Chapter 9


When she did have a moment to speak to Ron, she knocked on the door to his office and he smiled at her as she came in. "Have a seat," he said kindly.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to update you on what's happening. We got our hands on a diagram of the kill switch. As you know, I'm hoping to have it removed from all of you, as a safety precaution. We're working on a way to keep the rest of the chip intact."

She nodded, her face blank but her eyes showing the tiniest bit of fear. "So, um... when are you planning on trying it?"

"When we're sure it will go well."

"What do you mean?" She asked, her shoulders stiff.

Ron stood, walking around his desk to sit next to her instead. "Listen to me, Kim. This procedure isn't going to be painful to you. I swear. I actually don't even think you'll be awake for it. When you wake up, you'll still be you but minus the internal bomb. I swear we're doing everything we can to get this right before hand so that we don't hurt you or cause you any damage. Nobody is going to force you into anything painful, and I personally am making sure that they can't operate until all the preparations are made and an expert on the surgery is available; nobody is experimenting on you here. Okay?"

She nodded, looking relieved.

"I know you're anxious," Ron continued, "but I'm going to do everything I can to keep you posted on this. Look... this is the file. You can take a look at it if you want. Wade is in charge of explaining it to you and keeping you updated, okay? I told him I'd have someone run it down to him in person so it's not in the system. You can look at it if you want."

She nodded again. "Got it. Thank you, Ron. I... thank you."

"You're welcome," he answered with a smile. It was that gentle smile he reserved for her. He reached for her hand and squeezed it. "You'll be okay, you know."

She smiled. "I know. You saved me."

Ron tilted his head. "I did what was right." He squeezed her shoulder and stood. "Get going, okay?"

She stood too. "Yeah. Uh... thanks."

"See you tonight?"

She smiled brightly at him. "Yeah! Can we make more cookies?"

He laughed. "You ate them all already?"

"Maybe." She blushed.

He raised an eyebrow, a small smile pulling at his lips. "You're going to catch your death eating so many sweets."

She shrugged, her cheeks bright red. "I have a high metabolism?"

"Riiiight."

"Hey, don't judge me!"

"Alright, alright," he laughed. "Tonight we'll bake something. And make some popcorn and watch movies. Now get out, I have to work, and you're making me hungry."

She laughed, and the sound was so light that he had to grin widely. "Let's make something chocolate!"

"You've got it," he answered.

-23-

Dr. Director was pacing behind her desk. In front of it sat her right hand, Will Du, and his older brother Cain. They watched her with expressionless brown eyes as she thought. He, Cain, and his younger sister Cam had offered up their DNA for experimentation in the human enhancement project. He was curious to know if any of them had some sort of clone or something out there.

"That's it!" Will exclaimed.

"What?"

"Well... WWEE stole or destroyed all the DNA samples and all the subjects, right? Well... can't you just make new ones? I mean... it is possible to find out whose DNA was used to make Number Twenty-Three and the others like her, right?"

Dr. Director raised an eyebrow. "I remember who was used for Twenty-Three. One of them is dead, and the other—"

"Ma'am, the dead man's DNA is in the local police's system now. They had to verify his identity without a body, remember?"

Dr. Director tapped her chin thoughtfully. "You're right," she said finally. "But I still have another problem. All of the scientists involved with Twenty-Three's case were killed in the bombing. With the rest of our laboratories and bases still on high alert, we can't scramble any of those people to try to make a copy of Twenty-Three."

Cain spoke up, his voice low and monotonous. "I might be able to help with that. There was a rogue scientist apprehended recently for conducting inhumane cloning experiments on animals. She was able in several cases to successfully merge two entirely different species into one animal."

"What was that woman's name?"

"Dr. Amy Hall. The local media dubbed her DNAmy," Cain responded.

Dr. Director arched an eyebrow, belying her interest. "That so?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Bring her in and get her the DNA samples needed."

"Right away, Ma'am."

-23-

They made four varieties of brownie and were taste-testing them when Kim heard beeping in the living room signaling that Wade wanted to open a video chat. "I've got it," Kim said with a smile while Ron hurried to finish chewing and drink a gulp of milk. She practically skipped into the living room, and he was just happy she was in such a good mood. "Hi Wade! Ron's eating so I answered. What's the sitch?"

"What's the what?" Ron chuckled from behind her, causing her to jump.

She flushed bright red. "The sitch. You know. Like a situation."

"Right," Ron said, amused. "Well, let's hear it, Wade."

"I've got chatter from a few of our moles suggesting that they might try to recreate Kim."

"Oh great."

Kim frowned, her shoulders hunching.

Ron squeezed her shoulder, pulling her into his side. "Well how do they plan on doing that, do you know?"

"The police suffered a security breach this morning in their computer systems—specifically their DNA databases. My guess is that they know whose DNA could make a perfect copy of Kim and went looking for it."

"Well, you could probably find that DNA too, couldn't you?"

"I did my own search, and uh... it gets better. You two might want to sit down for this."

Kim stiffened. "I'll stand."

Wade shrugged. "Suit yourself. I got a major hit in the database. As it turns out, you and Felix have common alleles with someone that is listed as deceased."

"Who?"

"James Doable."

Silence.

"Well?"

"Well, I'm glad I got him out now..."

"Wait. Are you saying Dr. Doable is my father?!"

"Uh, kind of. Judging by how he got here, I don't think he just volunteered his DNA to be spliced around in unethical human testing. But there's no doubt that you have common alleles with him, as well as Felix and also, Tim, whom we couldn't save."

"Right... you said he was kind of like my... my brother." Kim sunk onto the couch.

Wade nodded, clearing his throat uncomfortably. "Anyway... his DNA was used for sure, on all three of you. But I can't really determine if that means he's your biological father. That depends on the process used to, uh... well, to create you. They could have found a way to inject a sperm or egg sample with his DNA, in which case it begs the question whether or not—"

"We get it, Wade."

"Sorry. Well, I haven't been able to identify anybody else yet. I have our people listening, though, and I'm going to keep looking."

"Uh... thanks, Wade."

Wade nodded, and the screen in the living room went dark, leaving Kim to stare at it in shock. "Dr. Doable..."

"We'll set up a meeting and talk about this. Everyone. Together. Maybe with Dr. Freeman."

"Felix too?"

"Yeah."

"And... Tim..."

"I'm sorry about him, I really am. I wish we could have saved him."

"Maybe it was better that he didn't make it."

"Why do you say?"

"I just... maybe I don't want anybody else to have to survive what I did." She looked up at him in alarm. "You can't let them clone me! You can't let them do this to me again... please."

"I won't. We'll find a way to stop it. Okay? I promise."

"Okay," she said quietly.

Ron sat next to her and wrapped her in a tight hug. "She wouldn't be you, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Global Justice could make a thousand people with exactly your DNA, but it wouldn't matter. There's only one person just like you in the whole world. Only one KP. Okay?"

After a moment, she returned the embrace, winding her arms around him and pressing herself closer to him. "Okay."

Neither one could ignore the relief that coursed through them, or the cool, sad air that hung between them when she finally pulled away and slipped out of his apartment.

-23-

He was standing on the cliffs at the edge of the island, looking over the ocean, over the waves that crashed against the rock hundreds of feet below. Heights had never scared him, and he stood with his toes right against the edge, the ocean breeze making his eyes dry. He closed them, enjoying the adrenaline that coursed through his veins at the thought of losing his balance. If the wind blew just the wrong way, with his eyes closed, he would fall. Just a moment longer, and then I'll go back. Just another moment.

Finally, he stepped back, opening his eyes.

"What? Where are you going?"

"Err—back to work."

"But don't you want to jump?"

He snorted. "No, dying is not on my agenda today." The voice was a woman's voice, sultry and low, a dangerous-sounding alto. He couldn't see anyone around, and fear spiked in his veins. "Who's that? Hello?!"

"I'm waiting for you at the bottom, you know."

"Not a chance! I'm not jumping off a goddamn cliff. Fuck you!"

"But you want to. I know you do."

"No, I don't!"

"What if she's waiting for you instead? Would you jump then?"

He knew instinctively that the she the voice referred to was Kim. He hesitated. Had she fallen or gotten hurt at the cliffs? He turned and edge back to the end of the ground, peering down below.

"So you would for her, but not for me?"

"What? B-but I never—"

"Well then I guess I have no use for you anymore."

The wind shifted, whistling through the trees. The next second, he was falling.

He jerked awake, almost falling off his chair. "What the fuck," he mumbled, scrubbing his face with the heels of his hands. He was still at his desk in his apartment, where he'd fallen asleep while determining how to go about WWEE's next mission.

He checked the time on the computer and it read 4:29 am. He groaned and dragged himself up. He had work to do. But who was that voice? And did she seem so familiar? He went over as much of the dream as he could remember. There were the cliffs, and he was standing at the edge like he did from time to time, when he had a lot on his mind.

The voice was telling him to jump. That was scary. Maybe he had to talk to Dr. Freeman about some weird psychiatric condition he was unaware of. And who the fuck was that voice?!

He shook his head, trying to wake up, to dispel the strange feeling the dream brought.

The voice was jealous? Kim was on the cliffs, and she must have fallen. The voice had been trying to convince him to jump, but he didn't even consider it until the voice mentioned her. It got mad and threw him over. Almost as if the voice had been jealous—

A beep at his desk startled him and he jumped, his train of thought scattered. "You've seriously got to stop scaring the shit out of me, man."

Wade chuckled. "Sorry. Did I wake you?"

"Uh—no."

"Rough night?"

"Yeah. I was going to call you later anyway. I have a plan to extract Dr. Credible."

"Well, you're going to have to modify it, because she was taken from her home an hour ago."

Ron cursed, now wide awake. "Can you track her?"

"Yeah. I can have you wheels up in an hour. Do you want me to wake up Shego?"

"No. Uh—I want Kim to come. Get her and the Smiths."

"Ron, are you sure about that? She said she wanted out of the field."

"I'm not taking her with me for the rescue. But that girl is better than anybody at tracking people—you remember her weekend evaluations, right? Plus, she's teaching me a thing or two about taking people out quietly. I have a feeling that wherever Dr. Credible is, there will be lots of people guarding her, and I'll probably have to take out as many of them as possible before they notice something's up. Mark and Clark will be up to the task."

"Fine, I'll have them ready. I trust you want them to assemble a team."

"A small team. I don't want to be noticed right off the bat, okay?"

"Fine, fine."

"Good."

-23-

Kim was in the hangar, checking her gear with a quiet, neutral expression. Ron watched her, frowning. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

She gave him a tight smile. "Yep."

"You know you're going to stay with the plane, right?"

"Yep. No action for me. However, I still need to be able to defend myself in case I get busted. I'll only have a few seconds, you know." She tapped her temple with a wink and then unrolled a gray and black leather case that contained several throwing knives and a sharpener. She quickly tested the sharpness of each of them, pressing each blade against the tip of her finger. Once, she found the sharpness of a blade to be lacking, and quickly used the sharpener until the sharp edge glinted in the dim hangar lights. Twice, she cut herself, but never bled more than a drop.

Oh, that's right... molecular enhancement whatever shit. Jesus.

Ron cringed as he watched her test the blades on her throwing stars next. Those things would probably make it all the way through somebody's throat before they knew what was happening.

This girl really was deadly. It was kind of hot, actually.

Derail this train of thought right the fuck now, he commanded himself. "No arrows today?"

She smiled, and he noticed that her lips were dark red. "They're already packed."

"You're wearing makeup?" He asked. Derailment failed.

She shrugged. "Can't a girl look nice when she's about to go out?" Her lips pulled up on one side, curling into a teasing smirk.

He'd never seen her with red lips before. It was so, so sexy. He could hardly think straight unless it had to do with dreaming up her expression when he kissed that smug look off her face.

There was a thriller about a runaway train which he really liked, in which the train reaches speeds so high that the company in charge of it decides to find a safe place to just destroy it. They had set up all of the necessary derailment things on the tracks, hoping to flip the damn thing on its side. It wouldn't work, though, because the critical speed for the derailment to succeed had long been surpassed. When it crossed, it was so heavy, going so fast, that it simply destroyed the derailers, sending the broken metal shrapnel flying into the emergency vehicles at deadly speeds and everybody scrambling for cover.

His trail of thought had passed that critical speed a long, long time ago. He shifted his weight.

Fuck.

"Uh—everybody else ready to go?"

She looked up, confused at how flustered he suddenly sounded. "Um, yeah, I think so. Mark and Clark had two guys packing parachutes and oxygen and stuff, but I think they're about done now."

"Will we be jumping?"

She shrugged again. "Better to be prepared." She finally stood, quickly doing a final check on all of her things before slipping into a black leather jacket. He noticed then how her dark cargo pants hung just right on her hips, and how her dark purple, skin-tight WWEE shirt rode up just a little. "I'm ready, and the pilot is ready for us to board. Ready to go?"

He nodded dumbly and followed her on to the plane. This girl was a distraction. Shego had that shit wrong. He wasn't the one distracting her at all.

Wait a minute...

-23-

Wade informed them that all of Middleton's airspace was being monitored by GJ, so they would have to parachute in and their plane would fly on so that it could land somewhere safe but still close enough. They'd land, conveniently under cover of night, about one mile from the target. Kim would stay with the plane and keep them updated on any information via short-wave radio. The plane would also be guarding her, as it turned out, because Wade retrofitted it with dampers designed to negate specific radio wave lengths that could set off the kill switch in her brain.

Kim was anxious, he could tell. He stilled her bouncing knee with his hand and an arched eyebrow, but moments later, her other leg was bouncing. He stood up, got her a bottle of water, unscrewed the cap, and handed it to her. "Here. It's cool."

"Uh... thanks."

"Tell me what's on your mind."

"I just... don't want to screw this up."

"You'll do fine. Trust your instincts. Watch your back. Stay in the plane, track our progress. Wade said he can get into the surveillance. You have to let us know the second that happens or you lose visual of us, so that we can be prepared. That's all it is, okay?"

If she lost visual, they'd be out there on their own, and she didn't realize how terrifying that was until the thought about it. Why was she so worried anyway? It wasn't like he couldn't take care of himself.

He seemed to be reading her thoughts. "Don't worry about it, okay? We've all trained for every possible outcome, even you. We'll all be alright. We'll make it home and eat our left over red-velvet vodka brownies, and watch whatever you want." She flushed, and his eyebrows climbed. "You ate the brownies, didn't you?"

"I didn't know they would taste that good!"

"Wait till I show you how to make rum-raisin cake."

He was pretty sure she moaned. She wasn't a fan of alcohol... that was probably his fault since he spent the majority of the first weeks he knew her completely piss drunk out of his poor, horny mind. But since he started showing her how to cook with it, the girl couldn't stop eating. Her poor liver was going to explode.

He grinned, sufficiently satisfied that he'd distracted her from her nerves. "We'll be alright, I promise."

She looked up at him then, her wide green eyes hopeful, and something else he didn't want to think about. The runaway train in his mind would blast fool speed through an elevated curve, and everything would crash and burn in a fiery, miserable death. Instead, he smoothed a piece of hair away from her face. "Really," he said. "We can make it through this... through anything... as long as you've got my back, KP." She rested her head on his shoulder, and he wrapped his arm around her. "Rest up," he said quietly. "I'll wake you in time for us to go over everything, so that you feel comfortable with it."

She nodded, already drifting off. It had been easy for him to cheer her. When he called her that, she felt like she could do anything.

-23-

"Check. Can you hear me? Come in." Kim waited for confirmation that their radios were working.

Ron checked in immediately. "Gotcha, Copper." She grinned at her codename. Ron chose that one for her because of her hair. He chose Silver for himself.

The Smiths were next. "This is Brass."

"This is Bronze."

"We roger."

One by one, the other team members checked their radios: Nickel, Lead, Steel Balls (which made all the guys chuckle immaturely), Mercury, Aurum, Zinc, Lithium, and Iron all checked in, making sure their radios were working. Then, they put on their parachutes.

Ron carefully buckled into his, and waited for Kim to finish her safety check on his mask and chute. She did it quickly, without meeting his eyes. He studied the purplish-black line that outlined her eyes, and the way her lashes were somehow longer and darker than normal. She was wearing make-up today... why?

Something Wade said to him a long time ago thundered into his brain, adding to the runaway-train clusterfuck in his head. What if she fell in love with you?

You're in way over your head, he tells himself.

Get your act together. You have a mission. Man the fuck up.

When she finished, he clutched her hand to his chest before she could pull away. She looked up at him, giving him a tight smile. She was nervous again, he noted.

"Please be safe." He tried to answer with the most reassuring smile he could manage, and she reached up to tighten his helmet. "Okay?" she whispered.

He nodded. "Take care of yourself, KP. I'll see you soon."

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes for the first time. The smile she gave him was beautiful.

The two minute warning buzzer sounded as she finished the last checks. Then she secured herself and opened the cargo door. The 60 second buzzer sounded, and they waited for the signal for them to be able to jump.

Ron adjusted his pack one last time, and everyone did their final checks. Then, they jumped.

-23-

One by one, the whispers confirming a safe landing echoed through her earphones, except for one. "Silver, where are you?"

There's nothing for a moment, and then a sound like rustling and snapping.

"Silver! Do you copy?" Heart in her throat, she waited. "Silver..."

"I'm alright." There was a grunt, and some sort of shuffling. There was cursing and then he growled, "seriously?" before there was a muted thud.

"Silver," she hissed.

"I'm on the ground," he responded, finally sounding calm, albeit slightly pissed off.

"What happened?"

"My parachute got tangled in a tree, I had to cut myself down. I'm fine, let's go."

Moments later, there is light chuckling, and Ron's distinctive 'shut the fuck up'. She frowns. "What now?"

"Don't say a word."

"Silver's having a little... wardrobe malfunction."

"Just... get walking."

"Copy that, sir."

The only sounds after that, for several minutes, were the sounds of their footsteps in the woods surrounding the target. It was a hideout that was built inside a cave, part way up a mountain. Wade had done his best to find and scramble the energy sources, and if their timing was right, he'd be able to buy them at least four minutes. They will be able to free Dr. Credible in that time, and be out.

Wade is with her on the computer, tracking their progress and using their GPS and satellite imaging to scan the surrounding area for traps.

Ron lets her know that they just stepped into a clearing of sorts, and that they are going to cross it one at a time to avoid being detected. Kim is about to give them the okay, but Wade quickly looks up. His eyes widen in alarm, and she immediately reacts. "Everybody stop."

"What now?"

"Wade?"

"I just completed an underground scan. Two yards ahead from Aurum there's a mine. That field is littered with them. I'm going to mark them for you, and you're going to guide them through."

"Okay." She was able to remain surprisingly calm. "Nobody move. Aurum, take two giant steps back."

"What's going on?"

"That field is rigged with mines. Wade is going to mark as many of them as he can and I'm going to get you guys through."

"We'll wait for your signal, Copper."

"Are you guys alright?"

"We're good. Quit worrying."

"Hurry, Wade," Kim urges, ignoring Ron's comment.

"I'm on it, I'm on it. Ten seconds." Finally, they were able to move. She guided them through the field, telling them to move through in a single file. She guides them infra-red triggers at the other side near the woods also.

"Seriously, this place is guarded up to its teeth," someone complained—Steel Balls, she thought. How ironic.

"I couldn't deactivate everything without being detected," Wade said.

Kim shrugged. "Whatever, just get us through this!"

It was another fifteen minutes before they could see the mouth of the cave, and another fifteen before they made it in. By then, the plane had landed and the pilot had left to check the aircraft and sign for the refueling.

Kim felt herself getting tense again. She just knew something could go wrong at any moment. She decided to arm herself. She went to her pack and dragged it to her feet so that she could listen while they worked. She slung her quiver over her shoulder, strapping it securely into place. She strung her bow, expertly bending the metal just enough to get the cable hooked on. She checked the tension and smiled, feeling herself relax slightly. Then she grabbed her knives and throwing stars. She drew a calming breath and turned her attention to the screen. She couldn't see inside the cave, or lair, or whatever, but she could still hear them. It was her job to direct them to the pick up point that would take them to the airstrip. She'd be responsible for having everything ready and guarding the pilot so that they'd be ready to take off as soon as everyone was accounted for.

There was a yelp, a scream that cut off abruptly, and the grunts and sounds that signified fighting, and she gritted her teeth and waited. The fighting only lasted for a second.

"Do you have her?"

"Affirmative," someone responded—either Brass or Bronze. She could never tell them apart on the radio—or ever really. Mark and Clark Smith were identical twins, exactly the same in everything, including their training as Navy Seals and Secret Service agents—that was what gave them their expertise in special operations and covert assignments. 'Agent Smith and Agent Smith' were implicated falsely by Global Justice in an investigation involving treason and conspiracy against the Vice President or something like that. Ron had told her once while they watched an action movie called Air Force One in which there's an agent that guard's the president's family that conspires with terrorists to hijack his aircraft.

She hadn't paid much attention to the actual story, though. She was more concerned with how bitter he'd sounded. "Global Justice ruins everything," he'd growled.

"We're placing our gift. Timer set for three minutes." The gift was a hefty amount of C4—not enough to blow the top off the mountain, but enough to collapse the cave and probably kill everyone in it.

At that moment, Wade spoke. "I can get them two more minutes of dark. They better get out of there soon."

"You have two minutes," Kim relayed. "Get out of there."

"Copy that. Holy shit."

"What is it, Silver?"

"The set up in here is insane," he whispered. "They have this fat chick with an annoying voice conducting some experiment... she's whining about her computers. I'm taking pictures of everything as fast as I can. I'm going Hey, you. Dr. Credible. Did they take a DNA sample from you by any chance?"

"They tried," she said sourly.

Ron snorted. "I like you. It's like I thought. They took her for her DNA."

"What I want to know is why," Dr. Credible huffed.

"We'll investigate that when you get back. Get out of there!"

"Alright, alright."

She checked in with the pilot while she waited. He said the plane was having some adjustments just in case, but that everything was fine.

"Will they be done in time?"

"Yes. It's just checking the tires in the landing gear... that type of stuff."

"Alright."

"How much does Dr. Credible weigh, do you know?"

"Err—around 130. Why?"

"Okay. I was just making sure I got the fuel right."

"What does that have to do with weight?"

"If the plane is too heavy, we can't take off or stay in the air. There are weight limits I have to take into account when refueling and when you all pack your gear."

"Right."

"That's why you're my favorite flyer, doll."

"Very funny."

"Copper, we're out. Proceeding to pick up point."

She sighed in relief. "Copy. Pick up will be there in eight minutes."

"You're doing great, Copper," Ron said softly.

"Thanks," she answered softly.

"How's our ride?"

"Will be ready on time."

"Good."

"Quit talking and get out of there!"

"Alright, alright. Quit worrying, Copper."

"I—ugh!"

There was a chuckle, but then the group proceeded in relative silence. The silence stretched, and she felt herself relax slightly, although she still kept her bow in a firm grip. Occasionally there would be a hiss or a radio check, There was chuckling again for one moment, but then Ron hissed to shut up, and there was immediate silence.

Suddenly, he said, "Everybody stop."

"What is it?"

There was a moment of silence, followed by muttered curses. "The pick up point is a trap. I have to get out of here."

"Wait—what?! Sil—"

"Going dark. I'll see you soon, Copper. Don't worry about me."

"What the fuck is happening?!"

"The rest of you, scatter. You, take the primary into the city and hide. Hide our ride, Copper."

"I—"

She was cut off by the sounds of yelling, and then gunfire. She didn't hear Silver again.


once again, thanks for sticking around; I hope the wait was worth it.

so, I've been getting a couple of questions about the series I'm working on, the Fire and Ice series. Right now, A Kiss in the Rain is under some major reconstruction; I'm working on it a lot, but, as you can probably see by my profile, I'm working on a couple of other ideas I've had too. I promise to get an update out on that series as soon as I possibly can. Also, i just started classes in an online university, and that is hogging a lot of my time. I'm officially majoring in Creative Writing with an emphasis in fiction! yay me! hopefully over the next couple of years, you guys will see my writing improve drastically.

as always, thanks for reading, let me know what you think via reviews, twitter at talkingcarsrock, or in a PM. I always like hearing from you guys. keeps me motivated.

cheers,

-temporary insanity.