Disclaimers: You know, we should really get t-shirts made up. Disney holds the rights to Kim Possible and all characters. I only own the characters of Ron Garvin and Leanne Barton, and them I borrowed from friends.
Acknowledgements: I just want to thank everyone who has been good enough to review and add insights into this story. Unlike many writers, I don't plan my stories in advace. I give the characters a place to start, and they take over. I would be in deep quano without the reviews that you leave me. Thank you all.
Changing Dynamics
It was the end of June, and finally the morning sickness was under control. Now came the challenge of hormone induced mood swings and caffeine withdrawal. At two full months of pregnancy, both Anne and Kim were able to switch from tears to rages in microseconds. (This was verified by Jim and Tim, who had been forced to run for their lives when their mother and sibling caught them with the atomic stopwatch.) Having to give up coffee was killing both women, who had been hopelessly addicted to the stuff from the time they were in their mid teens.
Ron and James did their level best to support each other. This was all new territory to Ron, of course, but James was discovering that the first two rounds hadn't prepared him for this one. At one point, he suspected that Anne might well be carrying triplets this time. When he had foolishly suggested the possibility, he had been clouted on the head with the newspaper.
"Don't you even dare think it, James Possible! You are not touching me ever again!" Whack, whack, whack. "I'm sorry honey, it's not me, it's the hormones." She had a major swing and went into a full blown PDP.
Kim had suddenly gone ballistic on a mission. They had been chasing down one of Dementor's hired help, who, when cornered, decided to go on the offensive. He had managed to get in one good swipe at Kim's midsection. At first, she had been shocked, worried about what might have been the result. Then there was a blaze from her green eyes, and she had gone into a frenzy. Ron had actually had to pull her off of the unconscious man she was beating.
When they had gotten home, Ron had taken her immediately for an examination, which showed that the punch had not gotten past the new Kevlar layer of her mission suit. Wade had designed it to withstand slashes from knives and low velocity impacts. Still, she had cried for several hours that night.
"KP, I think we have to talk about the mission sitch." Ron put on his most serious face. Craddling his fiancee in his arms on the front porch of the house, he expressed his fears, for her, and their unborn child. "I know how much the work of Team Possible means to you, and I wouldn't think of taking that away from you. All the same, I think for now, it's best if you didn't do any of the heavy field work."
"I'm supposed to let you go out there by yourself? I almost lost you two months ago, Ron! I can't let you go on missions alone." Tears began to form in Kim's eyes and she looked at the floor boards. "I guess we should just tell Wade to shut the site down until we come up with an idea."
"You've already got the solution, Princess! Have you forgotten me already?" A familiar, sarcastic voice came from the walkway in front of them. Both looked up to see Sarah Go striding up the path. She was wearing a light green blouse and blue jeans. She had her old smirk back, without the vindictiveness that used to accompany it in the old days. Today, she was wearing her hair back from her face in a braid, just as she did when accompanying them on missions. "Remember, we are a team, and that means we cover for each other."
"Sarah!" Kim jumped up from the step she had been sitting on and ran to hug her friend.
"I gave her a call this afternoon, Kim. I hope you don't mind." Ron rubbed the back of his neck. He still hated making decisions for the team, even if it was more of a partnership than ever before.
"School is winding down, Kim. As long as nothing big comes up for two weeks, I can take on the heavy assignments. Isn't that what you had in mind when you asked the Board of Education to let me have time to assist Team Possible?" She held the younger girl off at arm's length. Running a critical eye over her friend, she dropped the smirk for a genuine smile. "You helped me make the long trip back, so I think it's time for me to return the favor. Besides, I'm bucking for the job of godmother."
All three laughed.
"You came up with the best solution, Ron. I just had hoped to not need Sarah too much before school was out."
"You took me in, literally out of the rain. Call me when you need me, you silly girl."
Ron got up off of the porch and walked over to the two women. He gave Sarah a warm hug. It was a far cry from the days when he was dodging plasma blast and running for cover. Ever since they had gone to free Kim and Drakken from the Lowardians, they had gotten to know and respect each other. Other than Ron accidentally letting it slip how hot he thought Sarah was at one time, they had become good friends, despite almost a decade difference in age.
"I think it's time we called a meeting." He reached into the pocket of the cargo shorts he was wearing. Pulling out his Kimmunicator (mark IV), he place a call to the Team Possible central command. It so happened that Wade was in the office, doing a little maintenance on his latest toy, a super mainframe computer, provided by the team's sponsor.
"Hi, Ron! What's up, I didn't expect to hear from you until the day after tomorrow."
"We're calling a full team meeting Wade. Get through to everyone and tell them we'll be getting together in the conference room tomorrow at ten. Assuming that's good with you ladies?" Ron looked from Kim to Sarah, raising a brow. When they simply nodded, he turned back to the image on his screen. "Ten it is, Wade."
"Okay, I'll start making the calls. Joss will be in town in a few minutes, and I was going to pick her up at the airport anyway." If it had been possible, he would have been blushing under the permanent tan. Being a black man had its advantages. He and Joss were still in the process of planning their own engagement, now that she had finished her PhD. studies.
Promptly at ten in the morning the next day, Kim and Ron walked into the conference room of Team Possible Central.
In the last four years, and with the backing of a very wealthy patron, everything had been moved out of Wade's home and into a converted warehouse in the industrial district of Middleton. The computer facilities were housed in the sub basement, along with an extensive lab for the development of new tools for the use of the team. On the main floor was a garage, with space for two large rescue trucks, a hover jet, and places for team members to park their personal vehicles.
The second floor was given over to an operations center. Now there was a staff of volunteers monitoring the Team Possible site. Under the direction of Felix Renton and Zita Flores, a number of people directed mission requests. Behind the monitor section were a complete kitchen, for the use of the staff, and shower and change facilities. Across the hall was Wade's computer center, which connected him to his electronic babies below. A large console in the middle of the room let him tap into any system, anywhere in the world. There was a large holoprojector pad on one side of the room, and monitors filled the other walls.
Next to that, was the conference room.
This room was the envy of corporations and government agencies the world over. A large oak table occupied the center of the room, surrounded by comfortable chairs. Lights in the ceiling provided illumination at each seat. On the end wall, was a huge LCD monitor. The blinds on the large windows could be adjusted to allow natural light to flood the room, or completely block it out.
The table was surrounded now by the current members of Team Possible. Wade was sitting at one end of the table, his laptop in front of him. Next to him, representing the communications staff was Felix. Zita was currently working the ops room with the volunteers. Next to him sat Jim, with his twin right beside him. They were going over some new booster design for the hover jet. The seat next to Tim was vacant, as was the head of the table. On the left of the head chair was Sarah Go. She had opted to wear her mission outfit, which was a black jumpsuit with green piping. Her hair was still in it's plait from the day before. Next to her sat Monique, who, along with Wade, ran the acquisition department of Team Possible, getting the gear and mission clothes needed. An empty seat separated her from Joss, who sat to Wade's right.
Kim walked in and took the seat at the head of the table, with Ron at her right hand. Since it had been her site to begin with, it was still very much her team. "Thanks for coming everyone. Once our sponsor gets here, we will begin the meeting."
At that moment, the door to the conference room opened once again. A cane tapped on the hardwood flooring as an elderly gentleman came in and took the chair between Monique and Joss. He turned to the head of the table. "Good morning, Miss Possible. I am pleased to see that you and Mr. Stoppable have done well with the funds that I provided." Senor Senior Senior smiled brightly about the room. This was the first time he had seen the new facilities in person. "The three dimensional blueprints did not do this place justice. I wish I had done something similar on my island."
Kim rose from her chair, and nodded to the gallant gentleman. "We wanted to make you feel you were getting your money's worth." Resuming her seat, she cut straight to the chase.
"As you all know, I am two months pregnant, and the nature of the missions Team Possible handles makes it very dangerous for our child," Kim reached over and put her hand over Ron's, where it sat on the table. "and myself. I have asked you here to request that you pick up the slack. What we do is too important to be dependant on one of us anymore. Our name is Team Possible. I hope, no, I know that I can count on our team."
"What exactly are your needs, Miss Possible? Will you require more in the way of resources?" Senor Senior folded his hands on the table before him. "I have some investments that are about to mature, and could easily divert the funds."
"Thank you, sir, but we have plenty of resources. It's personnel that have to be shifted around." She turned to look past her fiancee. "Jim, Tim, I am sorry, but you are going to have to spend a little less time in the lab, and more out in the field. You both have experience handling odd situations, and are good at thinking on your feet."
"Did our sister just..." Jim began.
"Compliment us?" his brother finished. Both pretended to faint from shock.
Kim just rolled her eyes.
"Sarah has agreed to work with Ron on any assignments that Global Justice sends our way. She has the clearances. I know that they are both capable. We'll see if their unique abilities will mesh or not." She turned to look at Sarah.
"Don't worry, Princess. I'm not going to let anything happen to him out there. I just hope that the travel arrangements aren't as 'cozy' as they used to be for the two of you. Then again..." She smirked at Kim and then winked when she saw the green eyes blaze for a moment. Ron just chuckled softly for a moment, and whistled nonchalantly into the air.
Sarah looked around the table and opened a file that sat before her. Nodding to Wade, she added her other contribution to the new dynamics of the team. "I am in the process, with the help of Joss, of training two new member of the team." The screen behind Kim came to life with a picture of two teen age people. One was a young man, still growing, but showing great potential of physical power. The other was a slim brunette girl. "These are Ron Garvin and Leanne Barton. They were students of mine three years ago, when I first got back into education."
Another image came on the screen, a clip of the two working out in a gym with Sarah. "They have heard so much about Team Possible, and my connection with you all. A few months into the sixth grade, they made the mistake of following me on a mission that Kim asked me to take on. They learned that the adventure is accompanied by danger. Rather than run, they came to my rescue when I got into a tight spot." Sarah paused for a moment, and a fond smile took over her pale features. "Since then, I got them to promise not to try being heroes without the proper supervision."
She turned to look at Kim, who had been staring intently at the screen. "Yes, they are still young. Seems to me that you were foiling mad scientists at fifteen. With your permission, I'd like to get them going on some of the smaller requests from the site. Their parents have already given the go-ahead, provided we give them the necessary training." Now Sarah's face took on an almost pleading look. "They want to help, Kim. They have your heart."
Kim turned back to the table. She stared at the highly polished wood surface for a long moment. "Alright, bring them in, but they don't go anywhere without you, Joss or the boys. I'll want to meet with them before they go out for the first time." Now she turned to Monique. "Suit them up. Same mission clothes as the rest of us."
Monique just grinned at her bff. She loved nothing more than dressing people up as if they were lifesize dolls.
"One last thing everyone, just because I'm not out there, doesn't mean I'm out of the loop. I asked you all to get into this with me. I want all of you to be careful out there, for me." She put on her best puppy-dog-pout. "Besides, I'll be watching, won't I, Wade?"
"Sees all, hears all, knows all. She can still do anything!" Wade smiled widely as Joss punched him on his arm.
"With so many of us out there now, we can work to support each other better than ever." Kim looked around at the table. She stopped and looked at her cousin. "After all, in a couple of years, who knows who might have to take 'maternity leave' next."
There was laughter all around the table as Joss turned almost as red as her hair.
