Most Wanted Chapter 2: The Task At Hand, a kim possible fanfic

AUTHOR: Sobriety

SUMMARY: How do you catch the world's most wanted criminal? By hiring the second most wanted to find her, of course.

TYPE: Kim/Shego, Slash

RATING: MPAA: PG-13

NOTES: Set about a decade after "Graduation", and acknowledging everything from the TV show as canon. The world is definitely more "shades of gray" than in the TV show, and some of the content will be a bit more adult, but this isn't intended to be much darker than the show itself.

Oh, and Kim and Shego don't start the fic already in love. One of my personal preferences is to see their relationship develop in the course of a story, and I'll be doing that here. KiGo may be the destination of this story, but it'll be something of a journey to get there.

Chapter 1

GJ Person(s) of Interest Form

Case Ref: POSSKA-17-001

PI Ref: 0002

Name: Stoppable, Ronald

Known Aliases: Ron Stoppable, The Ronster, The Ron Man, Monkey Master

Relation to Suspect: Spouse (divorced)

Location: Middleton, CO

Biography: Lifelong friend, high school sweetheart and former spouse of the suspect. Undertook more than 120 missions with the suspect during high school and college. Married upon graduation from college. Joined GJ with the suspect, serving 11 months as a field agent and 6 months in the Quartermaster Dept (Catering). Resigned, citing moral objections to GJ policy. Announced separation from the suspect occurred 14 months later, and they were divorced 3 months after that. Immediate cause of marital breakdown believed to be suspect's continued employment with GJ. Returned to Middleton. Currently domiciled with sister Hannah Stoppable (PI Ref 0019) and fiancé Tara King (PI Ref 0020).

Interrogation:Subject claims last contact with suspect was shortly after their divorce. Further claims no knowledge of suspect's current location or plans.

Surveillance:Full time surveillance undertaken for 2 months. Subject detected surveillance on several occasions, but made no attempt to elude investigators. No indication of contact with the suspect.

Recommendation: Minimal risk of contact with suspect. Reduce surveillance to electronic-only on intermittent basis.

The Caribbean sun was low in the sky, casting the narrow mountain road in a mottled pattern of darkness and deep red light. As was common for the area, it was more track than road, with a surface of bare earth and stone. A pair of oxen moved slowly on the rough surface, dragging a large steel cage set atop a simple pair of wooden axles. Each rut or pothole caused the ungainly contraption to lurch dangerously back and forth. Despite the seemingly imminent risk of toppling over the mountain's edge, there were no cries from the four ragged figures within the cage. They merely lay, unconscious or uncaring, in the filthy straw of the cage.

Fore and aft of the cage were a pair of aged jeeps, their once-military green paint long faded to the color of dirt. Four men rode in each jeep; ragged and unshaven, they were distinguished from their prisoners only by their freedom and their weapons. Limited to the speed of the ox cart, the two vehicles crawled toward the valley below, their engines in neutral and their breaks complaining at the constant use. Despite the altitude, the air was sticky with heat rising from the sun-baked stone around them, and several of the men were dozing, battered caps pulled low over their faces.

Across the valley, nimble fingers adjusted the lens of a stolen GJ telescopic viewer. The picture jumped into clarity, then was suddenly blocked by a wagging pink tail.

The most wanted criminal in the world raised her eyes to peer over the top of the viewer.

"Rojo!" she hissed, "Your naked rump is in my way!"

Despite the firm words, Kim Possible's eyes looked on her tiny companion with affection. The small pink animal skittered up her arm and brought his face close to her own. He was wearing the blue mask with the flames on it today, Kim noticed. She wasn't sure how many masks Rojo had, but there seemed to be dozens.

"Just my luck to get the only mole rat in the world who thinks he's a luchadore." She muttered to herself as Rojo tapped her noise with his paw and gesticulated wildly. "I know they're down there, Rojo. I'm just scoping the sitch before we go rescue them. So not the drama."

Rojo facepalmed, then gestured again, this time clearly pointing at the sky.

"Arriba! Arriba!"

"Okay, no need to go all Speedy Gonzalez on me ..." Kim trailed off. Her Spanish was still patchy, but she recognized that word. "There's something above us?"

"Si. Si."

Kim rolled carefully on her side, twisting so that she could get a view of the sky without coming out from under the GJ camo-cape under which she sheltered. The dun and green fabric didn't just keep off rain, sun and unfriendly eyes, it would block motion sensors and infrared scanners ... as long as she stayed beneath it.

There. A small black speck, almost lost in the mountains' shadowy peaks. Kim focused the lenses. A helicopter, in drab military covers, flitted back and forth in the semi-darkness. The one-time teen hero lowered the viewer and stared at her accomplice.

"Noway you spotted that." She accused.

Rojo shrugged and tapped his ears; along with his eyes and mouth, they were the only parts of his head not covered by the mask.

"Youheard it? Okay, I guess that does make sense. Rufus used to be able to hear a nacho snap within a three mile radius ..." Kim broke off the sentence, remembering the first naked mole rat in her life, and the sandy-haired boy who'd owned him. Rojo stared at her quizzically, and she pulled herself together with a slight wriggle of her shoulders. "Sorry, boy. Old memories. A chopper on overflight. Guess that means Harker's not too happy about our last couple of ops."

"Avance?" Rojo gestured upwards again and spread his paws questioningly.

"Yeah, we're still going ahead. The helicopter will make things a little more interesting, that's all. Those people still need my ... our help."

"Bueno." Rojo gave her a thumbs up.

Kim pressed the retractor button on her camo-cape and surged to her feet in one lithe motion. If the soldiers in the helicopter had IR sensors, they would spot her within seconds. But now that she was ready to move, seconds would be far too late.

"Flight mode." She sub-vocalized. A tiny sensor in her collar picked up the vibrations and transmitted them to her mission gear. The days of cargo pants and lipstick lasers were long gone. Instead Kim wore a body suit of dark blue Kevlar weave. Thin strips of silver ran the length of her arms and legs, ending in metallic cuffs at her wrists and ankles. The suit covered her from her toes to her neck: only her face and hands were bare. She felt no need to disguise who she was, after all. Atop her head she wore a dark blue helmet, emblazoned on each side with a silver lightning bolt. Locks of her famous red curled out of the edges of the helm, though most of it remained tucked up inside. Her ensemble was completed by a metal utility belt, housing more than a dozen high tech gadgets, and a metallic pack on her back. There was a faint hydraulic hiss from the pack and a pair of silvery wings snapped out of the sides, then a soft whine began as the jetpack motors kicked in.

Kim released a deep breath, lightly touching the hairdryer-grapple gun that hung from her side. It was the only relic of her high school career, and while it had been months since she used it in action, she felt it was like her lucky charm.

"Ready, Rojo?"

"Siempre!" he popped his head out of the largest pocket in her belt and gave her a thumbs up.

Kim was over a hundred feet in the air before the helicopter suddenly changed direction. On the road below, she saw the jeeps slide to a stop and the disorganized soldiers spill out. There'd be bullets heading her way any moment. Time to postpone that problem so she could have a free hand with the chopper.

She flicked open one of the pouches on her utility belt and darted a hand inside. Three tiny metal eggs lay inside. Kim closed her fingers around the first and sent it hurtling downwards with a quick snap of her wrist. Ten feet above the ground, the egg burst, releasing a thick cloud of yellowish smoke. Kim swooped low over the smoke, seeing the dim shapes of soldiers staggering and coughing within. Even a few feet from the cloud, she could smell the acidic reek of sulphur.

"Relax boys, it'll make you cough and cry a lot but it won't really harm you." She called brightly, "And you're all bad eggs so it's only fair you smell like them for a while."

"Oy." Rojo facepalmed in his pocket.

"Hey, I'm not going to use my best material on guys who probably don't even speak English!" Kim protested as she barrel-rolled and soared up toward the helicopter.

"Combat mode." She sub-vocalized. Instantly, the metal bands at her wrists and ankles began to grow, encasing both her feet and her fists in a layer of protective metal.

The chopper pilot slewed his machine to the right, trying to present the side of his craft; and thus the side mounted machine-gun; toward Kim, but he could not match the aerial agility of the young woman's jetpack. Kim swooped around the craft, never presenting a target to the frustrated gunner within, until she was in front and just to the right of the chopper. As she expected, the pilot kept trying to drag his machine around to the right. Now! Kim flared the jet pack's engines, sending herself hurting toward the helicopter cockpit, one armor-plated fist outstretched.

The cockpit canopy shattered under the sudden impact, showering glass across the startled pilot. Kim's first followed the glass, striking him on the temple, though she pulled the blow at the last moment. Picture perfect, if she did say so herself: the man went out light a light, but without a single bone being broken. He'd have a headache, nothing worse.

"Rojo! Bring this thing down!"

"Si!" the masked mole rat leapt from Kim's belt to the pilot's stick, his tiny frame bunching with muscles as he grappled with controls that were larger than he was. Kim didn't spare the strange sight so much as a glance: she kicked through the cockpit door and plunged into the main body of the craft, feet and fists whirling.

Thirty seconds later, the helicopter landed on the mountain road, a short distance down the incline from the front jeep. Still coughing and rubbing their eyes, the eight gassed and confused soldiers warily moved toward the vehicle. The eldest of them, wiping his eyes on his sleeve, called out.

"Ramon? Está bien usted?"

There was a moment of silence, then a strangely timbered voice replied from within the craft.

"Si! Uh ..." the voice drifted off for a moment, "Uh, salgo!"

The eight men exchanged looks. The leader jerked his head to one side and they began to fan out, raising their weapons carefully to cover the helicopter hatch.

A body came flying out. There was instant chaos: one of them men staggered backward in surprise, inadvertently firing into the air. Two others were knocked from their feet as an unconscious member of the chopper crew slammed into them. The others gaped, staring at the three sprawled figures.

And that was when Kim came flying out.

Less than a minute later, she was the only one still standing. She paused a moment, hands on hips, drawing in deep breaths, then ended combat mode. After the metal boots and gloves had retracted, she touched a finger to her neck.

"Phew. Pulse is way up. Must be getting old. Dealing with a few of Drakken's goons never wore me out like this. Well, assuming Shego wasn't around." Kim turned to the ox cart, which stood unmoving, its peasant driver looking at her like she had three heads.

"It's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." She showed him her empty hands. "I've just come to free these people. I'm a friend! Uh ... soy un amigo!"

"Usted es el ángel azul!"

"What? No, I'm not an angel. At least I think that's what you said. Not an angel. I'm just a friend ... un amigo."

"He says you are the blue angel." Another voice cut in, and Kim glanced up to see the dirt and tear-stained face of a young woman peering out at her through the bars of the cage. "All the mountains are filled with talk of you."

"You speak English?" Kim bit her lip as soon as she asked the question. "Uh, don't answer that ... obviously you do."

The young woman smiled briefly.

"I think you are right. You cannot be an angel. An angel would not ask –"

"Such a stupid question?"

"I would have said 'obvious'." The woman smiled again, though it faded as quickly as before. "So you cannot be an angel. But you must be a hero, to have risked your life to save us from General Harker's prisons."

Ten years earlier, Kim would have waved her hand airily and offered a casual "No big." A decade of experience had left her a little wiser. What she did was big for the people she helped. Some days, knowing that was what kept her going.

"Thanks. I do what I can."

"After seeing you, I think you can do anything."

"... I used to think that too."

The young woman at the desk was a perky blonde with a friendly smile. Betty Director hated her immediately.

"Welcome to HenchCo! How can I help you?"

"I'm Dr Director. This is Senior Agent Will Du. We're here for a 1pm meeting with Shego."

"Ah yes, Mr Hench and Ms Shego are waiting for you in room two nineteen. I'll have Roger show you the way." The young woman buzzed for a security guard. "If you could just sign in on the guest register ... thank you. Oh, and Mr Hench has suggested that the meeting would proceed more smoothly without weapons being present ..."

Dr Director placed a hand protectively over her sidearm.

"Unless he's cut off Shego's hands, I'm not sure how he intends for that to happen."

The blonde's smile dimmed a little.

"Mr Hench did say that you might not feel comfortable with that. He also said that he couldn't be sure how Ms Shego would react to your being armed."

"Well, he's going to find out. Shego and Hench have made me jump through enough hoops to set up this meeting already. I won't jump through any more." Dr Director snapped, her single eye narrowing. She almost hoped Shego would use it as an excuse to break off negotiations. Even if she didn't agree with what Kim was doing, her skin crawled a little at what Global Justice was being forced to do to stop her.

"Ah, Roger." The blonde welcomed the HenchCo security guard who had just arrived. "Please escort the Global Justice agents to room two one nine."

The burly man nodded in response, gave Will and Dr Director a surly glance, then turned on his heel and set off down a corridor.

"Friendly bunch." Dr Director gritted to herself as she followed in his wake.

Room two nineteen proved to be a spacious meeting area containing a long mahogany table surrounded by comfortable leather chairs. A state of the art web conferencing facility occupied the center of the table, with a projection screen set up on one wall.

Shego sat sideways across one of the chairs, legs hooked over the armrest, flicking through the pages of the latest issue of Villains Digest. Whereas Dr Director and Will wore their dress uniforms, the villainess had stuck with her infamous black and green catsuit.

"Betty!" she smiled welcomingly as the two Global Justice employees entered the room. "And ... lackey."

"Special Agent Will Du." He introduced himself

"Don't care." Shego told him. "Shut up and let the big kids sort this out." She swung her legs down and threw the magazine over her shoulder. "Betty, I'm sure you know Mr Hench, whose been so kind to arrange a neutral meeting place for us to ... negotiate."

"Dr Director." Jack Hench offered his hand. Betty ignored it, but Hench simply shrugged it off. He gestured to a stern-faced woman on his left. "This is my company counsel, Ms Trial. Shego asked for her to be present today to ensure that we cross all our legal tees and dot all our legal eyes."

Dr Director scowled at the smirking green woman.

"All of a sudden you're concerned about legality?"

"Didn't you hear, Doc? I'm one of the good guys now."

"You had your chance for that ten years ago. This ... is just a temporary arrangement."

Shego shrugged.

"So why don't we get down to the particulars of our ... 'temporary arrangement'? Put your offer on the table, Betty."

"The Governing Council of Global Justice has ordered me to make the following offer." Dr Director said formally, "All law enforcement agencies worldwide will cease any and all attempts to apprehend you, Shego, and all of your immediate accomplices, for a period of three months. By the end of those three months, you will deliver Kim Possible to Global Justice, dead or alive."

Shego's eyes narrowed.

"I'm not an assassin."

Will Du snorted.

"No, just a thief."

"I'm very far from just a thief. And Betty, if you can't keep your lackey quiet, I'll do it."

"Will, please remain silent unless asked a direct question." Dr Director held up a hand to forestall any response from her agent. "You have your orders, Agent Du. As do I."

"Fine. So I find Kim, capture her, and hand her over to you. Alive." Shego folded her arms. "What do I get out of it?"

"Upon receipt by Global Justice of either Kim Possible, her corpse, or some other absolute proof of her death, you will receive the following rewards." Dr Director gritted out, "One; the sum of five hundred million US dollars, paid into an account or accounts of your choice. Two; a full pardon for any crimes committed prior to the completion of your task. Three; an additional seventy two hour moratorium on any and all attempts to apprehend you."

"An escape window? How sweet. I didn't know you cared." Shego quirked an eyebrow. "Okay. Here are my conditions. The five hundred million is to be paid upfront -"

"Out of the question."

"- into a HenchCo Trust Account. It'll be held there for three months, then either returned to GJ in the unlikely event I fail, or paid to me by HenchCo. I don't fancy having you know about any of my accounts, Betty."

Dr Director ground her teeth. "Agreed."

"Next thing: I want full access to all GJ files on Kim Possible."

"Those are classified."

"So declassify them. I need to know what you've been trying over the past twelve months so I don't waste my time repeating your mistakes." Shego was clearly relishing the chance to twist the knife.

"Agreed." Dr Director ignored the shocked look she received from Will Du. He hadn't been privy to the briefing she'd had. Betty had already fought the Governing Council over all these concessions. Fought and lost, just as she'd fought and lost when the idea of hiring Shego was first mooted. "Agent Du has all the information on file. We'll provide you with a copy."

Shego leaned back in here chair with an amused smirk.

"You hate this, don't you Betty?"

"I'm playing nice with two people who should have been behind bars years ago. What's to like?" Dr Director swept her gaze over both the green woman and Jack Hench, who affected to look wounded by her words.

"I'm simply an honest businessman." He insisted, with a smirk nearly as wide as Shego's.

"You're simply very good at finding ways to do immoral things without strictly breaking the law."

"Whereas Kimmie is good at finding ways to do moral things, and the law be damned?" Shego smiled sweetly as Betty flinched. "Your objection to this goes deeper than that, doesn't it? You made mention of being 'under orders' several times. I'm guessing there's a reason you keep reminded us all about that."

Dr Director clenched her jaw and sat mutely. If anything, Shego's smile grew wider.

"Sorry Betty, but answering my questions honestly is a condition for my taking the job. If you can't do that, I walk. So ... what are yourpersonal opinions about Kimmie?"

When Dr Director didn't answer immediately, Shego made as if to leave.

"Wait." Betty held up a hand. "Are there going to be more of these questions?"

"A couple."

"I'll answer them. But only off the record ... and without an audience."

Shego returned to her seat and glanced at Hench.

"Jack, would you be a dear and take Ms Trial and the lackey out of the room? Oh, and if you could send up a chocolate milk and some of those delicious cookies, that'd be swell ... you want anything, Betty?"

"No, thank you."

"So polite. Couldn't you just take her home to mother?" Shego smirked.

Jack Hench, Ms Trial and Will Du; the last only after a complaining look to his superior; exited the room. Shego immediately kicked back her chair and plonked her boots on the table.

"That's better." She stretched, cat-like. "Jack's a good guy but he's very precious about the mahogany. So Betty: time to fess up. What's your personal opinion of all this? You can't really think Kimmie deserves to be the world's most wanted criminal"

"I ... I sympathize with her motives." Betty laced her fingers in her lap, glanced down at them, then up at Shego. "I know she just wants to help people. But the way she's doing it ... the Governing Council cannot tolerate it. She's undermining everything Global Justice has achieved."

"I thought it was your mandate to help people? Isn't that what she's doing?"

"Global Justice's mandate is to protect international law, under the auspices of the UN Security Council. We have to take a ... big picture view."

"And Kimmie's too worried about the little people?"

"In the final analysis, yes." Dr Director lifted her head and stared Shego in the eye. "Sometimes we have to make compromises ... sacrifices ... for the greater good."

"Sacrifices like hiring me?"

"Usually not quite that distasteful." Betty's rejoinder provoked a smirk from Shego. "But it is the hardest part of the job. Ultimately, Global Justice has to answer to the governments which fund us. If they tell us we can't interfere, we have to listen. We have to make allowances."

"So ... overlook a human rights abuse or two if it means capturing a notorious terrorist, that kind of thing?" Shego gave a bitter laugh. "Why in hell did you hire Possible? There's no way she would go for that. Not Little Miss Perfect."

Dr Director shrugged uncomfortably.

"When Ms Possible and her then-fiancé initially joined Global Justice, we did psychological evaluations on them both." She admitted. "The results indicated that Mr Stoppable's decision-making process was highly emotion-based, rather than reason-based, so would most likely quit within three months, due to this very issue. Ms Possible's profile was much more balanced. As long as Mr Stoppable remained, she could be swayed with logical arguments."

"The greater good, right?"

"Right."

"Also known as 'the ends justify the means'."

Dr Director ignored this.

"The psych evaluation also indicated that the longer Mr Stoppable stayed, the less likely it would become that Kim would leave with him."

Shego drew in a breath.

"So you did everything you could to keep the buffoon?"

Dr Director narrowed her eyes.

"Let's be clear, Shego. Mr Stoppable was of vital assistance in saving the world from alien invasion. He was also a competent agent who served admirably in the field for nearly a year."

"Because you made sure he always got the black and white cases, right? No moral gray areas to worry his pointy little head about."

"As much as we could, yes. And when that was no longer enough, we persuaded him to take a rear echelon position where he would not be confronted with such issues. That only lasted another six months or so, but it achieved the main objective."

"Keeping Kimmie."

"Retaining Ms Possible, yes."

"But Kimmie did eventually leave. So what went wrong?"

"You must understand, Shego. I always expected Ms Possible to resign. Either to have a family, or ..."

"Because she couldn't keep telling herself 'it was for the greater good' and believe it, any more?"

"... because she was unable to keep making the necessary sacrifices. You know how Ms Possible is ... or was. She truly believed she could achieve anything. She needed perfection. And Global Justice couldn't give her that."

"And knowing all this, you still hired her?"

"We thought she would simply resign, Shego." Dr Director leaned back in her chair and closed her eye. "We thought we would get the best agent we'd ever seen ... whether it was for a few years or even just a few months, it would be worth it. We never imagined she would do what she has."

"Man, all that psychological analysis and you didn't see this coming? You need to fire your psych team."

"I don't know. They've been pretty spot on about you, so far."

"Huh?" Shego scowled.

"They predicted you'd call about the job. They even predicted when you'd call with a margin of error of less than two hours. They also predicted you'd give me all kinds of grief about it, but that you'd take the mission."

"How do they figure that?"

"Your greed. Your history of animosity to Ms Possible. Your desire to prove yourself the best. Your desire to humiliate Global Justice -"

"Fine, enough already. I get the idea."

"So you will take the job?"

"I'm not done with my questions. Here's an important one: are Global Justice going to double-cross me?"

"... everything I've said to you today will be honored, Shego." That was true, but Betty still felt dirty about what she hadn't said.

The green woman stared at her hard, then finally nodded.

"Okay. I'll accept that. What makes you think I will succeed? I've got a few wins over Kimmie, but none when it really mattered."

"In the past, Ms Possible has had a network of friends, allies and resources to sustain her, while you have had to work alone, or with Dr Drakken -"

"Which was harder than working alone, trust me."

"... I thought the two of you were romantically involved at one point."

"Worst idea of my life. It was like dating an emotionally imbalanced octopus. Anyway, you were saying?"

"In the past, Ms Possible had better resources and support than you. The opposite is now true. You have significant ... though illegal ... resources, and Kim has no-one."

"You're sure of that?"

"She has a pet of some kind, but it shouldn't present you with any problems."

"Ugly looking little pink thing with no fur?" Shego sighed at Dr Director's surprised nod. "Don't underestimate those little freaks. There's no-one else?"

"We conducted a thorough investigation of all of her previous allies and acquaintances. Not to mention a few of her enemies. None of them appear to be assisting her. All the dossiers are in the files Agent Du will give you. Even yours."

Emerald eyes blazed as Shego leapt to her feet.

"What?That's why I kept running into your goons a few months ago? You were trying to find out if I was helping Kimmie?"

"We thought it was extremely unlikely you would be. But we had to be sure before we offered you the job."

"Oh." Shego considered this, then settled back into her chair. "I suppose that's reasonable. Hope I didn't break your agents too badly."

"They'll all recover."

"Right. Last question: are you as big of a dyke as you seem?"

"What?"

"I'm kidding, Bets. Geez." Shego rolled her eyes. "Actually, my last question is: do you know where Kimmie is?"

"Yes. Have you heard of Veligrua?"

"It's one of those tiny Caribbean island states, right? Pops up in the news from time to time because of corruption?"

"Yes. It was originally a Spanish Crown Colony - Spanish is still the national tongue - which declared independence when the Spanish monarchy was deposed. In the sixties there was a major Communist insurgency, before a military junta seized power under the leadership of General Anton Harker. His hard-line anti-Castro politics have made Harker a firm friend of the United States, even though his domestic policies are ... somewhat draconian."

"In other words, he's a right bastard, but he's 'our' bastard." Shego air-quoted. "So Kim's in this Veligrua place?"

"Yes. For about two weeks now. She's been making a real nuisance for Harker: destroying police barracks, freeing prisoners and the like, and Harker is screaming at the UN to do something about it."

"And the UN is going along with this?"

"There are a lot of governments who are conscious that they could be Ms Possible's next target, if she succeeds in toppling Harker. And whatever I may think of the man and his policies, the General is the officially and internationally recognized government of Veligrua. Global Justice is required to provide whatever aid we can."

"Particularly expendable, green-skinned aid, right?"

"Does that mean you're taking the job?"

Slowly, Shego nodded.

"Yes. I'll take a couple of days to read over your files, and gather a team, and then I'll start the hunt."