thoughts and feelings of doubt that Kim was experiencing washed away, and she was once again in the present moment.
Once Shego was able to untangled herself from Drakken's flowery appendage, she and the doctor parted ways; he went to the Round Robin and Scotch Bar, where there was an after-party following the award ceremony, and she went back up to the Jefferson suite in the Willard Hotel. She just needed to get away from all for a bit. Everything had happened so quickly: the Lorwardian Invasion was swift, her decision to help Kimmie save the world was impulsive, and now Drakken (and she, by association) were being decorated and having their criminal records expunged without so much as a trial.
As Shego stepped into the hotel lobby's elevator, she sighed heavily. She lazily pressed the suite's floor button, and the doors closed. She leaned against the wall railing as the elevator began its ascent. It was the oddest feeling; it felt as if she had butterflies fluttering inside her, and her heart was beating at an odd rhythm. Without realizing she was doing it, she placed her arm across her waist; Where Drakken's vine had wrapped around her. She furrowed her brow at the same moment the elevator doors opened. Trying to shake away the forming feelings, Shego stepped out of the elevator.
She glided down the hallway towards the suite, heels clicking and her shimmery green dress flowing behind her. She opened the suite door, slid inside and turned on the lights. Shego paused in the foyer as the butterflies returned. This time she grunted angrily as she stalked through the suite to her room.
'This is stupid,' she thought to her herself, as she carelessly slammed the ornate wooden door behind her. She kicked off her heels and flopped down at the desk across from the double bed.
"Gah. What's wrong with me?" Shego muttered, as she touched her waist again.
Her heart had returned to its prior abnormal rhythm, and the butterflies fluttered more vigorously inside her. Inwardly, in the deepest and darkest recesses of her feelings, she knew what was 'wrong' with her. But the prospect was more than she was willing to admit, even to herself.
Where and when had her relationship with her employer changed? She had worked for Drakken for the last five years; a few months after she turned twenty and had left Team Go.
The first year, the relationship between them was one of reluctant professionalism - at least on her part. The high-strung, over zealous, social misfit that was her employer grated on her nerves within the first week of working for him. However, since she was new the business of villainy she thought it would be in her best interest to keep her mouth shut and temper in check.
As their first year progressed, Shego did Drakken's bidding with relatively few sarcastic remarks and eye rolls. But, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt, and Drakken and Shego grew very familiar with each other. Being Drakken's sidekick required so much of Shego's time that she moved into an extra room in the Caribbean lair. Living together caused the two's relationship to seep beyond the strict employer – employee relationship into something else. It wasn't friendship, it wasn't a familial relationship, and it certainly wasn't romantic. But it became different; it was a bond beyond definition.
And now . . . now what?
Kimmie's voice rang in her head: "See? You do care!"
And she did. Shego did care. When Drakken had been beamed up into the Lorwardian spacecraft, a feeling a terror and panic gripped Shego like nothing ever had before. After Drakken disappeared, Shego didn't stall for a second, she rushed to locate Kimmie. In the moment, she didn't care if she asked her foe for help; she needed to get her boss back. The prospect of him not being in her life was unbearable.
Shego sucked in a sharp breath at the last thought. Her life would be unbearable without Drakken. When did that happen? When she had originally had the thought, it came automatically and made sense to her. Now, part of her wanted to take it back. She was Shego; after all, one of the most feared and respected villainesses in the world. She didn't need or truly care for anyone or anything. She had worked hard for her reputation, and anything soft or mushy would tank it indefinitely.
Despite the possible disintegration of her stigma, a part of Shego needed to know more about these surfacing feelings. Were they fleeting, or did they have staying power? Perhaps they would eventually melt away since Drakken was no longer in eminent danger.
'He is undeniably irritating,' Shego thought to herself, 'and immature. Not to mention that, physically, he's SOOOOOO not my type.'
Again, her stomach twisted inside her. Her hands automatically went to her waist and she closed her eyes. Her face softened as she remembered the strong vine that had been around her not an hour before.
Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by another voice in her head, 'But you always came back. No matter how annoying he was. No matter what he did to you; cloning or mind control, you always came back.
'He saved you from Aviarius (granted, he was a bit of a dick about it), and you became undeniably jealous with the whole DNAmy thing and when he teamed up with Lucre.'
Letting out an aggravated growl, Shego laid her head on the desk in front of her, utterly confused. Exhaling forcefully, she went back to the thought that she would have to do something to distinguish between the conflicting thoughts and feelings within her. She wasn't sure what she should do yet, but she knew that something needed to be done. Letting this battle go on in her head was getting old.
She rattled her brain for a solution, and finally settled on a drastic one. All she needed to do was wait for Drakken to get back from the party.
'It might not be the best way to go about this,' Shego thought, 'But it's the best I got right now.'
The slamming of the suite's main door and the loud, familiar grumbling of Drakken jolted Shego out of her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she got up from her seat and traveled to the suite's main room to see what was up with him.
A/N: I'm doing my best to keep characters 'in character'. Please R&R! Thanks.