I do not own any Disney or Marvel character named within, and am only borrowing them for a work of fiction meant for entertainment purposes only.
KimPossible: X-Factor
By LJ58
Part 2:
"'No one touches my Kimmie?'"
Shego blushed as she came out of the attached bath in the suite they were sharing to hear her own words parroted back at her, and simply shrugged. "He kind of pushes my buttons. Like you said, that guy is so….. So….."
"Yeah. I know. I cannot believe he tried to gut me like that. It's like he's all instinct, and no….."
"Brain?"
"Yeah."
"We should put him and Dr. D together."
"Oh, please," Kim chirped. "Drakken wouldn't last a second."
"But it'd be fun."
"Yeah, but you know what they're all probably thinking now?"
"About what?"
"About your Kimmie."
"Oh. That. Sorry," she sighed, looking a little embarrassed herself at that.
"Hey, I'm flattered. Really, I am. But we both know….."
"Kim, I'm not stupid," Shego murmured as she dropped the towel she had been using to dry her hair. "You know. Don't you?"
Kim blushed yet again. "Well…."
"You said you wouldn't…..peek."
"I didn't. I swear," she protested, not liking the way Shego sounded so hurt.
"But you know," she said again, and sat on the end of the second full-sized bed in the very spacious room given them without looking her way.
"Yeah. It wasn't hard to figure out."
"When," Shego asked, still not even looking her way.
"That night at your villa. I did kind of overhear you….. Uhm, overheard you."
"When you say….?"
"I just overheard you in….bed. Okay? And, honestly, I'm….flattered. Very flattered."
"But…..?"
"I don't know," Kim sighed, laying back on her own bed, still wrapped in a robe. Thankfully, she had her own clothes, since the Roth had been packed after her last getaway, and stayed that way. "I mean, I told you about my…..relationship issues."
Shego glanced her way, daring a smile. "We both know most of those points don't apply to me. I'm not scared of you, Pumpkin. Even if we do know you can face me on full burn."
Kim smiled, and added, "And wear you out until….."
"Let's not go there," Shego huffed, rising to her feet. "I still wasn't really trying to hurt you, you know, Princess. I mean, not really."
"You mean like Logan? I think we all know his healing power does trump yours. Not many people can heal plasma burns like you gave him. And he did it in just seconds."
"Yeah," she grumbled. "Too bad."
Kim grumbled herself, but she was still hearing Dr. McCoy exclaim, "My word, they're both as bad as Wolverine."
Kim had finally ended the fight that drew a surprising number of avid spectators, all of them mostly teens, who actually cheered Shego for taking on what was, apparently, a bane on their 'academic' existence. Kim finally ended the short, but genuinely brutal fight by activating her battle suit, and firing a containment bubble at the mutant who literally fought like an animal.
He had, she realized, likely earned that name he used.
When she had finally released him from that sphere, he had given her a look that suggested reprisal. She resolved not to let him behind her back after that.
The professor, surprisingly composed, said nothing of the scrap, and when Scott returned, all he wanted to do was talk about her car's specs. Kim had other concerns just then.
"Look," she had told him. "The only reason we even came with you is because you suggested you might have answers we need. So, do we talk, or…?"
"Indeed, we do. After supper, I think. It is getting late, and I don't quite think we need to discuss the topics before us while we're all still a bit…..wound up," the professor had pointed out as Logan just sat there glowering at her.
Shego, for her part, had gloweed right back.
"I'm not going to push. I want you to know that," Shego finally spoke, looking at her again, and distracting her from her own thoughts. "I just want you to know, I'm here if you need me."
"Thanks, Shego. That actually means a lot just now."
Shego gave her a weak smile, then stood up, reaching for a robe supplied by their hosts since she had very little herself except a spare catsuit, and dropped the towel covering her body as she pulled the robe on over her body that began to steam as the rest of the water left on her sleek body was literally evaporated by her rising body heat.
"Nice trick," Kim said, fighting a blush as she realized what she was doing, having seen it more than once now.
"It is handy," Shego smiled, and belted the rope in place. "So, you really think these ….people can help us?"
Kim considered all the professor had told her after a very good, if boisterous supper with a house full of children. Children from ten to twenty, some of them her own age. All of them….special.
Logan, apparently, had some experience with certain agencies, and had intercepted a false trail meant to lure Kim into a trap. As the trap was being baited with missing mutants, some from Charles' Xavier's own group, the X-Men had gone to investigate, too. Upon arrival, he and Jean had discerned the plot from the agents' minds hidden in the shadows around them, and he had sent his warning.
Later, while Shego had gone up to 'rest,' Charles had also subtly, but very pointedly chided her for not using all her gifts properly when going into a combat situation. He also suggested he might be able to aid her in learning to use her abilities to the fullest. Even while assisting her in her own mission, which just happened to coincide with his own.
He even suggested steering her brothers his way, since it would not be long before they might be fully manifesting their own skills, and they should have the chance to develop under a watchful, but objective eye who would be willing to help them blossom without exploiting their abilities.
"If you know about us, then you know about my parents, too," she had asked. "What about….?'
"Your parents are quite comfortable with their abilities, and aren't likely to be attacked anytime soon due to their own connections. You, however, are a wild card. Like your friend. You have to understand, Kimberly," he had gone on. "You, like your friend, might have taken an alternative path to your mutation, but it is no more different than those of us born with our own natural mutations. You are different. How you embrace that difference, however, makes all the difference."
"You know Shego hasn't always…..been a good girl," she had remarked.
"I know all about your friend. I'm not concerned with her. I am concerned with what your former mentor is up to here. Oddly enough, I can't read her. She's one of the few on the planet that can block me. Which suggests she might have a mutation of her own. Or…..powerful allies."
"Like the Brotherhood," Kim had asked, proving she wasn't completely out of the loop.
"Indeed," Charles had nodded. "And that you know of them without reading my thoughts tells me you are already on the verge of a much more complicated road than you yet realize, Kimberly. Let us help you."
Kim sat on the edge of the bed as she sat back up, eyed Shego as her conversation ran through her mind, and finally asked, "So, what do you really think about letting these guys help us…..tackle this sitch?"
Shego sighed, looking more than a bit uneasy, but only shrugged.
"Look, Kim. You know me. I've never really been a joiner, or a team player. Still, they did save our butts back there. And your clawed admirer aside, we could probably use them if we're going back after Bets. It's a sure bet she's going to see us coming again. I'm starting to think she has you chipped, or something."
Kim frowned.
"What? You think….?"
"No. No, but I do think I just realized how we might have gotten played."
"How," Shego asked darkly. "Because I'd like to know that one myself."
"Wade just happened to find those files a day before we returned. He just happened to have the sites listing research subjects with genetic anomalies all on the same database, lined up in a row. I should have known that was a trap. Dr. Director would never just leave sensitive information like that laying around so….carelessly."
"Now that you mention it, she is a bit of a paranoid….."
"She used Wade to dupe us. She suspected he had an inside track into her database, and used it to play us."
"Then….that makes anything else he finds suspect," Shego asked. "Doesn't it?"
"For the time being," she agreed. "I'll have to tip him to that, if he hasn't already figured it out himself after that fiasco."
"So…..?"
"So, if you really don't mind, we'll stick around here for now."
"All right."
"You really don't mind?"
"Hey, I said I was with you, Princess," she smiled. "Even if you are reading my mind, and probably finding out all my embarrassing secrets."
"Well, you already know most of mine," she reminded her.
"Yeah, but I didn't cheat."
"You don't call breaking in my house, and stealing my diary cheating," Kim reminded her with a huff.
"Hey, I seem to recall a great many times you and monkey boy broke into my place….."
"You were breaking the law."
"No, that was Drew. Most times, I was just along for the ride."
"Oh, come on. You're not trying to tell me…..?"
"Think about it. Sure, I stole for him, and we both know it. But think hard, Kim," Shego smirked. "My greatest scam was probably getting blueboy to pay me for sitting around waiting on you to show up. It was a sweet gig, too. Until things changed after that whole alien invasion thingy."
"Did I ever say thanks?"
"For what?"
"For helping us out. All of us. You helped as much as Drakken or Ron back then."
"Let's not get carried away here, Kimmie," Shego huffed, and ripped back the quilts. "I was in it for myself. We were talking about my paycheck here. My very generous paycheck. With benefits. Insurance and vacations, I mean. Not what you're probably….."
"I wasn't thinking that," Kim grinned, seeing her getting visibly upset.
"You better not be in my mind, Possible," she glared.
Kim smiled, seeing a chance to finally get her.
"And if I were," she cooed.
"Gah! Just….go to bed, Kimberly," she actually called her.
Which told Kim just how upset the woman was just then.
"Shego."
"What," the lump under the covers grumbled.
"I already told you. I'd never trespass like that. Not on purpose."
There was a long silence, then Kim heard a faint sigh.
"I know, Princess," she murmured. "It's just…."
"You still find it hard to trust. I knew that without mind-reading, Shego. I do hope you know you can trust me, though."
"I'm still here, aren't I," she grumbled.
Kim smiled.
"Yes. And thank you for that, too. You really have been a big help."
The sardonic grunt was her last response before Kim climbed into bed, and murmured, "Goodnight," using her growing telekinesis to turn out the lights after laying down.
X
"Whoa, Cuz, what's up? Last I heard you were laying low again. Say, where's that smokin' hot green babe you usually drag around?"
"She betrayed me," Drakken snarled, genuinely furious the more he thought of Shego's desertion, and her apparent union with his longtime nemesis. "And that will not stand," he added in the same dark tone.
"Hold on, Drew. You're sounding a little tweaked there, Cuz. What are you talking about?"
Dark eyes narrowed under beetled brows, and Drakken snorted as he pulled out a long tube of thickly rolled paper.
"Never mind," he spat, slapping the rolled paper on a desk before Eddie as he smiled a cold smile. "I've a job for you, Ed. One that I think you're going to enjoy. I know I am."
"Sweet," Motor Ed grinned as he eyed the intricate plans. "So, you actually want to build this baby?"
"Oh, half of it is already built. It's setting in a lair not far from here. What I want is for you to fine-tune it for me. Remember the Doomvie?"
"Oh, yeah. Sweet ride, until Possible blew it up. See? That's why you never let chicks near…."
"Focus, Ed," Drakken growled. "Just tell me you can do this," he demanded, stabbing a finger on the plans.
"No big, Cuz. Piece of cake. I even have those special tools we jacked last go-round. I mean, seriously, why toss perfectly good tools?"
"Fine. Good. Whatever. Just come with me, and I'll let you get started. Meanwhile, I have one other stop to make while you are…..upgrading my new plan," he said with a smirk.
"Yeah? Want me to come along?"
"No! I want you to get started, so you can get finished. When all is in place, this time I shall finally bring my longtime nemesis to her knees! And that treacherous sidekick with her!"
"Treacherous side….? You talking about Stoppable, dude? Because, while he's a real pain, I never thought he was really….."
"No! I am talking about Shego! Shego, who violated my trust! Shego, who spurned my offers of an evil family! Shego, who has broken the last straw on my camel's back!"
"Uh, don't you mean…..?"
"Enough! My vengeance awaits! Come, cousin. Time is wasting," he growled, and turned and walked out of Ed's current residence. The back room in an old garage he was using as a lair since he had lost his last lair to renovation by a city project for beautification.
"Well, all right," Ed grinned, scooping up the plans, and heading for a battered, red toolbox. "Let's make some magic. Because I won't mind helping bring Red down one bit. Seriously!"
"And Shego with her!"
"Wait. You're saying Shego is really hanging with Red now?"
Drakken sighed, and rolled his eyes.
"Honestly, Ed. Mother's right. You never listen."
X
"Mind if I come in?"
"Sure," Kim murmured as Jean opened the door after that mental voice had entered her mind. "I couldn't sleep anyway."
"I know," Jean remarked audibly now, both of them glancing at Shego, who was snoring softly, but obviously sleeping very heavily. "You and your friend are radiating some serious angst. Just….relax. You're among friends here, Kim. And there is no one better than the professor to help you with what your are facing. Trust me on that one."
"I believe you. It's just…. We've got some personal issues we're working on, too. They just happen to coincide with our current sitch."
"Current….sitch. I see. So, are you two going to be….all right?"
"We'll be fine. I don't know about Logan. Shego tends to hold grudges."
"So does Logan," Jean sighed. "I've never seen anyone stop him cold like that before, though. How did you do that?"
"EM containment sphere. Something my brother's came up with," Kim admitted. "It's been…handy at times."
"I'll bet. I'm guessing that Forge will really want to talk to your brothers when he hears about all your gizmos."
"Well, he'd better be careful. My brothers are also known for their….pranks. And some of my gadgets came from my friend Wade. My brothers only recently started…..helping out."
Jean lifted one brow, looking very much like Professor Xavier just then as she merely nodded.
"So, Kimberly. May I ask you something?"
"Well, sure. I guess."
"You mentioned that your friend or your brothers might be able to….improve the professor's prosthetics? Do you really think so?"
"Let me put it this way. I trust them with my life. I've also seen them come up with things that still astonish me, and believe me, I've seen a lot since I got into this biz."
"I believe you. Hank sent these, just in case you said that."
"Said….? What is….?"
"The schematics for the professor's exo-limbs. If your people can improve them, Forge can build them. Professor X might not say it, but I know he'd like to be able to use them for more than a few hours at a time. He wasn't born in that chair, you know."
"I've read his bio. His real one," Kim nodded quietly.
"How did you find….?"
"I did say my friends are….clever. I can be, too."
"Apparently. I'll let you get to sleep then. Oh, and you really should think about joining us. I'm betting we could do a lot of good together," the redhead told her with a smile. "Well, that, and I really enjoy seeing someone put Logan in his place for a change."
Kim said nothing to that. Her mind was still divided. Not just by Shego's revelations, either. The professor had given her a lot to think about. A lot to consider beyond just her current mission.
Meanwhile, she had to consider that if Betty identified her family as targets, too, they might just be in danger as well despite Xavier's reassurances.
Wade was underground, and well hidden. But everyone knew where her family lived. Maybe it was time to strengthen the warning she had already given them.
To Be Continued….
