Author's Forward
Well, not much to say this time around, other than sorry for the delay, but RL kinda bit myself and my flow/feel beta, Neo the Saiyan Angel, on the rear! That said... On to the the review replies!
First up is a delayed review reply from chapter 20 of Book I, since it was up after I had chapter 1 of Book II up, the second is for last chapter.
DarkBluePromises17: thanks for the review and your input, as well as the fact that you actually caught a few things that I'd done in the story. I'm also glad that my reply via PM was able to shed a little light without having to give away too much and that you're going to continue to read. I hope you enjoy what I have in store over the course of the second book!
Jimmy1201: ah, yes, that kind of sandwich is, indeed, something very nice to wake up in. And, as to the mystery, well... It'll get more and more twisty as time goes on, trust me.
And now... Chapter 2!
KP-RS-SG-KP-RS-SG
"That..." Bonnie 'Mechanic' Senior cooed as she settled her supersuit down into the rear of the jet belonging to 'The Upperclassmen', "Was amazing!"
"You and Pipes have come along quite amazingly, my dear... Ms. Hall seemed quite put out that we defeated her almost as easily as Ms. Possible and Mr. Stoppable." the smooth, accented voice of Señor Senior, Sr., the former supervillain and now the Upperclassmen's tactical leader 'X' agreed.
"You really think so, Daddy?" Bonnie asked in a surprised and startlingly pleased tone.
"Indeed!" Triple-S answered easily as he settled in beside her easily, his landing even smoother than her own, despite being in his sixties. "Your suggestion of increased training seemed to have paid off quite well!"
"I will need to use the jacuzzi for hours after this, though..." the audible pout in the Upperclassmen's third member, Señor Senior, Jr., known as 'Pipes', drew a sighing chuckle from his wife. The chuckle turned into a worried squeak when she was forced to reach out and support him, his his legs almost giving out upon landing. "Agh, perhaps a massage for my legs, too?"
"I told you not to overwork, baby..." Bonnie muttered with an annoyed yet concerned air, "Yes, I want your legs to match that gorgeous upper body, but..." Junior held up a hand and activated the rear door of their jet, closing it so he could remove his helmet. Bonnie removed his and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, smiling up at him as if awaiting whatever he wanted to say.
"I may have forgotten to eat the bananas and oranges you suggested?" Junior flushed slightly, "But at least I made the protein shake!"
"You should have added them in with the shake, my son..." Triple-S chuckled, "As I do... Though I do add in the pomegranate and cranberries for the anti-oxidants, as well...
"I know, Father..." Junior sighed as they went about taking their suits off, Junior needing Bonnie's help when his legs locked painfully. He toughed it out impressively, barely groaning, which drew a sympathetic and proud smile from his father. "I will not be missing adding things to assist me in the future..."
"I'm just glad you're all natural, babe..." Bonnie sighed as she rubbed his tense shoulders, knowing from personal experience that rubbing his legs while in spasm, while quickening the relief, would be far more painful for her husband. "And if I ever find out you're using steroids or prohormones..."
"There is no need to worry, my Bon-Bon!" Junior promised, leaning back into her massaging fingers, "Father taught me long ago the negative side effects of such drugs."
"Good..." Bonnie purred, "'Cause I'd hate it if you lost any of my favorite abilities of yours..."
"Do not get too comfortable, you two," Triple-S smiled at the couple, "We have only two hours before we're given an award this evening for our assisting actions in France two weeks ago..." He glanced back at the loving couple and smiled as he retired to his private quarters in the jet, "And I am meeting with Señora DeWitt in Amsterdam the day after tomorrow, so I'm sure you two could find something to occupy your time while I'm there..."
"Oh, I think so..." Bonnie gave a barracuda smirk as she stood and helped him to his feet, noticing that his leg muscles, while no longer tense, were looking a lot fuller than they had a few weeks before, "There's a couple clubs I wanna check out... 'Specially with some of the stuff I'm going to buy in Paris tomorrow night!"
"Are you going to go to any of the world famous coffeeshops?" Junior asked with a touch of concern in his voice.
"No..." Bonnie grimaced, "I don't like pot, baby..."
"But you've partaken in it, yes?" Junior prodded, earning a huff from Bonnie.
"Once, back in high school..." She sighed, leaning against him as he led her to their quarters and the awaiting massage shower and jacuzzi, "The main reason is I hate how it makes me feel, but another kinda big part is 'cause it... I almost made a huge mistake with my last boyfriend before I started dating Brick because I got high."
"This ex-boyfriend person talked you into trying it?" Junior guessed.
Bonnie let out a harsh bark of laughter, much like she would use back in high school, "Oh, yeah... He was cute, a senior and seemed into me for me instead of caring that I was a freshman virgin... And he talked me into what he told me he thought was my first drink and my first try of pot. The drinking I could handle thanks to Con and Lon - I told you about that one - but the pot?" She shuddered as she remembered his hands wandering over her while she was high, and barely able to think straight.
"What happened, my lovely wife?" he asked with bated breath, his admittedly worried expression calming Bonnie quite a bit.
"I kicked him in the balls and ran home..." she half growled, "I got home before my sisters, but Connie was on the phone when she came in. I was hiding upstairs trying not to bawl my eyes out..." She pulled away from Junior and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering at the memories. Her voice became distant as she concluded her explanation, "Then I realized she was talking to him and it had been her plan all along to use him against me..."
"I'm sorry, Bonnie..." Junior whispered, enfolding her with his big, strong arms.
She turned and buried her face in his chest, drawing enough strength to turn her face up to his with a smile, "It's okay, Junior... It's in the past. I mean, seriously, I don't care who does it, y'know, but I won't."
"Well, that is good." Junior sighed, "I can not stand the smell of it, myself." He paused and screwed his face up contemplatively, before smiling and snapping his fingers, "Although I have eaten the cannabis laced confections called brownies... They are wondrous!"
"Oh, God..." Bonnie protested, "No way, no how, Junior! You are not getting high off of pot brownies around me!"
"But, Bonnie!" Junior mock pouted, his smile letting her know he was mostly kidding, "They are so delicious!"
"You wanna sleep in the bed without me for a month, Musclehead?" she raised an eyebrow, her tone and pointed look speaking volumes about his quality of sleep for the next month if he answered wrong.
"They are not that delicious, I guess..." Junior smiled, one that looked somewhat familiar to the brunette, "At least, not as delicious as my favorite Bon-Bon!"
"Oh... Fine, but wipe Stoppable's smirk off your face!" she ordered, blushing in delight at his silly comparison and her tone taking on some of Junior's own jocularity, "I may think he's alright now, and he may not be as goofy looking as he was in high school, but I will not have you looking like him, do you hear me?"
"As my Bonnie wishes!" Junior said... While the very same smile widened to a huge, goofy grin. Before Bonnie could protest further, he reached out and began to tickle her. When she began to squeal out giggles and not so serious protests, his tickling turned into caresses, his smile became more like his normal, suave grin and the squeals became quiet laughter and even quieter moans...
KP-RS-SG-KP-RS-SG
"You take care of yourself, girl..." Shego accepted JJ's warm hug with a slightly misty eyed smile, returning the slaps on the back the small black woman was giving her, "And that girlfriend of yours and her fiancé!" They were at the rear entrance to the Haussman Suites, at the suggestion of the hotel's concierge when it was discovered a particularly aggressive member of the paparazzi was camped out in the lobby of the hotel.
"You take care of yourself, TJ and Josef, JJ..." Shego chuckled, pushing her one time best friend back slightly to favor her with a stern gaze, "He's a good kid..."
"Yeah..." JJ smiled, glancing back at the cute young GJ agent where he was helping TJ load Kim, Ron, Shego and Rufus' things into the Sloth, "I think I might keep him around..."
"Figured you would!" Ron said from behind Shego, chuckling as JJ stuck her tongue out at him, "Hey, don't point that at me; you've bragged about where it's been!"
"Ronnie!" Kim gasped, slapping him on the shoulder, not quite hiding her own misty eyed gaze herself.
"Don't stay it, Stoppable..." Shego warned as Ron tried pouting about the swat, slapping his other shoulder for good measure. All seven of them chuckled, though Ron still tried pout while doing so. Shego stepped back so Kim and Ron could get a hug from JJ and walked over to TJ. "Hey, ya big lug..."
"Hey, Darlin'..." the big man murmured, his voice deeper than normal as a few tears tracked down his cheeks, "You take care of yoahself, y'heah?"
"You take care of JJ and Josef, boy." Shego ordered firmly as he enfolded her into a hug, "Y'do and I promise not to be a stranger, 'kay?"
"Bettah not, Darlin'..." he whispered to her, "Bettah not..."
"Give my love to the wife and kids, eh?" Shego murmured, her eyes shining brightly as she stepped back, gently punching his chin. Turning to Josef, she saw he was holding a hand out and grabbed it, but before he could shake her hand, she pulled him into a hug, "Hey, Newbie... Since you got promoted and stuck with cross training with their squad, listen to 'em, and stick by 'em, got it?"
"Ja..." was all the startled agent could muster, startled by the expression of friendship from the older woman, "I will. And I'll make sure to treat JJ right, too..."
"Good, I don't have to give ya the best friend threats, then!" Shego laughed as she pulled back. She was still surprised how close she'd gotten to the young agent, in less than three days considering him an unofficial little brother. She chucked him on the shoulder as Kim, Ron and Rufus came over to say their goodbyes to the two men, stepping over to the Sloth to lean nonchalantly against the rear corner.
"You okay, Shay?" JJ asked as she took up position close to her, watching as Ron and Josef shared a disturbingly complex handshake and fist bump routine.
"Yeah..." Shego smiled, her eyes softer than they had been since before Harley had died. JJ glanced over and raised an eyebrow, as if asking for more information. Shego shook her head fondly and continued, "Just... Glad. Happy, honestly." She took a lung expanding breath and let it out, leaning her head back to look at the surprisingly clear sky, "Glad that I got to get together with you and TJ... To catch up with you two... Glad I met Josef... Glad that Kimmie and I got together... Glad that Ronnie's okay with it..."
"You're really in love with Red, ain'cha?" JJ chuckled lightly when Shego nodded, "I hope you don't mind me saying, but... I haven't seen you this relaxed... This happy... Since Sarge was alive."
"Yeah..." Shego's smile faltered for a brief moment, then came back even brighter as Ron glanced over at her with a wink and Kim smiled at her, "Yeah, I guess I am... It's so weird, though, JJ..."
"What's that?" the shorter woman prodded after a moment.
"I've known her for five years..." Shego mused distantly, crossing her arms over her chest, "And except for working together a few times, and a week with my mind flipped upside out and inside down," JJ couldn't help but snort at the rather off manner Shego used to characterize her time as Miss Go, "I've only been friendly with her, as myself, for two weeks... Just over a week if you count my time in a coma! But..." She dropped her gaze back to Kim with an intense, confused expression, "I already love her as much as I ever loved Harley... Maybe..."
"Maybe?" JJ asked into another moment of silence, seeing Shego's face relax a bit as Kim felt her gaze and turned to make her way over.
"Maybe more..." Shego whispered so quietly only JJ could hear, then raised her voice to address Kim, "You guys ready, Princess?"
"Yup." Kim answered simply as she came up to Shego and leaned against her, wrapping her arms around the older woman's neck to give her a quick hug and a brief, but plainly loving peck on the lips, "Whenever you are, Shay..."
Shego blinked at the blunt and very public display of affection, but the brief, radiant smile she'd worn a moment before came back, though tinged with concern, "Hey, Kimmie... You sure you're okay with being that public about," she waved a hand back and forth between them, "us?"
"It's nothing I'm ashamed of, Shay." Kim assured her by leaning back slightly and grabbing Shego's hands in hers, giving them a gentle squeeze, "Unless it makes you uncomfor-..."
"Hardly." Shego interrupted, letting Kim's hands go and resting them gently on the red-head's shoulders. Kim crossed her arms across her chest to place a hand on each of the older woman's, and the former thief leaned in for a slightly longer kiss, breaking it to murmur, "As long as you two're fine with it, I could care less who knows..."
"Damn..." JJ chuckled, bumping her hip into Shego's, "Girl, you are in love!"
"Didn't I say that a moment ago?" Shego laughed, blowing a raspberry at her old friend. She almost jumped when she felt two rather large hands cover both her hands and Kim's.
She glanced to Kim's left, where Ron had leaned down to rest his chin on the heroine's shoulder, gazing into his caring hazel eyes. Her smile dropped ever so slightly as she heard a voice screaming incoherently in the back of her head, but a gentle squeeze to their hands by the blond brought it back and he said softly, "Hey, remember my motto: 'Never be normal!'"
"Doofus..." Shego chuckled softly, and Ron joined her as both women rolled their eyes and leaned forward just enough to kiss Kim's cheek.
He then surprised Kim, Shego and JJ as he slipped Shego's right from under his fiancée's to kiss the older woman's knuckles gently, "You're both my ladies, even if all we ever are is what we are now, Shay... I'd never stand in the way of Kim's love and happiness, and I'd never ask either of you to love each other less. If that means the whole world knows, so be it, right?"
"You...' Shego murmured as he set her hand back down on Kim's, placing his on top of hers and giving another squeeze. There was a slight catch in her throat at the trust Ron was putting in both her and Kim and an odd sensation flowed down her spine at the caring, perhaps even loving gaze he was leveling at her, "Are too hopeless of a romantic, Sport..."
"He is what he is..." JJ interjected, beating Ron to one of his favorite sayings, "And that's probably the most beautiful thing I've ever heard someone say..."
"Oh, no..." Josef chuckled, "You sure you want him to get a big head like that, Jonisha?"
"What?" Shego gasped, then favored the obviously embarrassed, ebony hued woman with a huge smile, "Two days and he already knows your first name, JJ?"
"Y'should've heard 'em in theah room last nahght..." TJ murmured with a sugar-won't-melt-in-my-mouth expression on his face, "Ah didn't think we'd get heah in tahm t'see the three of ya off..."
"Oh, shut up!" JJ squealed, hiding her face in her hands as a chuckling Josef put an arm around her, "You know how I am, Shay! That's just mean to imply anything!"
"Uh, huh..." Shego agreed with an ironic smile and Kim fell into her chest to hide the fact that she was laughing from everyone, "So when should we expect wedding bells?"
"Hush..." JJ said a bit more seriously, "I like him, but we'll take things as they come, alright?"
"Okay, okay..." Shego chuckled as Kim pulled back from her chest and favored the two with a devilish wink.
"Just take care of each other, and things'll work out." Kim promised, with agreeing murmurs from everyone else.
"Promise..." the two love-birds nodded at her, JJ leaning back into the agent and TJ moving to stand next to them, "Drive safe and let us know when you get to your next destination, alright?" JJ continued, nodding at the trio who were only then disengaging from each other.
"We will!" Kim nodded to them as she walked to the driver's side door. She stretched, then let out a big, jaw cracking yawn, blushing slightly she looked at Ron and Shego, "Um, I didn't sleep too much last night, would you guys mind driving?"
"Ron complained about not sleeping at breakfast, but I'm fine..." Shego murmured, earning an agreeing nod from Ron. Kim tossed her the keys and jumped into the rear seat, Ron taking shotgun. Shego smiled as the blond prepared the Ruf-pod, the clothing challenged rat rummaging around in the naked mole rat safety cage, and popping back up with a mole rat sized pair of sunglasses.
"Well, Rufus is obviously ready!" Ron chuckled as he and Kim belted up, and he lowered the seat back slightly.
"Hope you don't mind if I pick the road tunes?" Shego asked, and both teens shrugged, Rufus letting out an enthusiastic agreement with her, "Alright... You guys rest up, I'll wake you up when we hit the first rest stop..."
"Okay..." Kim agreed through another yawn, pulling a pillow out of one of the Sloth's emergency compartments and fluffing it behind her head, "Just be careful with my car, Lover..."
"No problem, KP." Shego chuckled, enjoying the private nickname Kim had chosen, as well as her own use of Ron's nickname for Kim but still getting used to it. The four of them shared a chuckle as the older woman paired her music player to the car's Bluetooth and chose her 'Old School Road Tunes' folder. She listened to the radio for long enough to get a traffic report. With no reports of stau, the German word for traffic jams, she smiled, switching back to the Bluetooth just as she hit the unlimited speed section of the A9. With a smile, she pressed play and eased into the accelerator, nodding her head in time Motörheads' 'Ace of Spades'...
KP-RS-SG-KP-RS-SG
"Mom, Dad?" Jim asked quietly as they finished the last of their breakfast together before continuing the tour of the new facilities. The elder Possibles and the twins, Jim and Tim, were sitting in the Middleton Space Center's new cafeteria, recently rebuilt after the Lorwardians had destroyed over half of the sprawling complex during their invasion. The twins had almost been forced to request the day off, but due to a scheduling conflict at the school, the day had been turned into a teacher's in service day. Unfortunately, the breakfast had been a surprisingly somber affair, as the cafeteria had a commanding view of the Space Center... And the few areas still undergoing reconstruction.
"Yes, boys?" Anne asked quietly, not used to her boys being so quiet and serious.
"Do you hate Kim and Ron being together?" Tim asked, a worried expression on his face.
"No boys..." James sighed, a chagrined look on his face, "You're asking because of what happened back in July?"
"Well, yeah," Jim began, Tim continuing for him, "And all of the arguments... You two had over the last few months... But, well, when you... And Kim talked the other day... Everything seemed fine again?"
"Your father, as well as Kim, had some problems." Anne said into a brief silence, favoring the boys with an affectionate but slightly troubled gaze. She knew they worried about their sister, despite their often antagonistic relationship with her, yet her motherly instincts screamed that there was something more to their questions, "Someone, we're trying to figure out who... Messed with their minds."
"Yeah..." Tim nodded as he and Jim looked around furtively before sharing a look with his brother, giving their parents the impression of a conversation going on between them, who continued after him, "We know a little bit... But not much? We kinda talked to Wade about it when... We were discussing the fuel cutoff problem in the Sloth." They glanced at each other and gulped nervously, as if unsure if they could, or should, continue.
"What's wrong, boys?" James asked, reaching out with his right hand to place it gently on Jim's left shoulder while Anne mirrored him with Tim.
"I presume it's about your sister?" Anne asked, trying not to laugh softly when the boys flinched slightly, worried suddenly.
"Well..." Jim started, Tim swallowing before continuing, "We saw some... Stuff online?" They looked between each other again, Jim continuing before his brother, "And we're worried... That whatever happened... Might've caused problems with... Kim and Ron."
"Kim said everything was fine when she and James talked, boys." Anne reassured them softly, patting Tim's shoulder again before returning her hand to the table and taking the last forkful of the wonderful breakfast shepherd's pie the cafeteria staff had baked.
The boys glanced at each other yet again, and both Possible parents got the impression of a conversation, before Tim sighed and pulled out a Mk. V Kimmunicator. It was something they'd been working on with Wade and Drew for Team Possible, and was the size of a somewhat small tablet computer, with a screen measuring about eight inches diagonally. Jim called up a program and suddenly their area was filled with a very soft white noise while the sounds of the surrounding cafeteria dropped significantly. Tim sighed and started their worried, dual voiced explanation, "Before we tell you... What we're worried about... We need to know... Exactly what happened? And if... You and Kim hated each other... Or if you hated Ron... Or if either of you... Wanted to do something... That hurt each other?"
James sighed and shook his head, "Boys..." Staring into his son's serious eyes, Anne knew they wouldn't let this drop, nor would they explain their worry to their parents. She placed a gentle hand on James' wrist and nodded at him. Looking at his sons, the man sighed again and began his explanation, "We're not sure exactly what happened, or who did it. Kimmie-cub and I were both... Influenced in a way that our personalities were modified. Ima Hauptfall, Drew's counselor, had an initial theory that was both proven accurate and inaccurate at once, that it was like post hypnotic suggestion done over the course of months or years, but had happened in the course of a few weeks. Or in my case, a few days."
"But it wasn't, right?" Jim said softly.
"Not completely, anyway?" Tim concluded, and Anne gave a rueful, but proud smile to her sons for their observational skills.
"No, not completely." Anne leaned forward, knowing her sons had a lot of both technical and medical knowledge, "It was partially right, but also, there were... Indications of drug induced suggestion, or almost more accurately, mad science induced suggestions. The chemical makeup in their brains were modified in such a way as to make their neurological pathways follow the thought process the suggestions intended. It was as if their brains had been rewired, but without changing the physical location of the neurological pathways."
"So..." Jim said, then paused to look at his brother. They nodded as one after a moment, and Jim continued, "You're saying that... Someone managed to rewire their brains... Their personalities... As if someone physically rewired the synaptic connections... At the end of the axons... Or even just... Between dendrite structures... But using chemical modifiers to do so... Without actually moving them?"
"Yes, exactly." Anne nodded, giving a faint, but proud smile as she regarded her sons in a serious, scientific manner, "As well, it would have been missed by most scans, or dismissed as a 'natural progression' of a person's personality had we not had such recent scans of your father and Kim."
"Okay..." Jim said in a quiet, but nonetheless angry tone, while Tim continued in a slightly louder, more blatantly peeved fashion, "Someone tried to... Make Kim and Dad... Hate each other... Or possibly make Kim, er... Evil? No longer a hero?"
"We're... Not sure, boys, but we think that was the intent." James said softly, "But... Drew, Ima and your mother devised a way to... Fix it, for the most part? Not too long after the mission they took in Germany, where Miss Shego got hurt..."
The elder of the Possible men at the table smiled slightly, and Anne was struck at how open he was with the boys and how he seemed as concerned for Shego as Drew had been. Of course, that reminded her of how their little Kimmie-cub had been so worried for her friend, as happy as James had been that her daughter could forgive the woman who had been a bitter enemy for so long. At least Drew's assurances Shego's changed wholeheartedly were true... Now if only she could get over this nagging feeling that her daughter was reacting as if it were Ron that had been hurt. Or... That she's suffering residual programming that is leading her to hide something like that!
Shaking her head slightly, she returned her attention to his boys when they spoke, "Why do you think that... Was the intent? Other than the... Potential that mad science tech was used?"
"Well..." James drew out a bit, rubbing his chin, "At Drew's suggestion, we had the hospital run a scan on Shego; or more accurately, a series of scans." He glanced away in thought, "Your mother and Drew noticed some... Similarities to what had happened to Kimmie-cub and myself over the time of her healing. It seems that when her healing is acting in a more intense fashion than normal, it not only affects the her body, but any potential problems in her brain, but there were definite, but almost unnoticeable changes over the week she was induced into coma.
"It seems, however, that her... Conditioning, if you will... Has been in place for a long time." James grimaced, shaking his head in disgust, "With her healing in overdrive, it was able to start repairing some of the damage, but not much, and it takes times. It's almost as if when she is wounded or her mind was grossly impacted - such as with the Neural Compliance chips or the Moodulators, and even the events after the Li'l Diablos - her healing has a better chance against such long term conditioning." He looked back at the boys, his gaze troubled, "I'm sure you can see my concerns with this, yes?"
"Yeah..." Jim murmured quietly, Tim continuing in a thoughtful tone, "Under normal circumstances... Or with a regular human... It'd be essentially permanent after a certain point... And very hard to work around before then... Without technological help... Right?" James and Anne nodded, and Tim picked up the line of thought, "But with Shego... Someone had to be there... For a long time... Doing this programming..." Jim glanced at Tim and they blinked after a moment, "But the Neural Compliance chips... And possibly our countermeasures... As well as the Moodulators and Reverse Polarizer... And Kim kicking her into the BN headquarters tower... Kick started her healing power's effects... On her brain each time..."
"Which explains why she was getting less and less 'evil', and more 'good' over time." Anne nodded, but held up a cautionary finger, "This is just speculation, boys, and we're waiting for an MRI she has scheduled at the end of the week to see if her mind's healing is progressing steadily, slowing or stalled."
"And this leads me to another point." James murmured, "Kimmie-cub and I talked for three hours the first day after our treatments... It was strained at first, but... By the end of the first half hour, it was as if nothing had happened..." Jim and Tim stared at him almost incredulously, "For both of us, it was more like... A mild tiff, instead of a full on, hate filled argument that almost resulted in Kimmie-cub disowning me." He nodded when the boys eyes widened in shock, and shrugged, "Essentially, everything was back to normal."
"So Kim wouldn't..." Jim started, his voice sounding stronger, less uncertain, as did Tim's when he continued after his brother, "Do something, erm, something different? Like, if something happened... Or something about her changed... It wouldn't be because of what was done? Or what was done to her... It'd actually be her?"
"Yes," Anne nodded with calm certainty, "I'd stake my own reputation on it." She sighed as she realized why they'd asked that question, "This has something to do with something you two found regarding Kimberly and Ronald... And probably Shego, as well, isn't it?"
"Yeah..." Jim said nervously, Tim continuing with less nervousness, but some concern, "Mom, Dad... We know you don't... Like us checking some sites... On the Internet..."
"Boys..." Anne sighed, interrupting them before they could go further, "Just what has you so worried? And what did we tell you about those sites after the last time they posted something questionable about your sister?"
"We haven't done anything!" Jim protested, only for Tim to add a dark, "Yet..."
"Now, boys..." James started, but an indignant interruption from Tim startled him into silence.
"No, Dad!" Jim snapped, "Don't 'Now boys...' us right now, just hear us out!" Tim's voice was unwontedly serious, as but Jim's was slightly apologetic for his snapping when he continued, "We found out... From a trusted source... About a story that's going to be... On the one news show tomorrow night... That's the TV side... Of that hero rumor mill site... Y'know, the site that one bi-..." Jim paused, flushing slightly as both parents raised an eyebrow, but pushed on before they could comment, "Woman runs... It'll be put on the site at the same time... As it's on the show... Just like when she tried to say... That Kim was asking favors... When that teacher caused her problems? And we had Wade check it out... And she supposedly got her information... From a fansite in Germany..."
"So this is about more bunk from that sad excuse of a journalist woman, Deegan Tripe?" James sighed, fuming when his sons nodded in confirmation, "I never understood the appeal of that kind of so called journalism! Why, in my day, journalists needed facts-..."
"While she may blow things out of proportion," Anne interrupted the coming tirade with a stern but caring tone, "There's usually at least some bit of truth to her reporting..." James glanced at her and, as if reading her mind, sighed and nodded; Anne knew that was as worried as she was, considering one of her conversations with Kim earlier in the week, but she hoped she was wrong about the annoying 'journalist' and her likely opinions. "Or she can realistically claim unreliable sources, depending on what her report says, of course!" Anne concluded, and her sons sighed and nodded, "And I have a feeling you want us to look the other way if you two and Wade decide to... Deal with her."
"Only if she's spreading bull." Tim said firmly, Jim nodding in agreement, "Just like we promised the last time... And only if you and Wade say it's okay." They glanced at each other and nodded as if happy with their delivery, "We weren't going... To do anything illegal... But we don't want... Anyone hurting or embarrassing Kim!"
"Because only you can do that boys?" James asked with deceptive mildness. He was exceedingly pleased when the boys shook their heads firmly, both flushing slightly.
"No, not exactly, Dad." Jim's tone was, again, unwontedly serious, and Tim's was, if anything, more so when he continued, "Yes, we like teasing Kim... But we've kinda learned... That the kind of teasing... We did... Could be really bad for her..." A pause, a glance, and a resigned nod, "We won't stop... Small teasing, y'know... Normal brother and sister stuff... But we kinda decided... That since even Ron and Drew have grown up quite a bit... We should, too..."
Anne smiled slightly at their surprisingly mature decision, wondering for a moment if this had something to do with their increased safety with their home experiments. She opened her mouth to say something, then snapped it closed for a moment, as she realized they'd sidestepped her question about what had them so worried. She glanced at her husband and raised an elegant eyebrow ever so slightly, as if asking if he'd noticed as well. James glanced back, the corners of his mouth turning down even less noticeably than her eyebrow. Her right shoulder shrugged minutely and her head tilted slightly towards her sons, to which James nodded at her.
Turning her full attention back towards the twins, she allowed her face to take on a slightly stern grimace as she pushed her boys for an answer to that question, "Jim... Tim... I know that you're trying to protect your sister, but what, exactly, has you so... Worried?"
"Well..." Tim sighed in a drawn out manner, glancing at Jim, who sighed as well. Jim pulled out his own Mk V Kimmunicator, biting his lip, while Tim went to work on his, his tongue stuck out while sucking lightly on his upper lip. Tim seemed to be hacking into a website - she hoped he was just surfing to a secure website Wade had set up - and while Anne wanted to admonish him, something about their behavior had her worried enough to let it slip... For now, at least. Then Jim continued their conversation, "It's just that she put a picture... Like we said, taken from a German fansite that... Had nothing but awesome to say about Kim and Ron... And Shego...
Anne and James drew closer together to take a look at the screen. Jim's Mark V showed a German fansite, 'Ron Stoppable, Kim Possible and Team Possible's #1 German Fansite'. The front page showed a picture of a very high tech looking aircraft with GJ markings atop a fancy hotel's helipad with its rear drop door opened and a man dressed in a US Army uniform holding onto the cargo straps. Kim, Ron and Shego were dashing towards the ramp, and the translated caption above the picture proclaimed, "With the similar uniforms, could it be that the beautiful superthief become hero, Shego, after saving the world from the alien invaders, has joined forces with Team Possible? We can only hope!"
Below that was an excerpt from the full news story, "This picture was taken a few hours before a joint news release from Global Justice and the Federal Criminal Police Office about a plot by an unnamed supervillain. Team Possible assisted in stopping both the supervillain and an attack by the October Front for Worldwide Liberation on the supervillain's lair and on a train rumored to have been carrying a deadly neurotoxin. While it was further rumored that Shego had been injured in the confrontation, pictures taken by fans at Munich's Oktoberfest showed the heroic foursome to be in good health..."
There were a few comments listed below the picture and the snippet from the full news story, above the 'See More Comments' button. One said, "This is amazing! Four of my favorite heroes (one MUST include Rufus!) together, they will be an amazing team!", with almost a thousand thumbs up. Another, more tongue in cheek comment followed, "I hope so, especially if they're all going to wear THOSE uniforms!" The comment had four hundred and thirty three thumbs up, with another updated as she watched, which for some reason didn't surprise Anne.
Then Jim clicked the 'Recent Pictures' link and scrolled to the bottom when the page that came up. There were dozens of pictures on the page showing several pictures of varying quality and situations. Several of the pictures showed Kim, Ron, Rufus and surprisingly Shego signing autographs or posing with their fingers in 'V' signs or thumbs up, some merely candid moments showing them being exactly what they were: two teens and a slightly older friend enjoying the Oktoberfest celebration at its home city.
One thing that Anne couldn't help but notice was the presence of the older woman. In pictures that were more than a singular member of the group posing by themselves or with a random fan, she was always close to them and always had at least a friendly expression - or at least similarly as tolerant as Kim's when Ron was acting goofy - on her face. Then she two pictures, joined side by side as one image, that she knew beyond any doubt, she was going to see on Deegan Tripe's website.
The left picture on the joined image showed Shego was leaning back against a wall in a beer tent. She was dressed quite nicely and stood next to a nearly ebony skinned woman smaller than Kim and a veritable mountain of a man. While the latter two had close cropped hair and obvious military bearings, their manner around Shego and their genial smiles indicated they were close to her. The former thief's gaze, despite the black woman elbowing her lightly, was on both Kim and Ron, the blond giving his fiancée a simple kiss on the cheek. Instead of the sardonic smirk or eye roll Anne would have expected of Shego when she'd worked for Drew, or the sickly sweet expression of happiness of Miss Go, Shego wore a content, open and, she dared to think, loving smile.
A smile that spoke volumes and set off the little bells in the back of Anne's mind... It was the same gaze Ron had held for Kim... And later, the gaze Kim held for Ron, not long before they'd gotten together. Then she stared at the next picture and felt a tingle of worry slide down her back as those very same bells got louder.
The right hand picture, and potentially the one that Tripe would harp on the most, was of the three of them together. Ron was standing behind Shego's chair to her right, bracing himself with a hand on the pale woman's left shoulder and the table while leaning over her opposite shoulder. Shego had a cat that ate the canary smile on her face as Ron gave Kim a kiss that would have been worth six months of detention in for violating Steve Barkin's PDA policy in high school... And would have had James contemplating speeches involving black holes and space probes a year and a half earlier.
What was startling was that Kim not only had her right arm around Shego's neck in a very familiar manner, but she was sitting in the older woman's lap. Anne could only guess, but she had a feeling that if the camera had taken the picture a moment earlier, Shego's arm wouldn't have have been supporting Kim in her kiss with Ron; instead, she felt, it would have been draped possessively over Kim's shoulder and the arm Kim had out to cup Ron's face would have been around Shego's neck... And they probably would have been snuggled together as if they'd been dating for months! As it was, the support she offered Kim for her kiss, and the seeming enjoyment of her daughter's kiss with Ron was startling...
Kimmie-cub and Shego are utterly besotted with each other! Anne blinked, her heart briefly dropping into her stomach before realizing something else. The hand on Shego's shoulder was not that of a friend, or a convenient place of support. No, Ronald Stoppable, she knew, wasn't a possessive sort, but he wasn't above staking a claim, or making a simple touch a statement of his feelings. Had she not known him for just under a decade and a half, she'd have dismissed her thoughts, but she did know him... And knew damn good and well what that little gesture was communicating more than anyone outside of one Kimberly Anne Possible.
Whatever's happening, Anne concluded, Ronald's declaring his feelings as well... And Kimmie-cub and Ron are every bit as in love with each other as ever, and she still has his ring... Anne was a very rational person and as such, knew that the heart was not only very fickle, but very, very open at once. She hadn't been much of an experimenter during her time at Upperton Medical University - outside of a few drunken kisses and fumbling touches with an attractive exchange student from Eastern Europe - but she'd known several people that lived such lifestyles full time. She also knew her little girl and Ronald very well, thus knowing that her presumption of emotion was spot on.
And now, she couldn't help but feel thankful for being friends with such open minded people in her youth. Not to mention loving her very out, very lesbian mother and everything she represented! She wasn't disgusted by any stretch of the imagination at the thought of her daughter being in love with Shego, nor was she truly disturbed by the idea of her being in a relationship with both Ron and Shego at the same time. What made her stomach drop was the utter conviction her daughter felt towards things like this; she knew, with her Possible bull headedness, that her daughter would never hide this, especially if the emotions were as strong as she felt they were.
"Well..." James harrumphed, his lips pursed in concern, "I guess that answers what you two are worried about..."
Tim nodded as Jim lowered his Mark V and waited until both parents looked at Deegan Tripe's page, 'The Truth Behind the Heroes Report'. Just as Anne had feared, that last picture was on her website's main page, and when Tim clicked the 'Read Full Article' button, more of the pictures were there for perusing. Tim and Jim started speaking in their normal, back and forth manner, their tone becoming more and more aggravated, "Now this isn't supposed to go live... Until sometime tonight during or after her newscast... But as you can see... That woman said some harsh stuff... Like Kim's turning into a... To quote, '...regular, everyday alcoholic college girl...', unquote... Just because she's drinking beer at Oktoberfest with Ron... And that she's obviously, to quote, '...finally getting tired of Ron... And is starting to experiment with her obvious lesbian leanings... By experimenting with her former arch-nemesis...', unquote"
"That leaves an important question, boys..." James murmured in as delicate a tone as he could, his face troubled but, to Anne's surprise, not disgusted, angry or resigned so much as worriedly accepting. She briefly wondered if he was seeing the same thing she was, before she realized that the look on his face was the same one when they'd first learned of Kim and Ron's engagement. "If she is in a relationship with Shego and Ronald, would it bother you two?"
Anne smiled and reached over to place a gentle, thankful hand on his, but kept her attention on her boys as they answered, "Of course not!" Jim's tone was shocked at the very question, Tim's somewhat devilish as he continued, "You always raised us to accept people... As long as they're not hurting people... Even if they're a little weird..." The two looked at each other and smiled a bit, before finishing together, "And our sister's very weird!"
"Boys..." Anne said firmly, earning slightly chagrined smiles from them, "Be that as it may... We all know when Kim's... Crushing on someone, and from these pictures..."
"We know, mom!" Jim pleaded urgently, Tim's voice sounding just as worried, "But she's planning on spreading lies about Kim... When she's not even around... To answer in a reasonable time!" They glanced at each other nervously, sighing as they both said, "And we think she was tipped off by a villain..."
"Why do you think that, boys?" Anne's voice was sharp, and James picked up on her tangent easily.
"You didn't do something we'd consider improper, did you?" the older Possible man's voice was firm and unyielding, causing both boys to wilt slightly.
"Not..." Jim started, Tim continuing in a slightly more contrite voice, "Exactly?"
Tim wilted further at a raised eyebrow from his mother, and Jim jumped in, speaking the first full sentence they'd heard from the boys in some time, his words almost stumbling over each other in his haste to speak, "A contact of Team Possible's contacted Wade and Wade asked us to do the checking for him since he had to go with Drew and Vivian to a meeting with a client!"
"So..." James sighed slightly, glancing at his wife. Anne saw his slight grimace, the slight drawing together of his eyebrows and the resigned - and ever so slightly amused - crinkling of his eyes and nodded in an almost unnoticeable manner, "You were essentially doing work for Team Possible." Jim and Tim nodded, each with a slightly nervous gulp, and James smile softly, "Then out with it, boys..."
"The contact is the former..." Tim started in a slightly uncertain tone, but Jim's voice was rock solid, "Mobile camera man, Donny Kaczka... He apparently tipped Wade... During Summer's weather machine plot... And Wade kind of set up... His working for Tripe's company... As her editor in chief... So news about Team Possible... Was kept to a minimum or couldn't be twisted..."
"And this time," Anne concluded with a sharp nod, "That's not possible."
"No, Mom." Jim confirmed with a growl in his voice. Tim's anger was more visible on his face, but his voice seemed calmer as he continued, "But he told us that... The email came from a company... Called Twin Cities Management... And the letterhead had a greek numeral..." Jim paused and glanced significantly at Tim, who nodded and murmured, "It's a front for the WWEE... And the last anyone knew... He was in Europe planning something huge..."
"And this would potentially force Kim and Ron to come back home." Anne nodded with a disgusted sounding snort, "For damage control, if nothing else."
"Exactly!" Tim hissed, but smiled with Jim as his brother continued, "But we... That is, us, Wade, Don and even Summer... Have an idea..."
"Well, I don't know, boys..." James said as if he'd figured out what they were planning, drawing the words out, "Miss Gale wasn't the nicest person with what she said about Kim and Ron when she was at trial..."
"True, James," Anne countered, "I do think she came around after Kimmie-cub and Ronald spoke on her behalf at her trial and got her sentence reduced to parole and time served... And her coverage of the events after the Li'l Diablos. Remember, she hailed them as heroes? And she managed to get a spot as an investigative journalist after she started working with Bethany Waters..."
"And now she does those interviews..." James nodded, "But do you think Kim and Ron would be ready for this?"
"We'll have to call her tomorrow if things work out..." Tim murmured, sighing slightly as Tim concluded, "But only if we have your blessing... And maybe your help? Because we'll have to do this away from Wade."
"So Team Possible isn't implicated..." James smiled but glanced at his wife. Anne's smile startled him; it was predatory and deep in her eyes, he saw a churning, hateful rage that someone would dare to harm her daughter. He swallowed slightly, which caught Anne's attention and causing her to drop her face into neutrality, as well as calming her somewhat. He sighed in relief and quirked a single eyebrow.
Anne nodded and turned to the twins, "We'd love to help with this project, boys! And I know two people that can help us out, and just happen to be a few hours away by Team Possible favor..." Anne smiled again and this time it was almost the normal, sweetly supportive smile of Anne Possible, proud mother of three... If you ignored the growling lioness lurking in the sapphire depths of her eyes...
KP-RS-SG-KP-RS-SG
Shego slowed from two hundred and forty kilometers per hour to a respectively paltry one hundred and thirty as she glanced at the Sloth's GPS display. About another kilometer 'til the rest stop... she mused in annoyance. They were a little under halfway between Würzburg and Frankfurt, Germany and her bladder was screaming at her to stop. Shut up, you could have said something before we passed Würzburg or the last rest area, you know!
"Great..." she sighed, shaking her head.
"What's up, Sheegs?" Ron asked, making the superpowered woman jump slightly, "Sorry!"
"It's okay, Doofus..." she chuckled, "I've slowed down, so jumping isn't too much of a threat!" She leaned back slightly and glanced over at the still awake member of Team Possible, "Thought you were asleep..."
"Nah..." Ron chuckled, pointing out at the forest surrounding them, "Just watchin' the country side. It reminds me of home, actually..."
"Yeah, Germany's beautiful..." Shego nodded, "But so's a lot of Colorado, so I'm not surprised you're feeling a bit homesick."
"Kinda, but not really?" Ron mused aloud, shifting in his seat so he didn't have to talk over his shoulder at her, "Honestly? I've lived in Colorado since I was four... I love it, but I'm glad KP decided to go to GCU..."
"Quite a change, but the mountains around Go City are a lot like Colorados..." Shego nodded with a slightly distant smile, seemingly at a loss for conversation as she slowed even more and pulled into the service area. On reflex, she checked the fuel gauge before remembering she was in Princess' Sloth. Although it did require fuel, it required far less than most vehicles. Just over three quarters of a tank, and they haven't refueled since they got here...
"I need to piss, how're you guys?" she asked as she heard Kim stirring in the back.
"How l'ng 'til C'logne?" Kim moaned in her half awake, half asleep state as she glanced around and saw the convenience store.
"A few hours yet..." Shego answered, and Kim nodded.
"I'm st'll good." Kim replied, yawning and adding with a pout, "C'n y'get me somethin' t'eat? I'm h'ngry..."
"No problem, Princess..." Shego chuckled, glancing at what was available, "C-store or Bueno Nacho?"
"Whatev'..." Kim mumbled and fell back into a half slumber.
Shego glanced at Ron with a raised eyebrow and Ron chuckled at the unasked question, "She does this on missions sometimes... She'll eat even when mostly asleep and in turbulence..." He glanced over at the somewhat busy Bueno Nacho and shrugged, "I'll grab the munchies if you wanna hit the bathroom?"
"Thanks..." Shego murmured with feeling as she grabbed the key and stood from the Sloth with a back popping stretch. When Ron was out, she locked the supercar and made her way towards the restrooms. Looking around the area, she still marveled at how similar the places in Germany were to some of the 'service islands' along some of the tollways in the United States; especially along the I-80/90 corridor between Chicago, Illinois and Youngstown, Ohio, a route she was rather familiar with during her time between quitting the hero business and becoming a superthief. The thought brought a smile to her face as she made her way to an empty stall.
Finishing her business quickly and washing up, she was almost surprised when she walked out of the restroom and saw a couple sitting at a table, huddled close to a laptop. Normally, Shego wouldn't have paid them any mind, but something about their bearing and a strange sense of déjà vu that washed over her kept her attention. She made sure not to look at them, but made sure to keep them in her line of sight.
She jumped slightly when Ron's happy voice intruded on her surveillance, "Hey, Sheegs, think you could hold these while I use the faculties?"
"Facilities, Doofus!" Shego laughed brightly, despite her mild annoyance, shaking her head fondly as he walked into the bathroom while humming a vaguely familiar tune. As she took the bags of Bueno Nacho, she returned herself to the couple. They were nervous and paranoid, as if expecting someone to jump out of the shadows and attack them. Newbie thieves or villains? Shego wondered, then caught a brief, but much better look at the woman's face. Again that sense of déjà vu, something about the narrow cheeks, her chin and her brow. Why is this couple bugging me? she snapped at herself, wishing she could put her finger on that familiarity.
Hearing Ron's humming again, she handed him one of the bags, taking the other herself. They quickly made their way out to the Sloth, where Kim was just sitting up and rubbing at her left eye. Seeing the crowd behind her fiancé and her girlfriend, she chuckled and knocked on the Ruf-pod to wake the mole rat up. He popped up and glanced out the front and was immediately awake upon the site of Bueno Nacho. As soon as Shego unlocked the door and opened it, Rufus cried, "Cheese!" and dove across the seat, easily scaling one arm and around to sniff tentatively at the bag in her other, "Bradw'st?"
Rufus' face fell slightly, worried he was going to miss out on his favorite meal, when Ron laughed and regarded him with a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, li'l buddy! This place just started up a new Naco: the Bratwurst Naco, and it sounds amazing!"
"Wait..." Shego's face twisted in bemusement, "A... Bratwurst Naco?"
"Badical, isn't it?" Ron asked while the older woman held the seat forward for Kim.
The red-head climbed out and reached up with a back popping stretch, yawning and muttering, "Sounds good, weirdly enough..."
"Well," Shego shrugged, barely resisting the urge to lick her lips at the show Kim had given them, "Let's get a seat and try 'em out!" A minute and four very surprised exclamations later, Shego had finished one of her Nacos almost in time with Ron, "Okay, these are good!"
"I know!" Kim laughed, her tone still that of someone half asleep.
"I, Ronald Stoppable, wholeheartedly approve of this genius modification to my invention!" Ron declared with a heart laugh, before racing Rufus through their second.
"These," Kim said a few minutes later, "are ferociously good..." Kim concluded after swallowing the last of three Nacos. She was still sleepy eyed, but not nearly as rough looking.
"Before we take off," Ron chortled, "I'm going to ask the manager who invented this modification and send an email to BN Corporate... I'm sure these'd go over huge in Colorado!"
"Probably..." Shego mused as she watched her friends eating, enjoying her own Naco at a pace somewhere between Kim's sedate enjoyment and Ron's almost literal shoveling of food into his mouth. She had a similar expression to Kim, that of fond eyed, nose wrinkled distaste, when it came to Ron's eating habits. "Eating fast food with Ronnie's an acquired taste, isn't it, Princess?"
"Yeah..." Kim yawned, taking another bite of her Bratwurst Naco, shaking her head in amused dismay, "He's gotten better, though..."
"Thank God..." Shego chuckled, earning a pause in Ron's eating so he could stare between his fiancée and her girlfriend.
"Whaph?" he asked around the Naco in his mouth, his eyes scrunched up in confusion. Shego was suddenly struck with a memory of Harlan when he was Ron's age and a similar situation at the steakhouse his father owned in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
She blinked away the image, but couldn't help but smile and reach over to ruffle Ron's hair with a startlingly open smile. "Nothing, goofball. Just wondering how you can go from proper decorum in a 'real' restaurant," the air quotes she threw up were barely a half heartedly sarcastic statement, "to... Well, this?"
Ron took a mighty swallow to clear his mouth, and chased it with a huge gulp of fritz-kola, a super-high caffeine German cola, before responding with a decorus, "It's a talent, Shay, pure and simple."
"Uh, huh..." Kim replied, leaning forward to rest her chin on crossed hands, "More like instinctual binging..."
"Like wolves?" Shego asked before Ron could respond, to which Kim nodded absently.
"Hey, now!" Ron objected. Shego raised an eyebrow and then lowered both over her eyes in a devilish manner when she responded.
"I guess monkeys would be a better comparison, eh, Princess?" Shego taunted, earning a gasp of shock from Ron, a gasp of someone trying to hold in laughter from Rufus and a full out giggle from Kim.
"Most definitely!" Kim said as she half stood and leaned over the table, giving Ron a kiss on the lips before his working mouth could come up with the words running through his brain. Her tactic worked and his mouth snapped shut to return the kiss, which was short but loving, before Kim sat back down. Ron went back to stuffing his last Naco in his mouth, and the red-head glanced at the last bite of her Naco, grimacing slightly, "I'm stuffed... Anyone else wanna finish mine?"
"Sure." Shego answered, beating a full mouthed Ron to the punch, "I figure with that and what I've eaten, I should be good most of the way to Amsterdam, if not all the way..."
"You sure?" Kim asked with a concerned pout, reaching out to place a hand on Shego's arm.
"Yeah, Princess..." Shego smiled, gazing into Kim's caring, slightly worried eyes. The former thief wanted to lean over and kiss the worry away; after pondering for a few brief moments, she decided to put Kim's earlier assertion that she didn't care who saw them together to the test and leaned over. Kim almost flinched when she realized the older woman's face was so close, "Don't worry about me so much, KP... I'm a big girl, y'know?"
Kim opened her mouth to respond, but Shego leaned the last few centimeters separating them to give her a short kiss. The open mouth was an invitation that the older woman couldn't refuse, and she slipped her tongue out briefly, sighing happily when Kim responded in kind. Although the impromptu French kiss was brief, both were smiling when they parted, and Kim seemed to relax noticeably when Shego clasped her hands together and rested her pale cheek on them. "Wow..." was all the heroine could say, earning a chuckle from Ron and a small, happy coo from Rufus.
"Okay, lovebirds..." Ron jokingly called out, winking at them when he had their attention, "We're done eating, should we hit the road?"
"Yeah..." Kim agreed, stretching and yawning again, "I'unno why I'm so tired, but I'm gonna keep napping if it's okay?"
"Sleep all ya want, Princess..." Shego nodded, reaching over to pat her cheek tenderly, before grabbing most of the garbage. She looked at Ron, "Better hurry up if you want to talk to the manager... I'm going to grab a few snacks and drinks for the road from the c-store..."
They were back on the road within ten minutes, and Shego couldn't help but admire how well Ron was taking her relationship with Kim. He's really not jealous at all... she boggled as she looked over at the blond teen with a look that was filled with unfettered awe. She knew that she felt slight twinges of jealousy when she saw Ron and Kim together, but... She couldn't say, exactly, why she was jealous. It wasn't directed at them, together or separately, nor was it at their closeness, yet at the same time it was. She had an inkling what it was, but the inkling actually left her feeling more frightened; she wasn't in love with Ron, after all, but...
But... Part of her - a surprisingly large part, she admitted with a soul deep amazement - wanted to be in love with him. To share the love she had for Kim with the blond, to receive the same love he had for Kim with her. Like she'd once shared with Harley, but she knew... Didn't worry... Didn't wonder... But absolutely knew that the love she had for Kim, and the love she could have with Ron, was deeper, even more intense than it had been with Harley.
The very realization, however, filled her with that familiar sense of weightlessness she had when thinking about her feelings for Kim... And foreboding, disgust and fear that made her stomach do flip-flops as if she had a serious case of the flu. Goddammit, why? She wanted to scream the question aloud, but dared not. She knew he cared for her, as a friend and perhaps more, but he'd never said how much... And she hadn't asked, too scared of the answer.
With a sigh, she concentrated a little bit for the HUD, specifically the radio display. She scrolled randomly through her 'Road Tunes' folder, pausing on 'M'. She hit enter and selected the band 'Meshuggah', then set it up for random play. She didn't care what songs from the band played, as the complex instrumental arrangements of the band would keep her mind from burrowing down the dark path it was on.
When the song 'New Millennium Cyanide Christ' started, she smiled and eagerly rolled her foot into the gas. The Sloth ripped forward in a surge of acceleration, a low moan emanated from the young man to her right, and a cheer came from the Ruf-pod. "Oh, God, you drive like KP..." Ron gulped, making doubly sure he was strapped in and sitting straight in his seat, taking a few long, slow breaths to steel himself for what was coming.
She chuckled at his antics then turned her full concentration onto the road ahead of her. She tuned out most everything else; Kim's strangely reassuring presence behind her, Rufus' enthused, borderline spastic head banging in the Ruf-pod - which Shego noted went surprisingly well with the band's insane, polyrhythmic playing style - and Ron's panicked calm... Everything but the road, the feedback from the car, the music and her slowly calming thoughts.
When she started accompanying the song, she briefly felt Ron's surprised eyes upon her. Those eyes bounced from her, to the speedometer as it topped two hundred and ninety kilometers per hour, the road, and back to her. She figured he was more surprised to hear her growling along than the speed, and wondered if he'd expected something different; hell, she would in his place! She had been considered by some, especially her high school music teacher, to have a hell of a singing voice. Somehow, she doubted it still remained, and would be a lot rougher than it had been back then if it did. Too much screaming, yelling and, for two and a half years after Harley's death, a three pack a day habit of cigarettes.
She didn't care, she loved the group's music and how it tore her thoughts from the circular, seemingly unresolvable pathways they sometimes tended to follow. So she kept singing, the sound ripped from the back of her mouth and top of her throat in a growling rasp that still had Ron's gaze on her. She felt his curiosity, even his need to ask questions, yet he remained silent. She spared the briefest glances at him out of the corner of her eyes and found that, indeed, he was staring at her, but not with open mouthed shock.
He was staring at her with the smile he normally reserved for Kim on his face, his eyes probing, considering yet more... Much more. She felt butterflies that, at least this time, weren't accompanied by disgust or other negative emotions and hurriedly returned her gaze to the road, lest she get too distracted to respond in an emergency. What the hell? she asked in shock, No way... We haven't done more than kiss a couple times and share a few accidental touches... She kept singing along to the song to keep Ron in the dark about her thoughts, but she also clamped a steel vice of willpower to keep them from running away. Then again... By that same logic, Princess and I don't make much sense... She could almost hear JJ laughing at that thought, and fought the urge to shake her head ruefully, But, well, I do tend to fall for women hard and quick...
Ron had just turned his attention to the road when he and Shego saw a rapidly approaching calamity in the making: a two kilometer long line of almost completely stopped vehicles ahead of them as they topped a rise...
Author's Notes
Gonna try and keep these short this time around. Not much action in this chapter, but some fun, some potentially important developments... And some realizations that might just lead to heartbreak... But, as the saying goes, there's always hope, non?
Anyway, as always, thanks to Neo the Saiyan Angel for her flow/feel beta work. As well, remember everyone, there's lots of fics out there so keep up the reading, and remember: if ya like a fic, give the author a review!