Can I Be Your Sidekick?
Chapter One

Kimmie's New Sitter?

Future: The research facilities of the Supreme One's Citadel of Doom.

The attractive teenager stared at herself in the mirror, her fingers caressing her cheeks as she examined her now flawless, peaches and cream complexion, still trying to come to grips, even after a few weeks, that she no longer looked like a nauseous Goth. Shego's hands then caressed her new, taut, younger body and compared it to the tired, middle-aged one it once had been. She came to a grim realization, 'Oi, I wouldn't have lasted one round with Cupcake a few weeks ago.'

Shego looked around her at the genetics lab and noted all the state-of-the-art equipment easily provided by the resources available to her as The Supreme One. Over to the side she saw Amy Hall happily humming a random tune as she worked on another project.

Shego ruminated on the circumstances leading to her radical makeover, 'That dumpy woman is, for all intents and purposes, basically amoral. As long as it involves working with genomes Amy's willing to investigate any concept. Drakken was her first guinea pig for experiments in genetic manipulation. Heh, can't say Dr. D. was very keen about it; but then, what are obedience collars for anyway?'

'Then the assassination attempts by the Resistance were turning into more than just a nuisance; they actually started getting close a few times. Uncle Percy suggested creating a clone of me to act as a distraction and occasional stand-in. Heh, it took him a few years of wearing down my strenuous resistance before I reluctantly acquiesced: and that only after they attacked my citadel directly a few times, albeit unsuccessfully; kept trying to put a bullet through my skull on an almost weekly basis and his reassurance that only DNAmy would do the work and she would be overseen by him personally. And when Kimmie and doofus combined forces with the Resistance in the first time stream, it was my clone with a fake time monkey which provided the distraction allowing me to escape to swim a second time stream.'

'It was the Amy Hall of this time stream who thought of manipulating my DNA. Whatever it was she found made her as excited as a kid in a candy store. All I know is she did her genomic things, everything worked and I look aces for it…hey, I can use something other than black for makeup now!'

Shego shifted her gaze from the mirror at the sound of footsteps approaching and sees a frail, white-haired elderly man wearing a lab coat, a pocket protector full of pens, sporting reading glasses and carrying an external hard drive.

The old scientist began speaking, as if lecturing to a class of students, "The genetic material Amy retrieved from Henry should keep your skin from re-acquiring its green pigmentation, slight as it was to start with. She couldn't do anything about the hair and eyes; but then green eyes aren't unusual and the green highlights in your hair can be easily explained away as cosmetic in nature. In any case, you should be less conspicuous to the Resistance if they go looking for you provided you minimize the use of your power outside of your Team Go persona."

"Aces Uncle Percy," exclaimed Shego with approval. She looked at her uncle with her trademark self-assured smirk and continued smugly, "Figure I don' mind blowin' two and a half billion for a balls-nasty makeover."

"Are you sure about this; I believe you're taking a long shot over a theory."

"Don' go all billy on me now Uncle. The last two timelines prove we sooo need Pumpkin and her spud if we don' want maximum checkout on a global scale. Just have to get to her while she's still young. Who knows, maybe seventh time's the charm, huh?"

"Uh, is there a reason for the lexicon change?"

Shego explained defiantly, "I ended up being labelled a punk and psychobitch in highschool; I was considered beneath even the food chain. My posse and I called ourselves Mutants and me and my new gang ended up owning Go City Central High, Eastwood and West Park by the middle of my senior year; they called me The Supreme One and we had our own way of talkin'. I played hero with Team Go 'cause I could trash spuds without gettin' busted. Slide the eyes here Unc', I'm a Mutant again."

The uncle raised a sceptical eyebrow as he handed over a 1-petabyte external hard drive, "So where did the teaching degree come from?"

"Um, I taught my posse to fight and thieve, and…I…kinda…liked the teaching part," responded the niece almost demurely. She noticed her uncle quirk an eyebrow and added testily, throwing her free arm up in the air for emphasis, "Okay, okay I'll learn tween slang and remember to speak like a mundane; and I hand this hard drive over to your younger self when I get there to explain why my skin is normal again, along with the files for the future tech stuff I'm gonna develop in the past to take over the world with. He'll, uh; you'll go for this, Uncle Percy?"

"My part in this is guaranteed my dear; it's your part which has the most variables…especially if you don't get into the habit of using and responding to your corporate CEO persona, Miss Josephine Green – no you cannot call yourself Mean Jo Green - and especially your real name with the Possibles…Miss Jhessa Ravens," Percy scolded, emphasizing his niece's true family name.

Shego sighed; clad in her trademark green and black catsuit she picked up a small stone monkey statue and dropped into the hole of swirling red and orange light on the floor, 'Seventh time's the charm….'

Past: Mid-Spring 1991, Master Po's Conservatory of Kung Fu

The little girl, fresh from a birthday party, was still dressed in a light blue party dress and matching shoes, her bright, red hair neatly bunched in twin ponytails. Bright green eyes in a freckled face stared in wonder at what amounted to a slice of China in Upperton. As her mother spoke with some old man inside the main building, boredom overtook the young girl's sensibilities; thus she chose to explore while the grownups were talking. Randomly selecting a direction to explore, she found herself outside in what appeared to be a large garden. The garden, sitting within a large yard surrounded by high stone walls, was an immaculate and, for a four year old, mesmerising world of blossoming trees, sculpted bushes, stone paths, dragon statues, bubbling fountains, a pond with the biggest goldfish she had ever seen with a cool footbridge across it and, all sorts of cool places to climb and/or hide in.

To say that little Miss Kimberly Ann Possible was having a good day would have been considered a serious understatement in her mind. Today she had turned four years old which made her the oldest kid at the daycare. She had had a totally spankin' birthday party at the daycare and received a whole bunch of awesome birthday presents. The best present however, came from her mom who told her that she was going to get a baby sister sometime in the fall. And now, her mother was enrolling her into a kung fu school. Kim remembered watching that old movie with her mother: about some kung fu fighter who went around helping people and used his mad fu skills to stop bad guys.

Thus inspired, Kim began mimicking kung fu moves and yells as she fought imaginary villains while scurrying about the garden. Her heroic endeavours were interrupted by a furious clacking noise somewhere further down one path. Kim's boundless curiosity was instantly piqued and she scampered off in search of the intriguing sound. A quick search found her self at an opening in a hedge which led into a wide grassed area. Her attention was immediately riveted to the sight of a boy and a girl, a few years older than her, appearing to be fighting each other with some sort of weapons. The girl was using a long wooden stick while the boy looked like he was using wooden sword.

What followed could barely be followed by Kim; all she saw was a furious flurry of jabs, sweeps, cuts and hooks by the girl; her staff moving with a breathtaking speed Kim had never seen before. The boy was able to deflect most attacks although what hits he took did not seem to bother him much. For his part his swordplay did sterling work but what might have been a hit instead cleaved air as the redhead fair danced and flowed around his sword, her body lithely skipping out of the way then sweeping in gracefully for a riposte. The battle seemed evenly matched despite the apparent disparity between the opponents. Kim's gasp of amazement distracted the boy for but a moment, just long enough for the girl to take advantage and hook her staff behind her opponent's knees, pulling his legs out from under him and laying him flat on his back. The contest ended as the boy yielded.

With a wide-eyed expression of unabashed exuberance, Kim dashed toward the couple and gushed, "I SO GOTTA DO THAT!"

With bemusement the young couple smiled at Kim. Both wore cargo pants, sturdy, light hiking shoes, three-quarter sleeve black mock turtleneck shirts – the young girl's being a crop top – leather gauntlets and sturdy leather belts affixed with small pouches. The boy was fair-skinned, with spiky brown hair and blue eyes. The girl was also of fair complexion, with blue eyes that – to Kim at least – seemed to literally sparkle and bright red hair done up in a single long braid that ran from just behind the right ear and hung forward over her right shoulder. The red-haired girl's countenance bore a brief look of concentration towards Kim before it changed to an engaging smile of welcome. She spoke with a mild Scandinavian accent, "Hello. My name is Anna and this is my cousin Timotheus or just Tim. What's your name?"

"My name's Kim Possible and today's my birthday and I'm four – how old are you - and I'm going to learn kung fu and you talk pretty. Ya know what's weird is you look a lot like what my mom would look like is she were a girl and your cousin almost looks like my dad if he were small too."

Anna chuckled, "Tim and I are nine. I talk this way because I come from Norway and so does Tim, but he doesn't speak English. I come from a village called Asgard and he just lives down the road in Midgard. We're just visiting and we'll be going home later today."

Kim stared at the practice weapons, "Is what you were doing part of kung fu? When can I learn to do that?"

"You'll learn to use your hands and feet first before you can use weapons. Don't worry I'm sure you'll be a quick learner."

"Why are you dressed like that?"

"That's because, back home, we're volunteer rescue rangers. We help find people who are lost in the mountains and forests around where we live and we do first aid on people who are hurt and rescue people who are stuck somewhere. It feels good to help people. Tim and I like it a lot."

At that moment Kim heard her mother call her name. "Uh, gotta go. Nice to meet you, have a nice trip home." Kim called back as she ran to meet her mother.

Anna looked over at saw the tall, attractive redhead that was Kim's mother and could not help but stare, astonished, for a moment. Then a look of glee crossed her face as she waved enthusiastically. Ann in turn waved back hesitantly, her face bearing a look of confusion as she turned and escorted an ebullient daughter out of the clearing.

The conversation changed back to Norwegian as Tim approached his cousin who was bouncing on her toes in barely restrained delight. With a look of mild confusion he asked, "So I take it that something good just happened?"

"Are you kidding Tim? Everything Elder Cousin was hoping to get done is done!"

Anna hustled over to her backpack and produced a small crystal flask and held it up for her cousin to examine. Within there appeared to be a rather greasy-looking black worm writhing within a clear blue fluid.

"Eww…gross. What is that Anna?"

Glaring at the flask with a look of revulsion Anna explained, "That, my dear cousin is a soul worm. It's an evil minion of The Yono. It's meant to eat away at a person's soul and turn that person into an evil creature. I got it out of Her Emerald Radiance but it was a hard fight: her soul is still tainted but it can be cleansed now with something as simple as the companionship of a good friend. Seeing Kim's mother now, and between her and Kim, Her Emerald Radiance's soul is in very good hands."

"And that sounds like a good thing."

"Yes and the bonus is that Kim's mother is also a 'Healer', like me; she just doesn't know of her abilities yet."

"So she can do the stuff you do?"

Anna responded with a smirk, "Yes, if she knew, she'd be able to do stuff like this..."

Her voice trailed off as she focused on the crystal flask in her hand, a blue aura emanated from her body, her braid and loose strands of hair began floating upward; a faint hooting and screeching of monkeys could just barely be heard all around. Within moments the soul worm appeared to be frantically attempting to break its way out of its enclosure; to no avail however, as its form quickly liquefied and seemed to dissolve.

Anna looked to Tim with a smug expression, "And to top off the mission, we managed to not only reinforce Kim's eagerness to learn kung fu but also planted the seed of how nice helping others can be. This time stream shows the best promise for saving all life, the universe and everything."

With a note of finality Anna continued, "And now it's time to get back to our own time stream. Especially since my da is making your favourite dish: spicy meat cakes with crunchy bits and melted cheese."

Smiling at Tim's hearty 'booyah', Anna pointed both arms to her front. As her eyes flared a bright blue she spread her arms wide, creating a disc of blue-white energy through which the young companions stepped through.

Upon arriving home, Kim ran straight to the TV to watch her favourite show, My Little Cuddlebuddy. However, still distracted by who she saw at the conservatory, Mrs. Doctor Possible went to her bedroom, sat on her bed and retrieved a worn box from the bottom drawer of her night table. The box used to hold five pounds of chocolate rosebuds in its day and even now, after twenty years, there still existed the faint aroma of chocolate to it. Within said box were contained several childhood mementos.

Ann dug through the contents until she found the few photographs from her childhood. It took only a moment to find what she wanted by what was written on the back of one photograph, "Me and my best friend Timmy. My ninth birthday." She felt a shiver go down her spine as she turned over the photo and looked at her then best friend's fair skin and brown, spiky hair; herself standing right next to him, a happy smile on her face, her bright red hair done up in a single long braid hanging from behind her right ear to hang forward over her right shoulder.

Ann sat in her room until her husband James got home from work. During that time she was in a fugue, obsessed upon one notion that seemed to be the only explanation for who she had seen that afternoon. Had her birth mother given birth to another daughter who in turn had her own daughter? Did she have a little sister somewhere….?

Past: Early 1997, the Go Tower

Shego stormed into her green and black appointed bedroom in the Go Tower and slammed the door shut, her entire body shaking from a combination of shock, fear and fury. Her face was flushed a darker shade of green and the green glow about her gloves was brighter and hotter than usual making her hands ache as if they were going to explode. "That pedantic and pompous imbecile!" growled the enraged teenager.

Shego turned to face her bedroom door and screamed out, "HEGO! You stupid spud, your PROCEDURES almost got me and a bunch of innocents DUSTED, AAUUUGH!"

'No shiv, we coulda been road pizza; I mean MAXIMUM checkout. That's IT, I so quit. I'm gonna billy out tonight,' she thought to herself. Shego heard a light knock at her door followed by her older brother's rather timid voice.

"Sis? JJ? Can we…"

"…Rrrrr just shut it Henry! And only Momma and Daddy were allowed to call me JJ!" yelled Shego. She then shot a double-fisted blast of plasma at the door. The impact destroyed the door, a few feet of the concrete around it, sent her brother, still dressed as Hego, against the opposite wall of the corridor and relieved the ache in her hands. Fortunately for him, his power protected him from being killed outright by her green blasts; however the impacts still hurt a lot and thus he lay stunned.

'Bawd! That was balls nasty. Did I just throw my glow?' Shego thought to herself as she stared at her hands in amazement.

A sudden flash of red light caught the young woman's attention.

"I sooo know what you're going through right now sis," drawled a voice behind Shego. She spun around to see her selfwith normal skin tone standing right in front of her.

The twin continued, pointing a finger for emphasis, "Oh, and actually, you don't billy out tonight, I…you…we…oi, end up finishing college. Actually, you are leaving and I'll cover your classes for you. Oh, and I believe you just threw your first plasma ball just now, practice that it'll come in handy."

The green-skinned Shego's mind attempted to assimilate what she saw, 'Oh wow, I thought Uncle Percy was only still working on my clone, bawd she looks balls-nasty though, totally rad. And real skin! Aces! But what's with the monkey statue with the backwards head? Wait, college?'

The doppelganger from the future reached out and touched her past self which initiated a flash of swirling red light. Shego-past discovered herself suddenly in front of a green throne set high up in what appeared to be a wide, circular throne room. A large, heavily muscled man with blue skin turned around and greeted her, "Ah, Supreme One, welcome back."

Back in the bedroom, the future Shego placed her statue on the dresser and carefully removed the head which, according to Monkey Fist, would lock the current timeline in place and theoretically prevent interaction with time-monkey users from other time streams. There was no guarantee against the Chrono-Manipulators of the Resistance.

'Ugh, I can't believe I'm placing faith in the arcane theories of a genetically modified man-monkey who wants to be a monkey king.' Shego cynically reflected to herself.

She placed a modified Team Go mask on the dresser and assessed it for the umpteenth time, 'Even if it is just looks like a party mask…ick…its part of the plan; Princess hasn't seen me as Jhessa yet so I gotta hide my face as Shego so she doesn't make the connection.' Shego took a deep breath, shuddered and grimaced at the thought of having to put up with her brothers again. She glanced at the stunned Hego against the wall opposite to where her door used to be, then examined the damage and muttered to herself with a slight surge of optimism, "Guess I'll be sleeping at the office for a while, which is a lot more comfortable than sleeping here…oh well, better call maintenance."

Present: Early spring, 1998; Fifth Grade, Middleton Elementary

Tara Laforte, an angelic looking girl with waist length, wavy, platinum-blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin impatiently nudged her classmates Amanda Carter, with tanned skin, hazel eyes and shoulder length, wavy tresses of chestnut and Jessica Elba also with blue eyes, straight blonde hair and freckles, "C'mon Amanda, Jessica pay attention, this is the good part I was tellin' ya about."

Three sets of eyes turned to watch the scene unfolding before them. Two lion cubs were trapped in the tree line across the field by three marauding hyenas, their obscene laughter sending shivers of disgust through the young girls. As the scavengers circled, their attention focused on the cub that spit and snarled at them and ignored the timid one.

The lioness took advantage of that distraction and began to slink carefully across the field to take up a good attack position. Trespassing on her home territory was bad enough, threatening her pride was getting personal.

"Is she going to attack all three of them by herself? There ain't no way she can win." gasped an incredulous Amanda,

"Relax, I'm pretty sure I know how it turns out," assured Tara as she followed the action intently.

As her cohorts covered their eyes in fright, Tara exhaled an enthusiastic, "Yes!" The three hyenas' snarling attack was interrupted by ….

…the little redhead's, "Haii-yaah," which was enough to cause the three bullies to hesitate for a moment, just long enough for her flying kick to land solidly between the shoulder blades of Arnie Custer who was a full head taller than his assailant. She took him out first since he was the only other kid in the schoolyard who knew kung fu. He gasped as he was bowled over with the wind knocked out of his lungs.

"Kim Possible?" exclaimed Nate, a larger, rather brutish looking boy as the petite girl landed in a crouch.

"Why … you always … surprised when she shows up…? You … know … she always does," wheezed Arnie as he tried to recover, his hand brushing his dark hair out of his eyes.

"I dunno," answered Nate.

"Yeah, heh, heh, always surprised," giggled Zach who was actually shorter than Kim, with an almost troll-like appearance. He picked up a stick to use as a cudgel, "Let's get to it before the yard hag shows up."

"Yeah, right," replied the slow-witted Nate as an evil grin crossed his face.

Kim was flanked by Nate on her left and Zach on her right. They closed in on her simultaneously. 'Could this be any easier?' she gloated to herself , catapulting into the air; timing her jump perfectly she snapped her legs out to either side and heard the satisfying crack of feet connecting with chins.

"Ron, grab Reager and get out of here!" yelled the little rescuer as she lands lightly on her feet. The blond, freckle-faced boy grabbed hold of his compatriot and led him out of the way of the melee, joining up with Tara who had Amanda and Jessica in tow. Behind them followed the inevitable mob of bloodthirsty spectators.

Her ponytails flopping about her head, Kim landed in a low offensive posture and felt the breeze of a roundhouse kick from a recovered Arnie brush the top of her hair. With a growl she lashed out with a foot to his leg; a popping noise was followed by a screech of pain. Kim sprang up and assumed a defensive stance, looking around to see the other two on the ground moaning through bloody mouths.

Kim was only vaguely aware of the cheering from the kids around her as she spoke to her vanquished foes, "I told you jerks I was tired of you picking on the kids in the schoolyard, I promised that I'd stop you and I keep my promises."

She heard a warning shout from Ron as the crowd suddenly grew quiet then felt a heavy hand spin her around to stare into the traumatizing gaze of Miss Hatchett who was on yard duty.

"I suppose you just forgot the promise you made to not get into any more fights, eh Kimberly Ann? Wait for me at the vice-principal's office while I get these other miscreants taken care of at the nurse's office." Commanded the large, intimidating teacher in her gravely voice

"Yes, ma'am," replied a despondent Kim as she turned toward the school building. As Ron and Tara walked beside her on the way she thought to herself, 'Aw maann, busted by the yard hag. Well, I managed to dodge the yard hags all winter while dealing with those goons. At least I finally got those goons good this time, heh, kung fu rocks.'

Tara tried to encourage her friend, "Don't worry Kim, Jessica, Amanda and I saw the whole thing. We'll stick up for ya."

"Yeah KP. And Reager says since you stepped up and kicked butt, he'll try to get the other guys they beat up to back you with the Veep. Booyah Kim, I think you just made hero!" Ron added enthusiastically, thrusting his fist in the air.

Kim was in a major funk. The fight had occurred at morning recess and it was almost lunch. It used to be she was in and out of Mr. Barkin's office, with a note for her parents, inside of twenty minutes. This instance, however, Kim was marking time on the old wooden bench in the office, which she only left when the matronly school secretary escorted her to the girls' room just before the lunch break. Upon returning, Kim saw her best friend waiting on the bench.

"Brought your lunch KP, how ya holdin' up? Rufus has been worried," said Kim's bestest-best friend Ron.

"I'm starting to wonder what's going on, I've never been held in the office this long without any word. You know anything Ron?" replied Kim as she began munching on a sandwich.

Ron explained with awe in his voice, "Word is you've done some real hurtin' this time; Nate and Zach are missing teeth, and Arnie's left knee is dislocated. And they were taken to the hospital in an ambulance, KP!"

Kim, eyes wide, responded in a small voice, "Really?"

The conversation halted briefly as a teacher entered the office to drop off a pile of papers. The secretary examined it then took it into the vice-principal's office.

Kim explained to Ron what had been happening since she arrived at the office, "That's been happening all morning. Each time it's a different teacher and each pile of papers looks like homework 'cause some of them are written in crayon. Since when does Barkin grade papers?"

Ron shrugged and passed her a muffin, that unbeknownst to her, he had baked the night before. As she bit into the treat with gusto his eyes opened wide with concern; he poked Kim and pointed behind her. She panicked when she saw the large, heavy-set policeman enter the office.

The secretary looked up, "Go right in Officer Hobble, Mr. Barkin is expecting you." The peace officer nodded and entered the vice-principal's office. The top half of the wall was windowed so the young students could clearly see the two large men speaking to each other although only the deep rumble of Barkin's voice could be heard. Kim's insides turned to ice imagining the rest of her childhood in prison, so she curled up hard against her best friend grabbing his hand for comfort.

"Ron, I'm not liking this."

"Looks like bad road ahead KP. I wish Rufus was here, I'd send him inside to listen in."

"Ron! So not the time for invisible friends!"

The end of lunch break was punctuated by the sound of hundreds of feet marching through the halls accompanied by animated conversations. Kim heard her name being called from the office door and turns to see Tara, Amanda, and Jessica looking at her with questioning expressions on their faces. The little detainee rolled her eyes toward the vice-principal's office; the girls gasped when they saw the policeman and scurried off.

The secretary stepped out from behind her desk, turned to Ron and said, "It's time for you to go to class now Ronnie."

"No way, I'm staying with my friend, she needs me now," he announced with conviction.

The grey-haired woman put her glasses back on and chose not to push the issue. The blond and the redhead were inseparable; she remembered how it took some people until those kids were almost half way through first grade to realize they weren't twins. In the meantime, Barkin and Hobble continued their discussion….

"Ok, let's see if I've got this straight," offered the police officer in his Irish brogue, "Arnie, Nate and Zach are all in fifth grade. Parenthetically, young Arnie is a novice kung fu student. When the incident occurred they were in the act of beating up two fifth graders by the names of Ron Stoppable and Ron Reager."

"That's correct," responded Barkin who held up a sheaf of papers, "And judging by this stack of hand-written testimonies, it seems as if half the school yard witnessed the incident."

Hobble nodded in acknowledgement, "To hear young Nate tell it, the boys were assaulted by a six-foot-thirteen creature with green teeth. Taking exaggeration into account I'd assume some high school student trespassed and committed the assault on the three boys. I understand you have the assailant."

"Yes I do, however, not so much six-foot-thirteen with green teeth as four foot nine with green eyes. Officer Hobble…Kim Possible." Barkin nodded in the direction of the little girl through his office window to where she was sitting on the bench. The officer turned to look, surprised at the petite figure curled up on the bench next to a little boy.

The vice-principal further added, "According to the testimonies I've read, Possible went to the defence of Stoppable and Reager only after Arnie, Nate, and Zach began their assault. By the way, she is in the fifth grade also and it so happens she's also a novice kung fu student which explains the damage she dealt."

"Fifth grade? Well, I guess you'll be handling this Steve?"

"That's affirmatory Sean."

Kim stared wide-eyed as Officer Hobble exited Barkin's office, gripping Ron's hand that much tighter when he looked hard at her before he stepped out, his neutral expression made that much more intimidating by the sunglasses on his face.

"Kim, I'm gonna need that hand back," gasped Ron as he winced from the surprisingly strong grip of his ten year old friend.

Kim apologized as she released her grip, "Sorry Ron. Aw man, I don't think I'm going home with just a note this time."

The two kids jumped when they suddenly heard the voice of Mrs. Possible as she entered the school office. The tall, willowy redhead breezed through the door with her usual, consummate grace, still wearing surgical scrubs and greeted the children, "Hi Ron; and no Kimmie, I believe a note would be rather superfluous don't you think?" Turning she greeted the school secretary, "Hi Marge, Steve asked me to come speak with him."

Kim flinched; it was common enough for a parent to be on a first name basis with the school secretary, it was much more disconcerting when they were on a first name basis with the vice-principal.

"Hi Ann, yes just go right in, he's been expecting you," Marge answered.

"Thanks, come along Kim," then entered Barkin's office with a very reluctant daughter in tow.

After explaining the events, Steve sums up the consequences, "Well Ann, that's how it stands. The boys will be off two weeks to recover so their suspensions will run concurrently, get three weeks detentions, and in light of their antisocial behaviour will have to stay inside during lunch and recess for the remainder of the school year. The damage done by your daughter is on a whole other level however; normally that is grounds for expulsion."

Ann's eyebrows shot up at that comment. Kim cringed as she listened intently while staring down at the floor.

The vice-principal continued, "But since the circumstances are extenuating, I can keep it to a one week suspension plus three weeks detention, her saving grace being her grades in class and the supporting testimony of witnesses. With the exception of two classes, Kim is a straight A student; the aberrant courses being HomeEc with a C minus and PhysEd with an A plus-plus."

Ann was puzzled, "Ok, I can understand the HomeEc grade but how does one get a double plus?"

"Ann, your daughter can outrun, out jump, and out climb anyone in the school, bar none," Steve stated with maybe a hint of pride then thought to himself briefly, 'Although that Nelson lad isn't far behind.' Continuing his dissertation he added, "She's untouchable on the dodgeball court and the instructor we brought in for the gymnastics portion of the PhysEd curriculum was gushing something about Kim and the Olympics." He cast a stern glance at Kim as he finished, "And apparently she is now untouchable in the schoolyard."

'Really? Spankin'!" thought Kim, with a slight feeling of pride.

"Ok Steve what do you have in mind?" Ann inquired.

Barkin explained, "This is what I have in mind. Instead of regular detention, she attends remedial HomeEc thrice a week until her grade improves. Furthermore, she will be in library lockup the other two days. This will last a minimum three weeks, if her grades improve in HomeEc by the end of three weeks she will be released from that but remain on library duty to the end of the year. If she can stay out of any further trouble, she will be allowed to participate in this year's district track meet since she promises to be one of our star athletes. That, my good woman is the best I could arrange with the school board to avoid expulsion."

Ann turned to look at her daughter; disappointed blue eyes locked with contrite green ones.

The school bell rang, indicating the end of the day, the start of the weekend and precipitating the inevitable stampede to leave the school grounds.

Mother and daughter exited Barkin's office. "Let's go kids," ordered Ann, "I still have to pick up the twins from kindergarten. Ron, your parents are going to be late so you can stay for supper. Take advantage of it because Kimmie is grounded for two weeks and you won't be allowed to see her for that time."

"Aw man that tanks, Rufus is gonna be so bored," Ron complained.

As they walked from the school office down the hall and out the front door, Kim felt the pressure of dozens of eyes staring at her as she made her way, making her skin crawl. Then she sees her school rival and self-proclaimed Queen B standing in her classic bitch pose. Her brown hair, although in a high ponytail, framed her tanned face; her mocking, narrow teal eyes accented the smug look on her face.

"Hi, K," taunted Bonnie Rockwaller, "The save the world thing not working so good for you today?"

Kim could only growl quietly since her mom was right there.

It was not all bad however; she noticed the occasional smile of encouragement, a few thumbs up and, to her shock, a high five from Walter Nelson, the top jock of the school.

Kim did not notice Bonnie's smug smile change to a scowl.

"Ron, everyone is staring at me and it's wierding me out," Kim whispered anxiously.

"Yeah, I noticed it too, but I thought I'd lost my pants again."

Kim rolled her eyes wearily.

Out front Kim noticed several groups of students uncharacteristically milling about. Usually the front lawn of the school was nearly deserted this long after last bell on a Friday afternoon. They gawked at her as if she was some notorious celebrity as she left the school. Tara, Jessica, and Amanda approached.

"Mrs. Possible," started Tara, "I suppose Kim is suspended and grounded and all that so can we talk to her for a minute before you go home?"

"Sure Tara. Kim, don't be long, I'll be in the car," Ann instructed, dragging Jim and Tim along as they taunted, "Kim got busted, Kim got busted…."

"So, hero girl, spill," the trio of friends asked, almost in unison.

"I'm suspended for a week and then detention for at least a month after that," Kim groused, "And my mom's grounded me for the next two weeks."

"That's so lame," said Amanda, "Between the three of us we think we got most of the kids in the schoolyard to hand in notes saying what happened. So what did those guys get?"

"Barkin got the notes guys, I watched them get delivered," Kim confirmed, "Honestly, even Barkin said that they kept me from getting expelled altogether. Thanks, I really appreciate the assist. They're suspended for two weeks, detention for three more and they have to stay inside during lunch and recess for the rest of the year."

"What about the cop?" asked Tara.

"Nuthin," answered Kim, "He just looked at me when he walked out."

Jessica spoke up, "I don't know what this means, but the fifth-graders are getting together for a 'royal court' on Monday and the topic of discussion is you."

"Wow KP," Ron gushed, "I don't know what that means either, but after today I bet it's gotta be good!"

"Ron, cut it out will you?" Kim implored. Then with obvious fatigue in her voice she turned to the three girls, "Guys, thanks a lot but I'm wiped and suffering from major brain pain, I'll see you in a couple of weeks."

With that the two best friends proceeded to Ann's minivan and got in. Ron sat in the back seat with the twins while Kim sat up front with her mom. Other than the conversation between Ron, Jim and Tim the ride home was quiet and uneventful since neither redhead was in the mood for talk. Supper time was also subdued, even the twins felt the tension around the table and Ron kept most of his comments to himself for a change. Kim barely ate and kept glancing at her parents who studiously avoided her gaze.

After supper Ann dismissed the kids, "Your father and I need to talk so you may go to the rec room till bedtime."

"You're right hun," commented James, "The way Barkin explains it the circumstances were extenuating, it's in Kimmie-cub's nature to want to help. She's also headstrong, free-spirited and impetuous which obviously can lead to some exciting solutions on her part. However, she still had the opportunity to approach a teacher for help and since I don't approve of using violence I find Mr. Barkin could've been a little tougher. Great-aunt Mim's legacy notwithstanding I'm glad she's basically a good kid, the thought of dealing with an evil Kim is frightening."

Ann countered, "Steve told me Kimmie's stayed out of fights since after Christmas, this is the only incident since then. And her grades will be an A average by the end of the year compared to the B minus at first semester. He also made it sound like she's the school's track star and yesterday Master Po mentioned Kimmie is taking her kung fu lessons very seriously."

James pondered for a moment then raised his finger as he makes an observation, "You know, now that you mention it hun, as ten year olds go, Kimmie has developed a rather strange habit since Christmas of watching the news on TV every evening and she seems rather focused on that Team Go; y'know, those hero types in the circus costumes. She seems to obsess on the woman Shego, perhaps as a role model."

"Maybe we should call her and see if she'll baby-sit for us tomorrow night," groused the surgeon sarcastically, "We still don't have anybody yet."

"Never mind Saturday night; what about next week when Kimmiecub is on suspension?" James pointed out.

Ron sat on the couch and watched Kim growl at the twins as she claimed the remote. Releasing her ponytails, the weary girl shook her hair out so that it hung loose between her shoulder blades then lay down on the couch, using Ron's lap as a pillow. He began stroking her hair, knowing she found it soothing.

Kim tuned the TV to a news channel much to the disappointment of the twins. Ron knew what she was looking for, news of Team Go and her favourite hero, Shego, the mysterious female member who dressed in green and black, and shot green energy blasts from her hands. Unfortunately, there was nothing about them that day so Kim relinquished the remote to her brothers.

Although Kim was enjoying her quality time with Ron, she sighed in weary disappointment; he would be away from her for two weeks and Shego had not been on the news for a while….

'Why is it when Shego clobbers the bad guys she gets a pat on the back and I get suspended…she's so smart, I can tell by how she talks to the news guys…bet she was a straight A student in school…her kitchen appliances probably don't hate her either so she can probably cook too…her kung fu is slammin'…I've got to ask Master Po if he can teach me that style…even with the mask I can tell she's way pretty…too bad I can't see her eyes, I wonder what colour they are…I'll bet they're an icy blue to go with that ivory skin…is that a green tinge on her cheeks…and then there's that black hair that goes all the way down to her butt.

"Ron, do you think it would look nice if I grew my hair long like Shego's?"

"Sure KP, it's already almost halfway down your back anyway. Besides, we'll be in middle school next year, twin ponytails seems a little kiddish. You have the prettiest hair in the school, set it free Kim, if you have to tie it back, a single ponytail is enough."

Kim sat up and stared in wonderment at Ron, "And you became a hair consultant, when?"

Sitting up and raising a finger he proudly orated, "After long and careful consideration, Rufus and I came to the conclusion that this assessment of your hairstyle, as determined by a panel of experts, was the most valid."

Kim smirked and cocked an eyebrow at her friend, "You are so weird. And these experts are…?"

"Me and Rufus heard Tara, Amanda and Jessica talking the other day," Ron answered with a sheepish grin, "But I really think they're right."

Just then the doorbell rang and Ann yelled out, "Kimmie will you get the door; it's probably Ron's parents."

Kim ran and opened the front door, only to be surprised by whom she sees standing there, "You're not Ron's mom," she said, wide-eyed.

"Ya think? I'm looking for Dr. James Possible," responded the attractive young woman at the door.

Still caught off guard Kim yelled, "DAD, THERE'S A PRETTY YOUNG WOMAN HERE TO SEE YOU!"

"Oh yeah, smooth intro there Cupcake," the visitor commented with a smirk.

KNS

Disclaimer: Kim Possible belongs to Disney, only the story is mine, I'm just doing this for fits and giggles.
This story was originally inspired by: the last scene in The Twin Factor;A Sitch in Time, andStop Team Go; and Special thanks to Love Robin for her invaluable beta reading.

AN : a petabyte is 1,000 terabytes.