Author's Note: Okay, warning here, MAJORLY AU. Majorly. Which means slightly... okay, pretty OOC. Okay, MAJORLY OOC. How I arrived at this idea can be found at the bottom, to avoid spoilers. Though, you might be able to guess halfway through... anyway, give it a shot before your reality sensor hits overdrive, 'kay?
Disclaimer: Kim Possible and all related characters are property of the mouse. I am not a mouse. Therefore, I do not own.
The Greatest Treasure
Shego involuntarily took a step back as the bay door dropped open on the standard Global Justice transport plane, the wind wiping at her small frame. Aside from the roar of the engines and a few agents shouting commands, the world beyond the door was calm and nearly serene, lights from the city below dancing beneath the plane as it sped through the night. With a slight shake of her head, the ebony haired teen grit her teeth and forced herself forward, followed closely by her guardian.
"We're nearing the drop zone!" the blue skinned agent yelled over the wind while checking his watch. He put a black gloved hand on Shego's shoulder, preventing the young woman from advancing to the door's edge. "Remember, Shego, you're still not a full fledged agent! Watch and learn but don't engage!"
"I got it, Dr. D, let's just go already!" Shego impatiently huffed, shrugging off his hand. She'd already read the mission briefing half a dozen times, knew their target's entire dozier backwards and forwards, and probably knew more about their mission than any other Global Justice agent. At sixteen years old, the emerald hued teenager was more than ready to prove herself as a capapble field agent, a title she felt she already deserved. Yet, fate was cruel and either Dr. Drakken, her guardian and mentor, was refusing to push the paperwork through or Dr. Director really didn't like her. Both were very plausible but whatever the reason, it hardly mattered now; she was about to drop in on one of GJ's most wanted villains.
Part of her was absolutely ecstatic to be chasing down the near legendary thief known simply as 'Scarlet', a woman who continued to elude authorities despite being wanted, officially, in eleven countries. From the rumors Shego had dug up on the internet, she was wanted unofficially in at least seven more. Scarlet was only 'near legendary' because the earliest reports of her surfaced about five years prior. During her research, Shego had learned that, while half a decade was a respectable amount of time to operate as an elusive thief, Scarlet was only now beginning to cause major headaches the world over. To some degree, Shego had to respect the woman's prowess. However, if capturing Scarlet would grant Shego field agent status, the teen would gladly bring the criminal in, with or without Drakken's help.
"Shego, you simply must learn patience!" Drakken chided, check his watch again. He was nervous bringing Shego along for this mission, especially considering who they were up against. True, his boss did consider him to be the subject matter expert when it came to Scarlet, but Drakken spent most of his career in GJ's developmental research labs, rarely went on a mission. He couldn't be sure why Dr. Director had suddenly decided now was the time to give Shego her first taste of field work. Drakken snuck a glance at his excited young ward, decked out in a uniform matching his own- the standard navy blue Global Justice jumpsuit- and again thought how strange it was to see her in something other than her usual light green tank top and bagggy black sweatpants. The jumpsuit didn't do her justice, he decided; while it practically blended into his skin, it made Shego look like a ghost. It didn't help that she had only a fraction of the equipment he did; she lacked the shoulder harness that housed many of the gadgets and gizmos the R&D lab cooked up. The good doctor was abruptly brought from his musings by his watch's persistant beeping. "Alright, it's time. Now remember, just walk-"
"Do what now?" Shego called over her shoulder, pretending she couldn't hear Drakken's instructions as she took confident strides to the edge of the door and, without so much as pausing, stepped out into the open sky, allowing the laws of physics to do the rest. Freefalling from planes was almost natural now; this would be her twelfth 'jump' from a transport plane and her first mission jump.
However, the downside to freefalling is that, inevitably, the ground was waiting and it always rushed to meet Shego. Without consciously thinking about it, she pulled the ripcord of her parachute and drifted towards the roof of the museum they were sent to check out. Apparently, someone had contacted GJ with a tip about the visiting Egypt Exhibit being Scarlet's next target. A few feet from the roof, Shego hit the quick release on her harness and landed in a crouch, emerald eyes scanning the area for any sign of their target. A few feet away, Drakken was making a far less graceful landing; he saw no reason to jump out of a perfectly good plane. he upside was this time, at least, he didn't feel nearly as queasy as usual.
"Dr. D, look!" Shego hissed, pointing towards an open skylight, a rope tied off to a nearby pipe leading into the museum. The teen felt herself fighting to control her excitement; Scarlet really was here! She was going to see firsthand the woman who had escaped Global Justice's best agents countless times!
The blue agent followed Shego's finger and noticed the obvious entry point, a slight weight settling over him. So she was here; just perfect. As the two made their way to the open skylight, Drakken fought a quick battle between his fondness for his young ward and his better judgement before grabbing hold of the rope, intent on following Scarlet's footsteps. "I'm going in, Shego. You stay here-"
"What?" the teen scowled at her blue guardian as he started down the rope. She had wanted to scream but somehow managed a very angry whisper.
"You're pulling guard duty," Drakken stated, lowering himself a foot. However, movement out of the corner of his eyes stopped him. Of course she was going to be difficult about this. "Ah ah, where do you think you're going?"
"You told me to 'watch and learn' remember? How am I suppose to do that from out here?" Shego crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the senior agent. While she knew the particular gleam he had in his eye meant she was going to lose this exchange, the emerald teen wasn't going down without a fight. "I'm never going to learn until you give me the chance!"
"I will give you the chance, Shego, but you have to trust me first," he firmly stated, coal black eyes meeting raging emerald. Drakken was not about to back down, not when he actually had a chance at stopping Scarlet. "If Scarlet comes this way, I'll need-"
"Dr. D, you damn well know she never leaves the same way she enters!" the teen argued, trying her hardest to keep from frying the blue skinned man right then and there. While it would make her feel immensely better, it probably wouldn't help her situation in the slightest.
"Okay, first off, language!" Drakken scolded the girl, wondering what he did in a past life to curse him with such a rebellious charge. "Secondly, you are staying right here! Pull guard duty or I'm not bringing you on another assignment, ever!"
Shego growled, half certain it was an empty threat but unwilling to test the theory. With noted fury, she watched as her guardian descend into the museum. The moment she thought he was out of earshot, Shego vented her frustration on the night sky, letting loose several plasma blasts that disolved into nothingness long before they arched back towards the ground. She could've focused them, turning her plasma blasts into very painful long range projectiles, but the teen had no intention of adding destruction of private property to her mission report. Instead, the emerald hued girl found a nice spot in the shadow of an airconditioning unit to sit and wait for the mission to be over; no way she would be able to do anything else save for wait until it was all over anyway. At least the night was pretty.
-BREAK-
Drakken crept along the hallway, eyes scanning for any sign of the thief. He knew she was still there; she typically waited until some authority figure showed up so she could confirm her presence and would then disappear. As no alarms had gone off, and there was no shouting from the night guards, Drakken assumed his quary was still lingering somewhere in the Egypt Exhibit. And, he was right.
"You know, to me, this is a hard decision! Both of them would look spankin' in my living room. Right next to that Anubis Amulet, you now?" a familiar feminine voice drifted to the blue agent's ears, sounding at once concerned about whatever decision she was contemplating and utterly disinterested in it. Creeping closer to the source of the voice, Drakken listened intently while arguing with himself on how to handle Scarlet when they came face-to-face. "Well, yeah, I could take them both, but then I would have no reason to follow the exhibit any more. The Ra and Osiris statuettes are really the only things that interest me; what's the point of getting them both in one grab?"
Drakken reached the large doorway leading into the exhibit and slowly peeked around the corner, catching sight of the thief known the world over as Scarlet. Though a year had passed since he last saw her, Drakken noticed the young woman hadn't changed much. She was leaning against a glass case, a sizeable hole cut into the glass to the side of her elbow, while holding two six inch stone statues, one in each hand. Her crimson read hair was draped over her right shoulder in a neat braid, tied off by a scarlet ribbon, striking a stark contrast to the brown vest she wore over a tan t-shirt. Even the brown utility belt around her waist looked exactly as he remembered it, hanging off her left hip with a pouch large enough to fit one, possibly both, of the statues on her right side, doing nothing to keep her baggy black jeans in place. The boots, however, were new, black leather by the looks of them and calf high, a gold buckle at her ankles. Olive green orbs, focused on the statues, never glanced his way, yet, somehow, she knew.
"Gotta go, Wade. I've got company," she replaced the statue of Osiris in the case and then touched her right ear, turning off the handsfree device before turning her full attention to the doorway. Realizing she knew he, specifically, was there, Drakken stepped into the room, meeting her olive gaze with his own coal black scowl.
"Dropped the pretense already, Kimberly?" Drakken sounded stern, using the tone he took with Shego whenever the teenager got out of hand. The redhead before him, however, was unfazed, smiling as she started tossing the statue in her left hand.
"Oh, Mr. Lipsky, there's no reason for it. You already know who we are. And, please, call me Kim; you're still Dad's best friend, right?" Kim watched the Global Justice agent, appearing amused with his presence. Drakken sighed, passing a hand over his face. He really couldn't believe, even after five years, that James' daughter, Kimberly Possible, had turned to a life of crime. True, it had started out as helping an expidition team recover artifacts from ancient Mayan ruins, but it went far beyond that; now, Kim stole from whoever had something she wanted. The worst part: she enjoyed it.
"What happened to you?" Drakken sighed, meeting her eyes once more. A flash across those olive orbs told him he hit a sore spot, just like every time he asked that question. The flash was all he got in liue of an answer, as usual. Pocketing the statue, Kim turned to leave through whatever exit she planned out; her goal was accomplished the moment he stepped into the room, after all. The blue skinned agent wasn't about to let her just walk away though. Taking a few steps towards her and settling into an awkward defensive stance, Drakken bellowed at the young woman, whom he knew was barely in her twenties. "Now stop right there!"
"Or what?" Kim sounded bored, turning back to the agent with her hands on her hips. She was cocky, too cocky in Drakken's opinion. She was going to get herself captured, or worse, if she kept acting like she was invincible. Well, if anyone was going to deliver the girl a sound beating, it should be him; James was like a brother to him anyway.
"You think you're all that, don't you!" he roared, charging at the redhead with his fist cocked back. Drakken made it to three feet from his target before she moved, far quicker than he'd ever seen Kim move before.
"Oh, I am, Mr. Lipsky," Kim whispered from behind, somehow flanking him in a single fluid motion. There was a sharpness to her voice that went beyond the typical Possible 'can-do' attitude. In a brief flash of deja vu, Dr. Drakken wondered how badly he'd come away from the one sided scuffle this time.
-BREAK-
Shego sighed, grumbling something incoherent to herself as she waited for something to happen. She was positive Drakken would fail- the man could barely keep up with her in a foot race, and forget fighting- but she didn't know how GJ collected their agents after assignments. For a moment, she felt a little foolish; perhaps she wasn't quite ready for the field. Maybe she needed a little more training.
No, she assured herself with sudden vigor, frowning at the roof before her. She was ready; she just needed a chance to prove it. If only she could do something- wait. Shego's head snapped up, emerald eyes scanning the sky above. It was low and far off, but she was certain she heard the roar of a jet engine. The nearest airport was too far away to account for the sound, and she was fairly certain no flightpaths passed over the museum anyway.
Her attention was pulled away from the sky as the rope suddenly went taunt, obviously supporting weight from the other side of the skylight. Shego frowned; of course Drakken had failed and there was a GJ transport plane heading to pick them up. She really shouldn't have been surprised but she badly wanted something exciting to happen on her first mission. It looked like things would be a total bust. Then, a noise other than the gradual approach of a jet caught her attention. It was a soft grunt but it didn't sound like her guardian at all; something about the noise sounded... different.
"No way, she always uses a separate exit, right?" Shego mumbled to herself, quietly shifting into a crouching stance, just in case. No sooner had she started to doubt her own instincts when a hand, encased in a light brown glove, took hold of the skylight's edge. In complete shock, Shego watched as a lithe, attractive redhead pulled herself through the skylight easily, stretching her arms above her head with a yawn. Rotating her left shoulder a bit, the woman, whom Shego recognized easily as her target, reached into her pocket and produced a small statue.
"Yeah, definitly glad I went with Ra. I'll snatch Osiris at the next museum," Scarlet mused aloud, apparently unaware of Shego's presence. "So not the drama! Not like anyone even comes close to catching me anyway."
Shego took a steadying breath, her heart racing as she assessed the situation. Obviously, Drakken had failed, just as she suspected, but now she had a chance to catch Scarlet herself. The only problem was Shego wasn't quite sure how to do it, aside from knocking the young woman out. The teen shrugged to herself; if it was the only way, it would have to do. Focusing on Scarlet's back, Shego launched forward, rushing at the unsuspecting woman. For a moment, her mind wondered if simply tackling the woman would be the most effective means of subduing her, but the voice was quickly quashed. Shego lowered her shoulder and braced herself as she jumped at Scarlet.
The impact never came though; instead, Shego found herself sailing over the crouched redhead. Summoning all the grace she had, Shego tucked her head and rolled when she hit the ground, springing into an offensive fighting stance the moment she could do so without falling over. Determined to prove herself, emerald orbs settled on her target, who was smiling back at her.
"My, you are a cute one," Scarlet giggled, either at her comment or Shego's face as it fell, it was tough to say. The teen blinked and shook her head, trying to ignore the blush creeping into her cheeks. "What's your name, Sweetie?"
"M-my name's Shego, and I'm with Global Justice! I'm, uh, here to arrest you for, um, theft!" Shego stumbled over the words, mentally kicking herself as Scarlet's smile grew wider. Lacking her usual verbal skills, Shego instead launched at the redhead, cocking back her fist to deliver a solid punch to that beautiful smiling face. In the blink of an eye, Scarlet was sliding low to Shego's right, looking to flank the teen. Not looking to be so easily bested, as soon as her next foot hit the roof, Shego reversed her momentum, lashing out with a kick that struck the woman square in her chest. With a soft 'umph!', the redhead stumbled backwards, ending up on her rear before she could really process what happened. She blinked a few times before grinning at Shego.
"You're a quick little thing," Scarlet tucked her knees into her chest and righted herself effortlessly. Settling into a defensive stance, the statuette still in her right hand, the thief winked while beckoning the teen forward. "Show me what you've got, Babydoll."
Shego growled, her embarrassment from the pet names and Scarlet in general giving way to her anger. She hated when people failed to take her seriously. Granted, she was just a teenager but that was part of the problem as well. Without really thinking, Shego jumped at the redhead, looking to land a flying kick to the woman's face and knock that smile off it. Scarlet merely ducked and pushed the limb aside, throwing Shego's balance off. She landed, but not nearly as gracefully, and at once had to react to an incoming punch.
They danced across the roof, trading blows. Well, not really; Shego spent most of the exchange on the offensive, having her attacks either dodged, knocked aside, or, when her attacks did land, appeared ineffective. Scarlet, for her part, only attacked whenever Shego tried to catch her breath but the blows were more or less taps, light hits that upset the teen's balance or annoyed her. Her frustration with the redhead grew until she tried for another flying kick, which was dodged again, and tried to instantly start a new assault. She set one foot back to give her a firmer base but was overcome with horror as she felt her boot slip off the concrete. Shego hadn't noticed how close she'd been to the edge until just then and her stomach lurched as she felt herself start to fall off the museum's roof. It was a completely different sort of weightlessness than walking off the edge of a bay door; it was far from pleasant. And, she imagined, the landing would be too. Well, this sucked.
Suddenly, Shego's progress to the ground waiting below was halted by a hand grabbing her wrist, the grip so tight it was almost painful. Emerald eyes sought out her guardian, Drakken, who was the only person her mind could supply as her savior. Instead of coal black, she met olive green. Slowly, carefully, Scarlet pulled Shego back onto the roof, taking a few steps back, still holding the teen's wrist, until she was certain the danger had passed. At about that moment, Shego realized she'd stopped breathing at some point and began heaving, bending over with her hands on her knees as her body shook. In her head, she was screaming, processing what could have happened had Scarlet not grabbed her. That was terrifying! She damn near died!
Somewhere in the back of her mind, some rational voice that wasn't distracted from the near death experience just moments ago, Shego noted that the faint rumbling of a jet's engine had grown to a near deafening volume.
"Huh, my ride's here," Scarlet waved to the dark blue harrier jet, hovering at the far edge of the roof. When she looked back at Shego, the teen couldn't even imagine trying to continue their fight, still feeling her hands shaking. The thief regarded her a moment, then looked at the statue in her hand. Shego closed her eyes, unwilling to witness the failure of her first mission first hand, but opened them again when she felt Scarlet grab her still trembling hand and place the stone statue in it.
"Wh-wha-?" Shego's mind failed to work properly, emerald eyes searching smiling olive orbs for some explanation.
"That is for the fight," Scarlet smiled, then leaned down- she was about half a foot taller than Shego- and planted a soft kiss in the middle of the teen's forehead. Shego felt herself start blushing furiously, both hands gripping the statue for fear she might drop it. Scarlet just smirked at her. "And that was for being cute." Turning back towards the jet, the redhead walked away, calling over her shoulder as she went. "I'll be back for those statues, Babydoll. I'll be very disappointed if you aren't there to stop me!"
Before Shego could come up with anything to call back, the hatch on the jet popped back, revealing a blonde man roughly Scarlet's age sitting in the pilot's seat. The thief easily jumped the distance between the roof and the jet's wing, calmly walking to the copilot seat and settling herself in. As the hatch slid close, Scarlet threw Shego one last smile, then blew the teen a kiss. All the while, Shego just stood there, clutching the statue, as the jet lifted up into the night sky and flew away.
After a few moments of silence, Shego growled and slapped her forehead with one hand. That was stupid; she just let Scarlet walk away! She didn't even try to stop her! What the hell!
"Oh, don't beat yourself up, Shego," Drakken's voice pulled Shego from her internal ranting, the man himself limping over to her from the roof access door. He was badly bruised, as was the usual outcome of his missions involving the redhead, but he would be fine in a few days.
"Dr. D, you okay?" Shego jogged over to her guardian, presenting him with the statue. "Here, uh, I... got it back."
"That's good," the senior agent smiled, accepting the artifact and looking it over. Despite being thousands of years old, the Ra statuette looked to be in excellent condition. "Dr. Director will be pleased with our success. You know no one's ever stopped her before, right?"
"Well, yeah," Shego shrugged, still feeling a tad bit embarrassed about the whole ordeal. She needed to not get so flustered next time- and there would be a next time, she was certain of it- since the redheaded thief seemed to enjoy upsetting her balance. As they waited for transportation of their own, Shego asked her guardian all the questions she had, making a list of the things she needed to improve on before her next mission. Though she wouldn't admit it, not even to the blue agent beside her, Shego had a lot of work to do if she wanted to catch Scarlet. And, oh, did the teen want to catch that woman!
-BREAK-
"Hey, KP? Who was that kid?" Ron, Kim's best friend for nearly two decades, piloted the jet away from the museum with practiced ease, his ever present assistant, the naked mole rat Rufus, watching the redhead over Ron's shoulder.
"A very cute Global Justice agent," Kim replied with a laugh, leaning back in her seat. She hadn't expected a second agent to be accompanying Drew Lipsky, her father's best friend, also known as Dr. Drakken. However, it was a decidedly pleasant surprise. "Her name's Shego."
"Shego huh? Sounds exotic," the blond laughed, setting a course for home. He had watched the majority of the fight from above and couldn't help but be impressed with the girl's skills, even if they were unrefined. She had potential, and Ron knew his best friend had picked up on it as well. While he had some reservations about how Kim handled the situation, namely giving up the score right before a clean getaway, he chose to wait until they got back to their pad. He was certain Wade, their technological guru, would have some questions, as well as the rest of the team. Best to knock it out all at once. "By the way, she looked, uh, a little pale."
"I think her skin is green. Couldn't really tell in the moonlight, but I like it," Kim shrugged, sighing a little as she looked out at the night sky. A small smile claimed her lips as she thought of the next time they would meet; she was certain Shego would try her hardest to improve her fighting in the meantime. It would be a lot more fun of a fight then, and that only added to the excitement. "How old do you think she is?"
Ron blinked, thinking the question was a bit out of the blue. Then again, Kim had been blowing around the world on a whim for the past five years, doing whatever she desired the moment the desire took hold; he really shouldn't have been surprised. "Uh, I'd guess fourteen to seventeen. Can't be a full fledged agent yet- she didn't have the usual mission load. Why?"
"Come on, Ron, you know me," Kim gave a sexy smirk, closing her eyes. "I'm always looking for the greatest treasure to steal. I think I just found it."
"And that would be...?" Ron frowned, feeling slightly uneasy. While he had agreed to support Kim through thick and thin, including her new lifestyle as an international archeological thief, there were certain limits he was not willing to let either of them cross.
"A young girl's heart, of course," Kim laughed, replaying the fight in her mind, the fierce determination in those emerald eyes sticking in her mind. Oh how she loved that fire. "I just hope I don't have to wait four years to claim my prize."
-end(?)-
Author's Note II: See? I told you: majorly AU and majorly OOC. Where did I get this from? One of rinacat's pics: Younger and Older. The first time I saw the pic, I thought Kim looked like an archeologist. Which lead me to thinking about Indiana Jones. Which somehow lead to Lara Croft (Tomb Raider). I arrived at deciding Older Kim would be a thief who steals artifacts from museums (she also steals paintings, but only when the mood strikes her). And who's gonna chase her? Younger Shego, Global Justice agent, of course!
As always, comments appreciated. :D