DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kim Possible. This story is just for fun. The characters of Firefly/Rebecca Shaw, Isabella Shaw, and Robert Gibbs are OCs I created for this story.

A/N: Also, the real names of Team Go I created for this story, too. It came to me one night and I decided to go with it. Many thanks to my brother Talon and my friend Cyendrea for the help with developing this story, and for their future help in developing it.

Kim Possible

Red Flame

Chapter 4 – Things Begin

Middleton, Possible Residence

When Betty had showed up with her wife and daughter in tow, Ann's twin sons Jim and Tim had been over at a friend's house. When they got home, after the leader of GJ had left, they found not only their sister downstairs, but someone they didn't know. Their mom had explained that the girl was Rebecca Shaw, and that she would be staying with them for a while. Even though the Possibles had a guest room in the house, Ann was adament about Rebecca sharing Kim's room. She hoped that the other girl would help her daughter out of the depression she was falling into. And the fact that Rebecca idolized Kim Possible hopefully wouldn't hurt, either. Ann had also warned her sons not to antagonize or attempt to experiment on Rebecca; she didn't want to have to treat them for plasma burns.

Up in Kim's room, the redhead was helping her new roomie get her clothes situated.

"You're okay with me staying in your room with you?" Rebecca asked as she hung something up in Kim's closet. "Your mom . . . did say you have a guest room."

"It's alright," Kim said as she finished setting up a single-sized air mattress.

"It's just that, well, you don't seem . . . happy with me being here," she replied. Kim turned and looked at the other girl, seeing how she looked down at her feet.

"It's not you, Rebecca," the teen hero told her. She stood and walked over. "It's . . . well, it's me."

"What do you mean, Miss Possible?"

"Call me Kim, please."

"Well, um, okay. Kim."

"You don't need to worry about me," Kim went on. "No one does."

"I want to help. I don't like seeing people upset," Rebecca told her. The redhead looked at her in surprise. "What? Just because the person I was cloned from became a villain doesn't mean I have a prediliction for such behavior."

"You look just like Shego, though," Kim pointed out. "Well, except your skin isn't green and your hair seems to be either black or a dark red."

"It's both, actually. And while I may look like a sixteen-year-old version of Shego, I'm not like her in any way – as far as personality goes, anyway. Genetically speaking, I'm nearly one hundred percent Shego."

"Nearly?"

In response, Rebecca light up a hand with red plasma. "My plasma powers are spectrum-shifted to red instead of green," she said. "Which actually doesn't make me a direct clone."

"You're . . . pretty at ease about being a clone."

"I've had time to get used to the idea. Besides, cloning is how I was born. It doesn't define who I am. I do. There's another thing that makes me different from my big sister."

"Big sister?" Kim echoed.

"That's what she is, even though I've never met her. And I was raised differently than she was, too."

"That's . . . true," Kim said slowly, thoughtfully, as she sat down on the bed behind her. "No one else can truly define who you are; that's something only you can do."

"So can you answer me a question?"

"I just did, but I'll answer another," she said, drawing a giggle from the beautifully-haired girl.

"If you believe what you just said, then . . . then why are you allowing yourself to be defined by the actions of someone else?" That question created a silence that was actually too quiet, and Rebecca hurriedly spoke. "I-I am sorry," she said. "I shouldn't have-"

"It was my fault," Kim said quietly, staring down at her hands. Rebecca wanted to say something, anything, but her instincts told her to be patient. After a few moments, the redheaded-teen spoke again. "About a week ago, I stopped a villain named Doctor Drakken from taking over the world with an army of nanotech-based robots. I had help from my . . . friends . . . but my main fight was with his sidekick, Shego." Rebecca, of course knew all of this, but she sensed that Kim needed to verbally work her way through this. "Ron and I had gotten captured because I'd tried to save Erik, who turned out to be a synthodrone. His only purpose was to keep me distracted and unfocused, to toy with my emotions and everything. And it worked." She took in a shuddering breath, but went on. "Shego and I were rivals from the very first mission I encountered Drakken on. Over the years I've been saving people and in some cases countries, Shego has been the only one to push me to my limits and even beyond them. Well, that night on top of the Bueno Nachos headquarters, I was way beyond my limits. When Shego and I fought, I wasn't interested in fighting her; I just wanted to kick her green-skinned ass and make her hurt like I did. I succeeded, too, but I wasn't finished. I kicked her into an active electrical tower that electrocuted her so bad she should've been killed. And I was smiling when it happened." She looked up at the other girl, tears filling her eyes and falling down her face. "I'm supposed to be the good girl, the hero. I've gotten mad before, and angry, but I've always done the right thing. That night, I gave into a darkness I didn't even know I had. And then the next day I went and talked with Ron, because we'd kissed at prom."

"What's a prom?" Rebecca couldn't help asking. Then she flushed in embarrassment, and the pink tinge that flooded her cheeks made her look cute to Kim.

"It's a, uh, dance. A big school dance, though this one was only the junior prom."

"I didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's okay, Rebecca," Kim told her. "I . . . I actually appreciated it." She hazarded a smile. "I think Ron was under the impression that things had changed between us, that we were going to be boyfriend and girlfriend."

"But you didn't feel that way."

"No. Not one bit. I didn't even want to go meet him, because of what I was feeling about the whole thing with Shego and Erik and all, but I knew that if I didn't do anything right away that it would be worse later on. As it turned out, things went bad anyway. He couldn't – or wouldn't – understand that there wasn't an 'us' as he thought of it, and that there would never be an 'us' in that way. I told him I wasn't interested in him or in guys, period. He . . . didn't take it well. So he walked up and left. I was emotionally down, vulnerable, my defenses lowered . . . I mean, why would I have them up around him? He's my best friend. His actions . . . it was the emotional equivalent of kicking me while I was down."

Before Kim could say anything more, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her. She was further startled when the mattress shifted as Rebecca sat down next to her. The hug had shifted, of course, but was still there.

"It's alright, Kim," Rebecca said softly. "Carrying around such negativity isn't good for a person's heart and soul. It eats away at the goodness within. If you want, you can use my shoulder."

Kim didn't know what to say. She didn't really know Rebecca Shaw at all, beyond what she'd learned earlier. And Rebecca only knew of her from what she'd seen and read on the internet. Yet here she was, willing to be there for her as . . . as a true friend would. Overwhelmed by that selflessness, Kim allowed her walls to break down. It started with just a sob, but the dam broke with it and Kim turned and buried her head in Rebecca's shoulder. Both of the ivory-skinned girl's arms came around the other teen and pulled her close. Rebecca rested her head on top of Kim's and just held her, letting her unload her grief and sorrow.

Colorado Rockies, Shego's Lair

"You're still thinking about that kiss, aren't you?" Ellen asked, smirking.

"You try keeping something like that out of your head," Samantha growled, drawing a chuckle from her ex.

"So, ready to get down to your revenge scheme, Hot Lips?"

"Gah!"

"Settle down, Chuckles. First thing is . . . just what do you want?"

"Um, hello? Revenge, doh!"

"Dumbass. What are you wanting to accomplish? Do you want to kill her? Beat her? Humiliate her? What?"

"Oh."

"Hadn't really thought about that, huh?" Ellen smiled when Samantha growled at her. "Killing her, while it sounds delicious, wouldn't be nearly as sumptuous a banquet."

"Are we talking about revenge or supper?"

"Revenge is a dish best served cold, though considering you we'll have slow-cook it instead. So. No killing. Well, her, anyway. So your endgame needs to be facing her down, one-on-one, bitch'o-on-bitch'o."

"I don't think that's how it goes."

"Fuck you."

"You did that already. Liked it, too, if memory serves."

"That . . . was pretty good."

"Thanks."

"So, the goal is to get you two into a fight so you can kick her ass or whatever. We'll need to do this in stages, then."

"Why?"

"Because if we just try to do something to get her attention, it'll backfire on us. We're not doing a scheme for taking over a country, or the world, or anything. We're after revenge, pure and simple. And if she hasn't been seen for a week, in spite of our colleagues' activities, then a simple domination scheme isn't going to cut it. She will be back eventually, though, of that we can be certain."

"So what do yo have in mind, Ellie?"

"First we need to get her attention back to what she's been doing."

"Get her back into hero work?"

"Trust me. In order for you to beat her, humiliate her, she has to be back in the game, doing what she does best. Otherwise there's no point. So we'll wait for her to get back in action. We'll use that time to begin setting the groundwork."

"What groundwork?"

"Think of it as like a videogame. We are the boss fight; or, rather, you are. You don't make an appearance until the very end, even though – in those games – the hero knows you're there. We don't let Kim Possible know we're involved until the start of the final level."

"You're a geek, you know that?"

"Sure am. That's what you used to love about me. Now, back to the scheme. For the groundwork, what we'll need to do is get the other villains to basically follow their natures. World domination schemes, short-viewed revenge schemes, whatever floats their boat. The point of all of that will be to wear Kim Possible out, stress her out. Get her measure. Once we know what she's capable of, or actually even before that, we start working on a scheme of our own to draw her to us. I still want revenge on your brothers, so we can use that."

"Sounds good, Ellie," Samantha said. Then she looked confused.

"What?" Ellen asked.

"You still want revenge on my brothers? What about me? Weren't you wanting revenge on all of Team Go?"

"Are you a part of Team Go?"

"Hell no!"

"Then there's your answer."

"But I'm the one who kicked your hot ass and put it in prison!"

"I still haven't forgiven you for that, but your reaction to my kiss actually . . . well to be honest, it was the best revenge I could ever have imagined, because it never occurred to me until that moment." She took her goggles off and looked right at Samantha, letting her ex-girlfriend see her eyes for the first time since her transformation.

"Damn," Samantha said in amazement. To her surprise, Ellen blushed. At the moment, both of them realized that the spark that had been between them, which had first brought them together, hadn't vanished after all. It took them longer to realize they'd been staring into each other's eyes for nearly ten minutes.

"Um, we, uh, should . . . you know, get back to the, um, revenge . . . thing," Samantha stammered out.

"Uh, um, y-yeah," Ellen agreed. "Revenge. Right."

The two looked at each other in silence for a bit longer.

"Are you as horny as I am?" Samantha asked.

"Bitch, I haven't gotten laid since we broke up.

"Revenge can wait, then."

"You think?"

"You gonna strip?"

"You gonna make me?"

Samantha smirked, and the next thing Ellen knew she felt a burning sensation on her on leg.

"Fucking hell!" she yelled, realizing her pants leg was on fire. Jumping up, she peeled of her jumpsuit and began quickly patting the leg to put out the fire. Then she glared at Shego.

"What the fuck was that?!" she snarled.

The other woman burst out laughing and said, "I made you strip." Right then, Ellen realized she was, indeed, completely naked. She looked down at herself before looking back at her.

"You sneaky bitch," she replied, smiling.

"Fair's fair," was the reply, before the green-skinned woman stripped herself.

"Holy fuck! You're naked under that thing, too?"

"It feels great on my bare skin."

Neither was in a mood for further words, and they soon had their naked bodies pressed tightly together, arms wrapped around each other, lips and tongues fighting for dominance. When they broke off for air, their chests heaving a bit, they locked eyes again and said, at the exact same time, "Fuck, that kiss was hot!" Bursting into laughter, they embraced again.

"This doesn't mean we're back together," Samantha said, though it was more of a question.

"Well, I have nothing against expanding our . . . partnership," Ellen replied.

"I am . . . I want to say sorry, because you were right about everything and I was wrong, but it . . . I know it wouldn't make anything better."

Ellen put a finger to the taller woman's lips. "That," she said, "right there is why I've changed my mind about revenge. You really hurt me before, and nothing can make that right again. But maybe, in helping you get your revenge, I can come to terms with everything."

"I've got a bed in my room we can use to . . . negotiate our partnership."

In less than a moment they were in Shego's room, on her bed, their hands roaming and groping all over each other. Samantha slipped a hand between them and into Ellen, eliciting a groan from her as two of the green-skinned woman's fingers slipped into her wetness. No words were spoken between them, for none were needed now. Though it had been over a decade since their last moment of intimacy, they easily slipped back into their old rhythms and habits. Soon their sexes were touching as they came together, trying to out-pleasure each other. Keeping their lower bodies together, they sat up so that their entire bodies were touching. Like this, breasts and lips touching, they achieved ultimate bliss together.

But as they laid down together, unwilling to leave the other (so they could maintain the illusion that the intervening years never happened), they wondered if things would stay this way, get worse, or – against all odds – get better. And neither was sure if they were thinking about the revenge scheme or their relationship.

Pacific Ocean, Global Justice Headquarters

"Am I a terrible mother, Betty?" Isabella asked that night, after they'd made love.

"What the hell makes you ask that, Kitten?" Betty asked, sitting up and looking over at her wife.

"Samantha," she replied. "I think I should've noticed sooner that Shego looked like her."

"You can't blame yourself, Kitten. She was ten the last time you saw her. Appearances can change in that amount of time."

"I should've done something, though."

"What could you have done, Isabella? Either then or now? That bastard you were married to had successfully smeared your reputation so badly that it's a wonder you weren't arrested and jailed. I looked over all of the evidence and dispositions of that case, shortly after you agreed to work at Global Justice. There wasn't a chance to even file an appeal for visiting rights."

"I know that, but-"

"And as for now? She's a grown woman, capable of making her own decisions. I don't know what you're feeling, since I've never been a mother until Rebecca, but there's nothing that can be done for her now." She reached over and tentatively grasped her wife's hand. She smiled when Isabella returned her grip. "This may not be much of a consolation, but if we can get her back into The Crate, we . . . might could arrange a visitation of some kind."

"You . . . you'd do that? For me?"

"I'd do anything for you, Kitten."

"What if she hates me, though? For not being in her life at all, and then suddenly appearing now?"

"I can't say, love. I'm only the head of Global Justice, not a clairvoyant."

"Do you know why I pushed for Project Firefly so hard? Why I wanted to create a person that could stand against Shego?"

"That's something I have often wondered, though I've always respected you enough to not press you about it until you were ready."

"I needed to feel valued. And I know you valued me as both the love of my life, and as the smartest individual ever to appear within the agency, but because of the divorce I didn't really feel I had value. And when I learned about Shego, and Global Justice's acquisition of her DNA prior to her fall from heroics, I . . . well, I wanted to have a child again. Someone to take of, who truly depended upon me. I didn't that I would get that chance if I just asked. So I played it off as a way to develop someone with the same powers as Shego, and capable of being trained to stand against her. And when Kim Possible came on the scene, I was afraid that the project would be canceled and Rebecca . . . killed."

"Which is when you suggested using her as a prototype for developing a special strike team to be used for dealing with similar threats."

"Yeah. And when you told me that Shego was actually my little Firefly . . . I felt like I didn't deserve the happiness I'd found since that terrible day sixteen years ago. What kind of mother am I that I didn't fight harder for my children? Why didn't I try to go after Samantha after what you'd told me?"

"Isabella?"

"What?"

"Shut the fuck up."

The raven-haired woman stared at her wife in shock. But before she could even recover her wits to say anything, Betty said, "I don't want to hear anyone talking about you like that, especially yourself. The arguments you're making can be made, yes, but they're bullshit. What happened in the past happened in the past; it can't be changed. We can always play the 'if only' and 'what if' games, but we'll always lose them. What we can do is work in the present to try for the future we want. What happened was terrible, yes. And it is disheartening to learn what Samantha has become. I don't know if she can be redeemed, but even I have hope that she can." Betty pulled her wife to her and held her tenderly. "I have to catch her, though, for anything to happen. And right now that hope lies with our daughter and Kim Possible."

"Did we make the right decision? Leaving her there?"

"We've done all we can, Isabella. Kim Possible is more than capable of helping our daughter become who she wants to be. And it isn't like we won't be able to visit her if we wanted to."

"That is true."

"And one more thing, Isabella."

"What is it?"

"If you had wanted a child, all you had to have done was ask."

Middleton, Possible Residence

Rebecca didn't know what the time was when Kim finally fell asleep, emotionally spent and physically exhausted as well. She knew there was a clock easily within her field of view, but she didn't care about the time; she'd sit here like this for as long as she could. Something about holding the redhead, of comforting her like this, just felt right to Rebecca. She gently, slowly, and carefully laid the other girl down on her bed, making sure she didn't wake her. After laying her down, Rebecca just sat there, watching her sleep. Right now, Kim appeared to be at peace; the other teen had gotten the impression all day, until Kim's revelations, that she was under a dark cloud (emotionally speaking). And it looked like at least being able to vent herself this way had, for the moment, purged her of those negative feelings. She made to get up, so she could change into sleepwear and then lay down on the spare bed, when she felt a hand grab her wrist. Looking down, she sees Kim sleepily staring at her.

"Don't leave?" she asked. "Please? I . . . I'm afraid that I'll . . . I'm sorry."

"For what?" Rebecca replied, a little confused.

"It's just that . . . ever since . . . last week I haven't been sleeping well. Nightmares and all, you know."

"I'll stay with you as long as you want me to, Kim," Rebecca told her. "But not like this." Before Kim could say anything, the other girl started removing her clothes until she was clad only in a bra and boxer-briefs. When she registered Kim's stare, she blushed. "They're comfortable for me," she mumbled, making the redhead giggle a bit. Kim shifted over in her bed and Rebecca climbed in under the covers. Before she could do more than settle, Kim had snuggled up against her and fallen back asleep. Sighing and shaking her head, but with a smile on her face, the shimmer-haired girl carefully adjusted herself to a more comfortable position and drifted off herself.

When Kim woke up the next morning, after a surprisingly pleasant and uninterrupted sleep, she was a little confused to discover that not only was there someone else in her bed, but that they had an arm around her. The confusion vanished when she focused on the ivory shade of the arm, and the night before rushed back to her. She wasn't sure which surprised her more: that she'd opened up that completely to someone she'd only just met, or that she hadn't been judged at all – just accepted. Then she realized something else that surprised her: she was perfectly comfortable just laying here, in her bed, in Rebecca's arms. Not wanting to wake up the other girl, and truly touched by how caring she was, Kim tried to get out of bed without making any noise. But when she shifted her weight, she heard some mumbling from behind her and went ahead and rolled over. She found herself very close to Rebecca's face; so close, in fact, that their noses were nearly touching. The shimmer-haired girl blinked her eyes, squinted a bit to focus, then smiled.

"G'ma'ning," she mumbled sleepily.

"Morning to you, too," Kim replied, trying out a smile herself.

"You sleep okay?" the other girl asked, waking up more now.

"Better than I have in what feels like forever," the redhead whispered, feeling like she was falling into Rebecca's eyes; a far from unpleasant sensation to her.

"I smell breakfast," Rebecca said, unable to pull her gaze away from Kim's. But the sound of a knock at the floor-door made both girls blink, and the spell was broken (but not forgotten).

"Girls!" Ann called through the door. "It's nearly noon; you two aren't going to sleep all day!"

"We slept that late?" Kim said, surprised. Rolling over in the bed, she looked at her clock and was surprised to find that her mom was right.

"You needed it," her bedmate said, drawing her attention.

"You held me the entire time I cried," Kim stated.

"Everyone needs a shoulder to cry on. And everybody should have a good cry every once in a while. It's good for the body, and the soul."

And the heart, Kim thought. She actually was feeling better than she had been. In fact, she was actually feeling the start of a particular tingle that meant a desire to move, to do something.

"Let's get dressed and go down for breakfast," Kim told her. As she got out of bed, though, she paused and looked at her new friend. Yes, she regarded Rebecca as a friend, even though she barely knew her. And a thought occurred to the teen as she thought of a way to truly get to know her. "And . . . thanks. For . . . for what you did."

"Anytime," Rebecca replied, getting out of bed herself – and bringing a blush to Kim's face as the redhead saw her friend's state of undress.

When the two had made it downstairs, they found that Ann was the only one there.

"Hey, Mom?" Kim asked. "Where are dad and the tweebs?"

"Your father and brothers went out today," her mom explained, taking a sip of her coffee. "They were going to do a father-son thing at the science center."

"Will we be doing something with you, then, Missus Possible?" Rebecca asked, sitting down at one of the plates on the table.

"Oh, no, I'm afraid not," Ann told her. "I've got to go in to work today, so it'll just be the two of you."

"That's okay, mom," Kim replied. "I've . . . I've got something we can do."

"Really?" her mom said, surprised – and hopeful.

"Yeah. I was, um, thinking about seeing if Rebecca wanted to . . . you know, do some sparring after breakfast."

"Are you sure you're up to it, Kimmie?"

"Only one way to really find out, Mom. And I've been moping enough. I think . . . I think I'm ready to try to . . . well, to try to get back into life."

"Alright, Kimmie. Just . . . the two of you be careful, okay?" Ann asked. Then she looked over at Rebecca. "How do you feel about this?"

"It sounds fun," she replied. "My martial arts teachers always said that the truest way to know someone is to fight them. Even with the faints and deceptions found in many styles, it's still a more honest way to learn who a person is."

"Wow," Ann said, surprised. "That's . . . rather insightful." Then she stood up and took her cup over to the sink. "I'd love to stay and at least watch the two of you start, but I really do have to go."

"We'll be fine, Missus Possible," Rebecca assured her.

"I was also thinking, after we're done, that maybe we could go to the mall and try to get Rebecca some new clothes?" Kim asked more than stated.

"That would be just fine, Kimmie-cub," Ann agreed, drawing a groan from her daughter.

"Mooom," she said.

"Hey, it's okay, Kim," Rebecca told her. "My mom – both of them, actually – like to call me Firefly a lot. And . . . going to the mall would be fun."

"Just don't overdo it, Kim, okay?" her mom asked.

"I know you're worried about me, mom, and that you've been worried about me all week," Kim replied. "But . . . I'm better now. Not like I used to be, but it's a beginning, at least."

"That's true. Now, I'll see you two later."

The two girls finished their breakfast, though it was after Ann had left, and tended to the dishes. Rebecca insisted on helping, which Kim appreciated for more than one reason. When they had finished, Kim looked over at her and said, "Now, let's go to the backyard. I want to get know who my new friend is."

E/N: Touched on some background in this chapter. Kim opens up her soul to Rebecca, Isabella tells Betty her fears, Shego (Samantha) and Ellen (Electronique) seem to be making up after whatever happened that ripped them apart, and now Kim and Rebecca are going to spar.

The sun seems to be breaking through the clouds for Kim, but will it last? Things have begun to move foward, but where will they go? The only way to find out is to wait for the next chapter of Red Flame, "Team Possible Returns."