Partners, Again

Disclaimer/Author's Notes: Kim Possible and all the characters of the show are owned by the Disney Company. All other characters can be blamed on the author (he, however, is not responsible for all of their actions at all times, being barely responsible for himself most of the time….).

This is a strictly not-for-profit, just-for-fun work.

A hearty thank you goes out to whitem for his comments and suggestions: I actually listened to some of them! And, an unsolicited plug for his "What If?" - no tomatoes required, and the angst and humor is indeed a great mix ('Hangst' is in for this season!).

Read and Review, and Enjoy!

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Chapter 1: After I followed your lead….

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Leaving the building, the two women, both walking confidently in themselves and their appearance, were escorted through the crowded walkway by building security. They would normally stop traffic, but not for this reason.

The media was having its usual raucous field day; this breaking story was huge, and their editors wanted answers ASAP.

"Ms. Stoppable! Ms. Stoppable! Do you have any comments about the charges being leveled at you by Rockwaller Industries, Inc.?"

"No comment," was all that the media got as a response as the two women stepped into the limousine, the security agents closed the doors, and the women were driven away to the airport.

"Jason, is the plane ready?"

"Yes ma'am, Ms. Stoppable."

"Jason!"

"I'm sorry…Kim."

"That's better, Jason: you're not talking to my husband's mother," and Jason grinned.

"The aircraft has been fueled and is ready for departure," Jason added.

"Thank you, Jason," and he raised the privacy window between him and the women.

The two women sat in silence, and the second woman spoke.

"Well, Kim?" and Kim showed a purposeful and determined grin.

"This time, Rockwaller Industries is going down," and her business associate smiled. "They've stepped over the line, this time; bringing our families and friends into it sealed their fates.

"Are Felix and Mon all right?" Kim asked after a few seconds.

"They are, now. Felix has two broken arms and a deep chest wound, but nothing life-threatening. Mon only has a couple of cuts and bruises."

"Felix was trying to protect Mon, but she was actually the one who took out the three assassins," Kim remarked, and her associate smiled again.

"I told her that that training would come in handy, someday, but I never imagined it would be like this."

"Have you heard from the guys?" Kim asked.

"Before we left the office," her associate replied, "I got the call from my local contact. Everyone is safe, and they'll be home before we will."

"Good," was Kim's only response and they were quiet for a few more minutes, and then Kim asked the unspoken question.

"What about BonBon?"

"She's doing much better. She's still in the ICU; she was hurt bad, and the surgeons were worried about the severity and viciousness of the injuries, and she's even more devastated by the news of who had initiated the attack on her, but the doctors say that she should be able to be moved out of the ICU and to a private room in three or four days.

"I don't know how she'll be as she has more time to think about what's happened to her," the woman continued. "The doctors aren't sure about the injuries to her legs and lower back, and they're mixed in their opinions of her recovery, but Bonnie knows who saved her life, and she'll have even more time to think about that," and Kim smiled at that thought.

"Besides, Bonnie is strong, so I would bet she'll be back with a vengeance," the woman added.

"Good," was the verbal response from Kim. 'What happened to Bonnie shouldn't have happened to the lowest of the low. I never did anything like that to Shego; well, other than that kick…' and Kim thought briefly about her kick that night on top of the building….

Silence, and then…

"Have you thought any more about the idea, Kim?"

Kim grinned. "I think it's a great idea!"

"Good, because I've already put things in motion. It's scheduled now for next Friday night, at the old high school. They're holding up the demolition for it."

"I'm glad you thought of it; I'd –"

"You forgot, didn't you?"

"Well," Kim looked embarrassed, "I didn't exactly remember," and the two women laughed.

"It was just another project for you, Kim, but it started a change in me."

"So you've told me," Kim replied.

Silence, then she softly said to Kim:

"Thank you."

"How many times are you going to tell me that?" Kim looked exasperated as they stepped out of the limo and walked the 10 steps to the ramp that led to their corporate aircraft.

The crew had already put the boarding ramp in place, and the captain stood in the aircraft's door, smiling and waiting.

"Where to, Kim?" 'As if he didn't already know,' Kim thought, and grinned.

"Let's go home, Russell," Kim replied as they quickly boarded. The crew closed the door, and the aircraft began to back away from the ramp as the women were strapping in by the time that the aircraft pulled in the takeoff queue.

Two minutes, and the aircraft began their return trip to Middleton.

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10 minutes after they were airborne, Kim asked her, again.

"How many more times are you going to say that?"

"Say what?"

"'Thank you.'"

The woman looked at Kim and sighed.

"Kim, you still don't get it, even after all these years; I guess I never told you the whole story, or maybe you 'forgot,'" and the woman grinned as Kim groaned. "You saved me, and before you say that it was 'No Big,' Kim, it was bigger than big.

"What you did, and what you said to me, literally changed my life."

Kim was silent, and then she spoke.

"I just wanted to be a part of the project, but you wouldn't listen to anything that I suggested. Finally, you and I had to work together to succeed. I had no idea that one series of events changed you that much," Kim thought for a few seconds, and then she continued.

"Well, not until we talked, much later, during that summer at Uncle Slim's Lazy R ranch."

"Those two days with you, Kim, and your friends: treating me like a friend, and being around all of those people who didn't judge me, made me start to think about my life: how I treated people, and how I'd been treated.

"And, that's how it all started, Kim," and the woman sniffed back a tear.

"You made me realize that I was somebody special, but not the way I'd been told for the last five years."

"I treated you like a friend, and you were," Kim replied, testily, just a bit more than uncomfortable with her business associate's revelations.

"But, no one ever treated me like that. You showed me what could happen if I ignored Bonnie's precious 'food chain,' and I'd never have met my husband or seen my children smile if I hadn't," and she unsuccessfully held back her emotions.

Kim sat there, and let her let it all out, then reached over and touched her hand.

"You didn't know what I'd just been through, GF. I had just admitted to Wade, someone to whom I owed my life several times over, how I'd used him for four years, and he forgave me," as Kim pushed through her own barriers, now much easier to do after more than 20 years, "and that made me realize that I needed to get right with you, while I still had a chance. I took that chance, just as you did," she added.

"I did it, Kim, only after watching you that afternoon and what you did. I followed your lead, and look where it's brought me," and she smiled through her remaining tears of joy.

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"So," Kim asked tentatively, "what do you think of the offer?"

"Kim, it looks good, but I always talk about things like this with my husband, first: he's my partner, and we make all of our business decisions jointly."

"I have no problem with that. If you come on, both of you will be named as partners," Kim stated calmly, and her associate looked up, quite surprised.

"What? I did the same thing with Mon and Felix as well as with Wade and Jocelyn, so why should you two be treated any differently?"

"I…just wasn't expecting that, Kim." She paused for a few seconds to formulate her response. "That's a very generous offer."

"Selfish on my part: with what your husband's done in the education field, he's reason enough to bring you two into the firm."

"So, now the truth comes out!" she smiled a knowledgeable smile. "You just want him and Ron," and Kim blushed a deep red. "I knew it! You've always wanted him for his magnificent body, and, for you, my pitiful mind is just an after-dinner mint!"

"NO!" Kim almost ripped the seat belt straining to get up, and then she looked at her associate's grin.

"Gotcha, Kimberly," she grinned, and Kim fell back into her seat, and Kim's smile rapidly turned into a grin, then a chuckle, then a chortle, and finally a full belly-laugh.

She and her travel companion laughed most of the rest of the trip.

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Russell came over the intercom. "Kim, we're coming in to Middleton International, and we'll be on the ground in five. Ladies, your husbands and families are at our gate, and, Kim, Ron says, and I quote, 'I want me some KP!'" Russell added, and chuckled as he relayed Ron's message to Kim. Kim blushed, and her traveling companion laughed.

"Now, do you understand, Kim?" and Kim smiled at her associate.

"I understand more than before," Kim answered and the plane banked in for the landing, "but I think that this is going to be a long tale, not told on this aircraft.

"I'm thinking Che' Ronald's for dinner, perhaps the trout," Kim suggested, remembering Ron's tales of how much Dr. Betty Director, the Global Justice Director, had enjoyed Ron's dish; the first time that he served it to her, she'd snuck back into the kitchen, late one night, and devoured 2 whole trout and the rest of the dinner leftovers.

"The trout: it's so good, Kim! We've had it more times than I can count," she added, and Kim smiled.

"How do you keep your figure, Kim, with Ron cooking the way that he does?" Her friend asked, and Kim replied simply:

"Ron-aerobics," Kim smiled sweetly, and the women laughed heartily as they both thought that they needed to discuss 'exercise' with their husbands when they got home.

"Good. Now, let's get you cleaned up; I don't want your husband to think I'd been practicing a 20th style of Kung Fu on you!" and the women laughed as they wiped away their tears.

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"Touching down, now," Russell was perfect in his landing the corporate craft, and he brought them into the gate with little delay.

The crew threw open the doors, and Kim smiled a huge smile as she saw her husband and children, all safe from harm, and she saw her associate's husband and their children in the same state. They barely made it to the ground before -

"Mommy!" both women were simultaneously assaulted by the herds of wild animals that they affectionately called their children. They both smiled and yielded willingly to the oncoming massed that glued themselves onto their respective sets of shapely legs. Their husbands smiled: the kids missed their moms, and the moms' returns to the hanger were always times for celebration.

"KP, are you all right?" Ron asked as she pried herself away from the kids and kissed her husband, Ronald Stoppable, the man of her dreams, her husband, and BFF.

"Never better, RS," she replied, and smiled at her him. "You need to make me a trout dinner, tonight: I'm feeling 'very needy.'" and she gave him the PDP.

"Poof: you're a trout dinner," Ron replied, matter-of-factly, and the kids all giggled, and Kim glowered, but only for a moment: she could never stay mad for long at her husband. Then, she had an evil idea, and she leaned over to his head and held it so the kids could not see what she was doing: she licked his right ear, and whispered:

"There's 'Kimshine' afterwards, if you're really, really, good," to which he replied:

"BOOYAH," in his mature, manly, and totally Ron fashion.

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"Hello, beautiful. I missed you,'" as her associate's husband picked her up and twirled her around after she was released by her kids.

"I'll never get tired of hearing that," she replied with a grin, and then she kissed her husband tenderly. "I love hearing it almost as much as I love you," she added, and he smiled and kissed her chastely on the cheek as he put her down. "Are you all right?" she asked, and he nodded.

She then pulled him down so that she could whisper something into his ear.

"Let's get to the house," she whispered into his ear, and he smiled. "Ron's cooking tonight; and it's the trout that you love so much at his restaurant," and she nibbled his ear.

Mike Cotton grinned and whispered something in her ear; she blushed and kissed him even more intently.

"Later, lover: after the trout's gone, and the kids are asleep," she whispered, and he grinned.

"Now, that's not freaky," he replied, in his normal voice, and all four adults laughed and the kids all looked confused.

"Lucky me," Mike added softly as he hugged his wife again, and the two families all walked to the limos that would take them back to the Stoppable home

"Welcome home, Ms. Cotton," and her driver held the door open for her.

"Stephen!"

"I'm sorry…Justine,"

"That's better, Stephen: you're not talking to my husband's mother," and Stephen grinned.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied, and she stepped into the limousine with her family. Stephen closed her door, got into the driver's seat, and started the drive to their new temporary home.

Ron and Kim Stoppable had volunteered their new 'Naco-mansion' to Mike and his family, as well, for 'as long as they needed,' Ron had told Mike and Justine.

The Cotton home now no longer existed; it had been torched and then bombed by, according to the authorities' official reports, 'an unknown individual or unknown parties,' but all of the adults in the limousines knew better

It was time for the implementation of Retribution.

Both Kim and Justine knew who they had to call, and both were afraid, not of the reaction, but of the consequences of that call.

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chapter now complete….

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A/N: This is a new arc, set in the future of my Jade 'Kimverse,' so get ready for some more Betty and Wade and Jocelyn and Mon and Felix. Toto, we're not in high school, anymore...

Thanks for reading, and please review.