DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Kim Possible franchise, nor the characters. Those are all the property of Disney. This story is a fanfiction and is meant for entertainment not profit. Though I'm sure everyone already knows that.

A/N: Just like I predicted, the one-shot "Everything" spawned a 'feature-length' story. I was asked by two people who'd read it what led up to the situation depicted and so I'm now writing it up. I've decided to start this fic after the film Kim Possible: So the Drama, completey rewriting the episodes and all that came after said movie.

A/N 2: I know the updates for this are coming very fast, but whenever I've been off the 'net I've had a chance to work out my major plot points and key scenes so, yeah. ^_^

Kim Possible

Anything

Chapter 4: Shadowed Lives

Middleton Medical Center

One of the two medical helicopters operated by the Middleton Medical Center touched down on the north wing helipad, where a gurney, a doctor, and four nurses waited. As soon as the 'copter had touched down, the medical personnel moved. The side door of the helo opened up as the gurney reached it, and the medical personnel in the helicopter transferred their patient to the gurney with assistance from the nurses. A red-haired woman climbed out of the helicopter immediately, and began explaining what had happened to the doctor as everyone hurried into the hospital. Dr. Ann Possible, though extremely worried beyond anything she'd ever felt before, remained as calm as she could under the circumstances - which was a lot calmer than most mothers would have been in her situation. Everyone knew who the patient was, of course: a person would've had to have been living under a rock for the past few years not have heard of Kim Possible. Of course, her fame didn't change anything for the medical team; she was a patient who needed immediate medical attention, so they would give everything they had an more to her care.

During the time it took to get from the helipad to a medical room, it was determined that her life wasn't at stake but that her condition was still serious. She had a cut on her head, which Ann Possible explained had occured when her daughter had fallen down the stairs and struck her head on a corner. An MRI (magnetic resonance imagining) and a CT (computed tomography scan) were scheduled for Kim; she was still unconscious but it was due to medication this time. Ann, of course, had to stay in the small waiting area just off the emergency care section. It wasn't long before her husband, James, and their twin sons Jim and Tim were escorted by a nurse to the waiting room where Ann was. The boys were subdued, which was unusual for them; James sat down next to his wife and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. She let the control she'd kept herself under fade away and the tears fell down her face as she silently cried. Nothing like this had ever happened to Kim during the few years she'd been saving the world, and it hit the Possible family hard. James managed to convince his wife that they should go back home, that Kim was in capable hands right now. All they could do right now was wait, which was the hardest part.

Drakken's Lair

Now that he actually had the neural network central processor chip, Drakken wasn't sure if robotic henchmen were a good idea. His syntho-drones worked pretty well - when Shego wasn't destroying them - and he had regular henchmen for those tasks the syntho-drones weren't suited for.

"I need to come up with a new plan," he said to himself. "One that I can use this chip in. Mind control? No, no, not a good idea. I suppose I can always go back to my 'Drakken TV' plan, but I don't really need this chip for that. No, I need something better - or would that be worse?" He cupped his chin and hmmed. "No matter." He looked at the chip thoughfully. "I wonder if I still have that data I took from James Possible's mind? Perhaps I can figure something out using that and this chip."

Shego wasn't in her room this time; instead, she was in the gym working out, trying to ignore her guilt (warranted or not) and depression by working herself to exhaustion. She was clad in a pair of skintight black lycra shorts, black and green tennis shoes, and a green sports bra. Fortunately for the henchmen also in the gym, they studiously avoided even glancing at her, not wanting to set her off; she'd been rather volatile of late, and even Drakken was watching his step more than usual. Right now she was on the weight bench, pressing one and a half times her weight. She kept her mind focused on the repetitions, which wasn't easy as she usually used her workout time to think. Drakken hadn't sent her out again, which just confirmed for her that he had no clue what he was going to do with that chip.

She finished her third set of one hundred reps and set the bar in its rack before sitting back up, drenched in sweat. She wasn't going for muscle mass but endurance right now, so she hadn't increased the weight on the bar. In spite of the workout she'd just put herself through, which had pushed even her level of endurance far, she still found herself dwelling on that whole Bueno Nacho thing. She gave Drakken kudos for a clever plan - she hadn't been able to guess it until he'd pulled it off, and she knew Kim hadn't been able to guess it, either - but she found herself liking the trick played upon Kim Possible less and less. Drakken had played with the teens emotions like a master conductor with the Trans Siberian Orchestra (she would never confess to anyone that she liked them). Grabbing a towel, she wiped her sweat-drenched face and grabbed her water bottle, taking a swig of it as she left the gym for a relaxing shower.

Middleton Medical Center, afternoon

Ron had actually been picked up by the Possibles to go see Kim at the hospital when school let out. Wade had informed him late last night (or early that morning, depending on how one looked at it) about what had happened to Kim. What the computer genius hadn't told him was just what, exactly, had happened to her. He'd admitted to not knowing, and that he could probably figure out what was going on if he could scan her through the kimmunicator. According to Kim's mom, the doctors had no idea what had caused the young woman's collapse; the tests they'd run had been inconclusive, or given contradictory results. But they did say that she would be able to go home today. Wade had informed everyone that he'd talked to the doctors about running his own, independent tests using the scanners and other tools built into the kimmunicator and they had agreed; they admitted to having no other options, too.

Kim let Wade scan her, then changed and met her family in the waiting room. She got hugs from everyone, including Ron; getting hugs from the tweebs surprised her, but she went with it.

"The doctors are letting you go now?" her mom asked. "What about Wade's scans?"

"Wade says the analysis could took some time, and the doctors couldn't find anything that would have caused me to collapse like that," Kim replied.

"I can't say how worried I was, Kim," her mom said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"We both were extremely worried, Kimmie-cub," her dad agreed. "Did anything happen to you on your last mission?"

"Nothing that would have caused it," she replied. "I just started walking down the stairs, then I just lost all feeling in my arms and legs."

"Well, you seem to be okay for now, so let's get you back home."

Possible Residence

Everyone - including Ron - had just walked through the front door of the Possible house when Kim's kimmunicator went off.

"What's the sitch, Wade?" she asked as everyone gathered around her.

"Well, I put all of my processing power into analyzing your scans," the young boy replied, "which is how it got done by the time you all got home. Kim . . . the news isn't good, I'm afraid."

"What is it, Wade?" James asked.

"It has to deal with the battle suit Kim wore during the mission at Bueno Nacho's corporate headquarters. When she got shocked by the Erik syntho-drone, it caused a malfunction in the suit. The electrical discharge itself only caused some minor damage to her nervous system, in addition to knocking her out, that would've gone away on its own."

"But it didn't, did it?" Kim said with a sinking feeling.

"I'm afraid not, Kim. The malfunction in the battle suit, which was experimental, expounded on that damage the longer you wore and used it. According to the analyses, and the doctor's corroborations . . . I'm sorry, Kim. Your nervous system is degenerating."

"You means it's failing?" Ann asked, stunned.

"I wish I could say otherwise, but . . . that's the truth. Any muscle twitches or spasms you've been having recently were more than likely caused by your . . . condition."

"What can be done about it?"

"Nothing. There's a lot of experimental research into mending spinal damage, but I'm afraid I couldn't find anything about repairing or replacing a whole nervous system. And that's the only two ways to cure the damage."

"So what's going to happen to me?"

"Eventually, your whole nervous system will fail. It would leave you completely paralyzed, or could affect your brain - which would . . ."

"I would die if that happened," Kim finished for him.

"I wish there was better news for you."

"So do I," she said, turning off her kimmunicator - and meeting the expressions of disbelief and fear around her.

Drakken's Lair

"Yet another failed plan, Doctor D?" Shego asked, sauntering into the main room. She was back in her cat suit, with her usual scorn in place - though she could it was just a facade now.

"Quiet, Shego! I'm trying to think!" Drakken snapped.

"Don't hurt yourself."

"I'm your boss, you should respect me more."

"No, you're my employer. And I respect you as much as you deserve," she replied, dropping into a chair and propping her feet up on a console. "So, figured out what you're going to do yet?"

Drakken grumbled something, to which Shego snickered. She didn't understand what he was saying, but the fact that he didn't have answer amused her - in spite of her ever present gloom.

"Remember, no cloning," she growled, igninting a finger for a second.

"I know, I know," the blue-skinned villain said dismissively. Then he paused. His expression underwent several different 'deep thought' looks before his widened and he smiled. "Ah-ha! That's it!"

"I can book you for a plasma enema in about three seconds, you know," she said, looking unconcerned.

"Not about the cloning thing, though that did help give me idea."

"And what is it this time? Animating snowmen?"

"No, but that is a good idea. The neural network core processor can be used as the central processing unit for a specialized super computer. With the right components, I can build one."

"A super computer? Seriously? That's your big idea?"

"I wasn't finished, Shego!" Drakken snapped. "Anyway, I can use the super computer to hack in to Global Justice's computer network and take it over from the inside!"

"Not a bad plan," she conceded. "But why would you want to do that?"

"Never mind that! Let's go, Shego! You've got things to steal!"

"Woo-hoo," she said in a bored voice. "With an extra 'woo' for good measure."

Middleton Aerospace Technologies Center

"Okay, why did we come here?" Shego said. "Wouldn't you find computer stuff at a computer place?"

"The Middleton Aerospace Technologies Center is one of the most advanced research facilities in the Tri-City area, Shego."

"I thought that was the Middleton Advanced Research Center."

"The M-A-T-C is the premier research facility for military research, and it's military computer systems I'll need to use to break into Global Justice's computer network."

"If you don't want Kim Possible to come and stop you, you'd better hurry."

"That's what I pay you for, Shego."

"Common sense would tell you to hurry before I have to earn my pay and an irritation bonus."

Possible Residence

"I have to go, Mom!" Kim insisted. "It's what I do!"

"Honey, think about it," Ann told her. "What about-"

"My condition doesn't change anything, not as far as I'm concerned. Saving the day is what I do, and I want to keep doing it for as long as I can."

"She's right, Ann," James put in, drawing surprised looks from both of the Possible women. "Would you stop being a neurosurgeon if you had a choice? And don't say it isn't the same thing. I may not like that she goes out and risks getting badly hurt or even killed, but she has done a lot of good. She knows she'll stop when she can't do it anymore."

With a sigh, Ann Possible conceded her husband's point. Kim hugged both of her parents, holding her mom longer than her dad, before running outside where the ride Wade had hooked her up with was waiting.

Middleton Aerospace Technologies Center

As usual, right as Drakken found what he was looking for - which Shego could have found within minutes - Team Possible arrived.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Drakken demanded of Kim Possible. "Homework or something?"

"I do, actually," Kim agreed. "And you're cutting in to my study time."

"Shego!"

"I know, I know," the green-tinted woman said, waving her hand at him. "Get her." Then she ignited her hands and leapt at Kim as the red-haired teen shoved Ron to one side.

And as Kim faced off with her rival, she wondered if her condition would affect this fight.

E/N: Well, there y'all have it. You now know what's wrong with Kim. I love writing cliffhangers. Do read and review.

Talk about a downer. Kim's got a condition that may or may not kill her, but will definitely leave her paralyzed one day, Shego's still depressed, and Drakken has no clue what he's doing. What will happen to Kim now? Will Shego get out of her funk? And will the two of them realize that they can open up to each other? Read it in the next chapter, "Heart to Heart."