AN: I own Elizabeth, Jeanelle, and the current bad guys. Disney owns everyone else.

Thanks for the kind reviews, and I am extremely sorry for the delay. Been in and out of the hospital. Don't worry. I'm fine. I wasn't the patient.


Elena slowly opens her eyes to darkness. Blinking rapidly, she shakes her head to clear it of the remaining cloudiness, "W-Where am I?" she murmurs as she rises from her chair. Feeling something chafe at her wrists, she rubs at them, feeling a thin rope tied around each wrist, the ends cut. Feeling down her legs, she finds more cut rope around each ankle. Quickly removing the ropes, she looks around, chest rising and falling rapidly as she starts panicking. Starting to cry, she calls out, "Jeanelle? Jeanelle? Where are you?"

"I'm.. I'm here bubble butt," Jeanelle says from right behind Elena, "Calm down sis."

"Wh-what's going on?" Elena whimpers, trying to see in the dark room, turning to her sister and reaching out for her.

"We were kidnapped," Jeanelle says, her voice sounding tired. After a moment, they find each other and hug each other tightly.

"What? Why?" Elena cries into Jeanelle's shoulder, "Where's mommy and daddy?"

"Shhh," Jeanelle murmurs, "Calm down sis. Mommy and Daddy will find us soon and these idiots will wish they'd never been born."

"You hear that?!" Elena shouts to the empty room, "When our parents get a hold of you, you'll be sorry! Now let us go!"

Keeping Elena in her grip, Jeanelle slowly makes her way through the room, walking in shuffling steps and holding one arm out to feel her way in the darkness. When her shin bumps into something metallic, she bends over and feels along the edge. Finding a covered matress, she gently guides her sister down onto the bed, then sits next to her.

The two girls holding each other, both stare into the darkness, Elena's sobbing easing as her fear fades. Neither know how much time passes when the lights slowly come on, revealing a small but pleasant looking room, the cement walls painted a pleasant yellow, two twin beds on each side of the room, a low two drawer dresser set against the wall between the beds, a small three shelf bookshelf bolted onto the top of the dresser, filled with paperback books. In the center of the opposite wall is a metal door, with a barred window and a covered slot for sliding things through. Next to the door is a small television bolted to it's stand, which in turn is bolted to the floor. Nestled in each corner of the ceiling is a security camera, set up to eliminate any blind spot.

A few minutes after the lights come on, the door creaks open and a man in a grey business suit comes in, around the age of 25, short black hair swept back from a strong face, dark piercing eyes staring unblinking at the girls.

"My name is Samuel North," he finally says, his voice cultured and smooth, "And what you must realize, is that there is no escape. Make the attempt and you will be separated. Make the attempt again...." he smiles grimly, "Your parents would probably like a souvenir. A finger. An ear... I hope you're getting the idea."

"What do- do you want from us?" Jeanelle asks, her soft voice almost a whisper.

"From you?" Samuel asks, smiling slightly, "Absolutely nothing. This is about your parents. You're just here to make sure they do as told."

"Mommy and daddy won't help you," Elena says, lifting her chin in defiance, "They won't help you take over the world."

"The world?" Samuel asks, his grin widening slightly before he starts laughing. Throwing his head back, he laughs long and hard before he finally manages to say, "My dear sweet Elena. I have no interest in ruling the world. My goals are a bit more... ambitious."

"What are your goals then?" Jeanelle asks, eyes narrowed in wariness as she stares at Samuel.

"Simple my dear child," he says, "I'm going to correct a few mistakes that others have made."

Turning for the door, he says, "Get comfortable girls. I'll be back shortly with a film crew for your parent's first task."

The door closing behind him, the girls hear him say to the guards, "Get the girls some extra blankets. It's cold in there." A few seconds later, he can be heard shouting from further away, "And someone feed them!. It's barbaric to let a child go hungry on Christmas!"

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

The next afternoon finds Kim and Ron pacing in their living room, Wade sitting at a card table, his computer before him and hooked up through numerous cables to hardware operated by a small team of Global Justice agents.

For the 15th time in less than 5 minutes, Kim and Ron both look at the clock above the mantel, which shows the time as just a few minutes before 5.

"Calm down you two," Betty Director says, stepping from the kitchen, cup of hot coffee in hand, "The man who did this put a lot of planning and effort into it. He will contact us."

"He has our babies," Kim says, glaring at Betty. Her expression softens and she looks down, ashamed, "Sorry Doctor."

"It's ok," Betty says, smiling sympathetically, "Your reaction is understandable. But as I said. He went to a lot of effort for this. He's not just going to harm your kids. He needs them as leverage." Holding her coffe out to Kim, who takes it with a brief nod of thanks, she says, "Here. You need it more than I do. You two didn't get any sleep at all, did you?"

Wade snorts and says, "Would you in their place?"

"I suppose not Mr. Load," Betty says, sighing, "Anything yet?"

"Take your own advice," Wade says, monitoring the former teen heros' website, "It's not quite 5 yet, plus we can't assume that his clock is exactly the same as our... Hold on. A hit just came through." Tapping a few keys, he says, "It's him. Another recording. Plus some files."

"Can we trace it?" Doctor Director, the Head of Global Justice asks, all business now.

"No ma'am," one of the GJ techs says, "If it was live and streaming then yeah. But this was uploaded directly to the website's server. And as with the previous upload, this one was done through numerous proxies. I'm getting locations from Middleton to Bangkok. No way to tell which, if any, is the real location."

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Betty sighs and says, "Alright. Play the video."

Wade types on his keyboard for a few minutes, then indicates the television screen, which everyone turns to face.

"A picture is worth a thousand words, is it not?" The familiar voice muses, though the screen is still dark in the recording. Slowly the scene lightens, showing a nightmare come true. The little concrete cell could be anywhere, with clean, blank walls and floor, and two child-sized bunks. On each of the beds sits Jeanelle and Elena, eyes wide in fright as they look at the camera, with Samuel North standing between them.

"As you can see, your daughters are fine. And as long as I get what I want, they will remain unharmed." Sam says, staring into the camera, "While I do not wish to hurt these little angels, You might make it regrettably necessary if you are not prompt in your services to me. Now, I'll let the girls each say a few words so you know they're fine."

He beckons Elena forward, the little blonde timid as she stands in front of Samuel, facing the camera. She's trying to look brave, but her lower lip is trembling. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he says softly, "It's alright little one. Just say what I told you to say."

Elena nods, and takes a deep breath, "H-hi mommy and daddy. Jeanelle and I are fine, and... and..." she stops talking, trying to remember. Samuel leans down and whispers in her ear. She nods and continues, "We're fine. Just do as you're told and we'll stay fine."

"Good girl," Samuel says, patting her shoulder and having her go back to the bed. Beckoning Jeanelle forward, he says, "Your turn. Just say as we practiced."

"Hi mommy and daddy," Jeanelle says, scowling up at Samuel when he touches her shoulder, "We're fine. But please hurry."

Having Jeanelle go back to her bed, Samuel stares into the camera, "There. Now you know they're fine. Time for your first task. Included with this recording are some files. One of the files is the blueprint to Doctor Drakken's latest lair. Follow the directions provided and you shouldn't have any trouble bypassing his security. Once inside, you will make your way to the room indicated. Inside the room is a supercomputer. Follow the instructions provided with the schematics and retrieve the indicated circuit board. The circuit board is what makes the hive mind of the Bebes possible. It's irreplaceable and irreproducable. Once you retrieve the circuit board, return home and await further instructions. Do not attempt to alter, destroy or damage the circuit board. Fail in this task, or attempt to alter, destroy or damage the circuit board, and you'll never see your precious daughters again." The recording ends there, leaving the room in silence for a moment before everyone starts bustling.

"What do we do?" Kim asks, looking between her employer and her husband.

"The choice is yours," Betty says, "On the one hand, we shouldn't just give dangerous technology to him. But on the other, we may have to play along until we can get your daughters back."

Calling to Wade, she asks, "What do we have on Drakken's latest activities?"

Sipping from his soda, the young genius says, "Not much. He's been remarkably quiet since the Lorwardian invasion 12 years ago. There was a brief mention of him and Shego being seen in the Bahamas a few years ago. But other than that, he's been quiet. No schemes to take over the world or anything."

"Weird," Ron says

"Not really," Betty says, "Our psych profiles of him indicate all he really wanted was recognition for his genius. He finally got that after helping you two save the world with his plan. After the award ceremony, he was inundated with offers from every scientific institution world wide. Last time I saw his name in a GJ report was back when it was announced that he was helping the UN develop technology to help the people afflicted by starvation and drought in Africa. But that was about 10 years ago."

"Any idea where he's located?" Will Du asks, brushing unseen lint off his uniform's sleeve.

"The file with the blueprint has the location," Wade says, bringing that file up on the television.

"So we're doing this then?" Kim asks, "Breaking into an innocent man's home and stealing from him?"

"Innocent?" Will Du asks, sneering, "He was never cleared of any of his past charges. He still has outstanding warrants in 7 other nations for the Diablo incident."

"Which everyone has been willing to overlook ever since the Lorwardian incident," Betty says, "The President of the US issued him and Shego a full pardon, as have most other nations. None of those countries will make the effort to capture either of them for extradition."

"And," Kim says, "Those warrants are in countries known for their severe civil rights violations. No-one''s interested in extraditing any prisoner to those countries even if they did make the attempt."

Will Du seems like he wants to disagree, but at a glance to Betty, he doesn't say anything, merely stands at attention to await orders.

"Anyways," Betty says, glancing at Will briefly, "I think we should do as instructed. We can explain to Drakken and Shego afterwards, and offer them suitable compensation. In the meantime, I think it best if this isn't like your standard operations with those two. We need to minimize conflict, so I suggest a stealth entry. Sneak in, get the circuit board, and sneak out." With that, they gather around the television screen and start planning.


so, what do y'all think? A suitable chapter for such a long delay? Please read and review.