I do not own Kim Possible, or any other Disney character. I'm just borrowing them for my own view of alternative tales.
Kim Possible: Legacies
By LJ58
X
Kim felt her heart lurch even as the door opened, and Ron stepped into the room where she waited.
He looked…..good. Grim, but good.
She gave him a faint smile, knowing what needed to be said, but not willing to say it here. Not when she knew every word was going to be recorded, and reviewed by Dr. Director. She understood, of course, but her private life was just that. Private. What she had to say to Ron was something she should have said….well, a year ago.
She had been a coward, though.
Her, Kim Possible, a coward.
True, she had not wished to hurt her longtime friend. Her very best friend. But it was more than that. She had been afraid that if she admitted the depth of her feelings at that time that she would lose him. Not just as a boyfriend. As a friend.
Ron, she had learned, could be…..intractable about some things.
Like Shego, for instance.
Ron, surprisingly, wasn't big on second chances. Especially when said recipient burned third and fourth chances, and made them look like fools more than once. That said, she had a pretty good feeling what he would say if she simply blurted out her feelings for the woman to him, and didn't explain first.
Then she saw Bonnie.
She frowned.
That was right. Bonnie had been with him in Africa.
The agent had said something about Ron adding to the team, but…..Bonnie?
"Ron," she smiled, and all but felt Shego's growl as it rumbled deep in her chest. "Uh, surprise," she told him.
"Surprise," Bonnie squeaked. "More like shell-shocked. "We heard you died. We saw you die! The video…. That explosion….. How…..?"
"Long story," Kim told her. "It starts with Shego saving us."
"Shego," Hego echoed incredulously as he walked in behind the strange pair. Along with the rest of Team Go.
"Now you know why I had you brought to the conference room," Dr. Director said as she walked in last, nodding at a man behind her to close the door behind them.
Will Du, stiff as a cardboard cutout, stopped at the door upon entering, and stood as if he intended to keep anyone from leaving until or unless they were allowed after he closed it firmly. As if making a point.
Her eyes assessed his stance, and she instinctively knew she could strike him nine different ways before he even relaxed long enough to take a defensive posture. He was just too rigid. Too unyielding. It showed in his posture, and his attitude.
Kim had to admit that with his overall skill and knowledge he might make a truly good agent if he just learned to unbend a little.
"Now," Dr. Director said, walking over to the head of the table, and putting a hand on the back of the chair there. "If everyone will take a seat, we'll start this debriefing."
"Is that what this is," Shego asked.
"You, Miss Go, should be grateful we are giving you any leeway….."
"Face it, you one-eyed….."
"Shego," Kim murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder, and ignoring all the eyes that went to that hand when she did.
"Fine. I'm just saying, you couldn't stop me from doing my thing before, Bets. You sure can't now. So the best thing for you do to do is listen to my Princess here. And, I can't believe I'm saying this, it's for the good of the planet. Literally."
The head of GJ eyed Ron who had simply walked over and took a seat. Bonnie sat directly beside him as Team Go took their seats without a word.
"Should Sigseetz take seat, Lady Shego," the insectoid asked.
"Knock yourself out," she told him, standing near Kim, arms folding, and unmoving.
"You want Sigseetz to…..?"
"She wants you to sit down," Kim interpreted, knowing the timid creature's nervous antics had it chittering in confusion, and some fear.
"Sigseetz should really see to the repair of his translation device," he chittered as he took a chair, and carefully sat down.
Kim only sighed as she remained standing beside Shego who stood on the far side of the table from the others, and at an angle where she could keep an eye on both Du and Betty.
Gyrzza, apparently saw no problem with simply standing with them, taking her role as Shego's aide to heart even if she still let her antipathy for Kim slip through at times.
"First, I'm assuming that Kimberly isn't being…..mind-controlled?"
"That's your department, Cyclops," Shego snorted. "Trust me, no one is being controlled by anyone here."
"That's what we would expect you to say," Will drawled.
"You," Shego glared. "Stay silent. Kim, it's your show. I'm already starting to loose my patience with all the attitude I'm feeling around here."
"You can't blame us, Sis," Hego finally spoke up. "You have earned the hostility….."
"Hego. Shut up."
Even Shego gaped at Kim as she stepped forward, and nodded curtly as if to reinforce her demand of the blue-clad hero.
"Now, Miss Possible…."
"We are here to explain that we….. All of us…. Are now part of something much bigger than anything we have ever imagined. Or ever could imagine."
"I still want to know how you survived the nukes," one of the Wegos said with a faint smile as he eyed Shego. "Because even I didn't think you were that tough, sis."
"A daughter of the Great Lady is far more formidable than any other being in the Cosmos," Gyrzza spoke now, her voice a low, raspy drawl in her human form.
"Great Lady," Dr. Director frowned, eyeing them intensely.
"Let's do this in order," Kim suggested. "Or we're only going to spent all our time answering questions, and delaying the real reason we're here."
"Which is?"
"After we explain," Kim told Ron. "Just….trust us. It really is important you hear us out. Please?"
"I still can't see why you would side with Shego, unless you are being controlled," Ron told her somberly, his expression still cold and foreboding, "But I've always trusted you. Go ahead."
"It obviously started on the missile platform. Although we didn't realize it at first, Shego saved us both from dying," Kim began, and over the next two hours, slowly explained, in a very carefully edited version that made Lady Gyrzza eye her repeatedly at times. Especially as Kim skirted issues about Shego's true nature while giving a fairly candid view of the Great Lady who oversaw a vast intergalactic alliance, and stressed the need to consider Earth's future as the Coalition's enemies might already be acting against them to prevent their reaching out to others.
She said nothing of Shego's allegedly fractured 'seedling,' of her own alteration by the Great Lady herself, or what had blossomed between the two of them in those seemingly final moments. Something that had flowered in the months they were away. That was for another time. In a more private setting.
Considering Ron's steady glower, she would rather face Shego's brothers herself than have to tell him the truth of their new relationship. Still, Shego was right. He deserved the truth. From her. Just as she would have to face her own brothers with a few hard truths, too.
Frankly, neither of them had it easy just now in her opinion.
Dr. Director said nothing for several long moments as she sat with hands steepled before her, staring hard at Kim and Shego. Her eye would narrow now and then, her brows already deeply furrowed. She finally straightened up, and looked right at Kim.
"You fully expect me to let you go before the combined governing heads of state in the United Nations, and give them that story?"
"It's the truth," Kim sputtered.
Rising to her feet, she shook her head.
"I can see you two obviously contacted…..something out there. We have to consider it might have influenced you somehow. You were both obviously affected….."
"Listen, harpy," Shego growled, her eyes flashing green as she stepped forward. "Kim just told you everything you need to know. You think I like the new role in life I just got saddled with here? But if you were there, you'd know that you don't say 'No' to the Great Lady. Frankly, you have to be a nut to even try."
"But you argued with her," Gyrzza murmured, frowning at Shego. "You told her…."
"Not…..helping," Shego growled at her.
Gyrzza sighed, and fell silent.
"Don't tell her no," Dr. Director smirked.
"That was about something else entirely. It was….a personal sitch. As Kimmie would say."
"I believe that was left out of your little….exposition," Dr. Director told Kim pointedly.
"Well, the fact is, we both have a few personal issues we need to clear up. Privately. They do not change the fact that all I've told you is true. And very real. In fact, while we can't predict the Great Lady's coming, we can tell you that now that we're on the map, as it were, we can expect more visitations soon. The only question is, do we welcome the Coalition's people, and accept their protection as a new member, or do we ignore them, and try to protect ourselves from the others bound to show up either way."
"Define others," Will asked before Dr. Director could comment.
She glanced at him, then looked back at Betty.
"The Lorwardians were just one of the 'rogue' races out there that aren't part of the Coalition. From what we have learned, while the planet-eating Horde Shego stopped are a interstellar pest problem, we suspect someone sent that hive here. Either as a test, or….."
"A warning," Ron finished for her.
"Exactly. So, Dr. Director. I told Shego we should come to you, because I trusted you. I'm asking you to trust us."
"Us," Dr. Director frowned, eyeing Shego pointedly.
"Us. We're kind of in this together. As I said, I kind of got…..assigned to Shego as her….companion."
"Were you not already her p'n'ch'ssa," Gyrzza asked.
Shego and Kim both groaned.
"Her what," Bonnie finally spoke up again.
"Her consort," the silver dragoness supplied helpfully.
"Okay, you're really going to have to explain that one," Ron told her quietly.
"What he said," the Wegos said in stereo.
Dr. Director only stared.
"Part of your….personal issues, I take it," she finally commented.
"Yes," Kim squeaked, unable to keep from blushing.
Dr. Director ran a hand over her face, and for a moment Kim saw the weariness there. The sheer numbness that overwhelmed the older woman. For a moment she could almost sympathize with her. Then the hard mask was back, and the woman eyed her sternly.
"Well," Shego asked the woman pointedly.
"I'm going to contact the governor-general, and the Council that backs us. I will try to…..explain what you have said here, and if they agree…. If. I will get you a private meeting. No media. No assembly. Just a private meeting with the ruling chair, and the senior council. If they agree to an open hearing, any other decision will be up to them. I will tell you now," the brunette told them as she stepped away from the table. "They will want to know your intentions after this matter is resolved one way or the other. The world saw…..you. They know your past actions, too, and haven't forgotten your record. If anything, this will only make them more distrustful."
"Shego is retired. From crime, that is," Kim said quickly.
Shego glanced her way, shrugged, and nodded. "What she said. After all we've seen? That thrill is gone. Long gone."
"Fine. I'll try to convince them of your…..fourth…? Fifth….? Change of heart."
"What can I say," Shego smirked, but didn't say any more.
Kim was very grateful just then as Betty stalked past them both with a sour look.
"I'm giving you the time to explain your….private issues to whoever you need to see, and then I expect a full debriefing, Kimberly. Recall, you are still a Global Justice agent yourself."
"Doesn't that mean you owe her back pay," Shego asked flippantly before the two agents departed, leaving them alone in the room with Ron, Bonnie, and Team Go.
One of the Wegos sniggered at that as Kim only sighed.
"What," Shego complained as Kim's expression. "You said you needed money."
"You just can't stop pushing, can you?"
"It's part of my charm," the green-skinned woman smiled, and to everyone's shock, leaned down and kissed Kim's nose. "Thought you liked that?"
Ron's stare, if anything, got even more intense.
"Do we even need to ask," Bonnie asked cattily.
"Check," Shego told Kim, who held up her left wrist where her new Kimmunicator was strapped.
Ron stared at the band, knowing it wasn't her own. Yet it looked like the same device. Yet, it wasn't. He knew that as surely as he knew that Kim was hinting at something that seemed unthinkable to him.
"Room is actually clear. Guess she trusts us," Kim said with a hint of surprised skepticism in her tone. "For the moment," she added somberly.
"Can we get on with this," Bonnie asked, and Kim didn't miss the way the woman leaned toward Ron, or the sidelong glances she gave him as if genuinely worried.
About Ron? Or…..?
"All right. Since my….problem is relatively simpler. Relatively. I'll go first. Ron. I still love you. As a friend," she added as Bonnie looked genuinely ill for a moment. "Only a friend."
Bonnie looked abruptly relieved.
Looking ready to tear through the table in front of him, Ron echoed Bonnie's earlier words. "Do we have to ask?"
"It wasn't the…..Great Lady. Or Shego. Or anything else out there. Ron, I…. I already loved Shego. Was coming to love her. I just realized it in those final…..seconds. What I thought were final, and, honestly, almost were. Since then, I've decided life, and love, is just to precious to take chances with, and….."
"You are saying that you really love that…..woman," Ron spat, looking grimmer than death just then.
"Yes," she nodded. "But I do still respect you. Admire you. You're still my best friend….."
Ron abruptly stood up, and glared at her.
"I mourned you. And all this time you were having some…..sick affair with the one woman in the world you should hate? I'm disappointed, Kimberly," he called her. "Very disappointed."
He turned and walked toward the door.
"Ron?"
He didn't stop as he opened the door, and by then, Bonnie had rushed to his side.
"Take care of him, Bonnie," Kim told her as the brunette followed him out.
"I will," she snipped, and vanished after the scowling monkey-master.
"Well, that went as well as we expected," Shego said quietly, looking sympathetically at the redhead as the door closed with surprising silence considering everyone expected it to slam.
Every member of Team Go was staring at the two women as the door closed behind the pair. None half so stunned as Hego, who was still shaking his head.
"This is….. You can't…. You two…..? I don't get it," he finally sputtered.
"And who isn't surprised by that one," Mego quipped.
"There is more, guys," Kim said quietly. "But that's Shego's…..sitch. Want me to leave," she asked the now scowling green-skinned woman who was eyeing her brothers.
"Stay," she murmured almost inaudibly as one hand went out to squeeze Kim's nearest hand.
"Of course."
"This…. This isn't my idea, guys," Shego finally said. "But…. Apparently there are rules we didn't even know we broke when you guys were…..made."
Shego said nothing as all four siblings frowned at her.
"You're saying….Team Go broke some kind of law," Hego gasped, genuinely horrified.
"Yes," she heard Gyrzza all but bark smugly when Shego found a knot in her throat that surprised her.
"I believe this is my show, Wings. How about letting me run it," she demanded of her.
"As you command, Lady Shego. But the male's query did deserve a response."
"So give me time, you tin-plated…."
"Shego," Kim murmured softly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It is best you just….tell them. At least let them know what they face. Before someone else forces a choice on them. We both know how that feels."
"Yeah," she muttered sourly. "It sucks."
"Go on. They need to know everything."
"What," Mego asked. "Don't tell me Shego's been put in charge of the team by some space bimbo."
Gyrzza growled, and Shego sighed as she stepped closer to the table, eyed her often self-centered brother, and told him flatly, "If you value your tongue, your life, or anything else you'd like to keep, never insult the Great Lady again. Her people take that kind of thing very, very, very seriously when you do."
Mego belatedly looked at the silver-haired woman, and remembered that twelve foot dragon that spat flame so hot it melted metal, and turned sand to glass.
"Sorry," he squeaked.
The dragoness nodded curtly, but kept staring at him. Hard.
"All right. There's no easy way to put this, so I'll just…..spit it out, boys," Shego said after a deep breath.
Or three.
"That comet wasn't a comet. It was actually like a…. Well, an egg. Only it wasn't meant for….males. Just a single female."
"You," Hego and the Wegos all quipped.
"It just happened to be me," she told them honestly. "It could have been any female. I just happened to be the closest female to the…..impact zone."
"So, we…..really were an accident," Mego frowned. "The whole Team Go thing really was really just a freak accident?"
"Yes," Shego nodded.
The younger teen Wego frowned now as he asked, "And you have more bad news, don't you? About…..us?"
"Yes. The…..Great Lady has certain rules for males that inadvertently end up gifted with her…..touch."
"What rules," Hego asked quietly, surprising her with his solemnity.
"Well, choices," she told him. "But they are…..kind of…..mandatory. Either you swear yourself to serve and protect…..me…."
"Say, what," Hego exploded, almost shattering the heavy table under his hands that flared with cerulean energy as he surged to his feet.
"It's the only way you keep your powers."
"Keep," Mego echoed, slowly rising to his feet, too, staring hard at her as the twins just gaped in stunned silence.
"The other side of the coin. Make that…..oath, and keep it, or….. I'm supposed to take your powers back, which you were apparently never supposed to have received in the first place."
"You can take our powers," the Wegos exclaimed, looking genuinely horrified.
Not half so furious, though, as Hego.
"Is that what this is really all about? Another attempt to grab power and glory for yourself, Shego? And here you were trying to claim you had chang….."
"Take mine," a firm voice spoke up before Hego could get any further.
Shego ignored Hego. Something she had long practice doing anyway, and stared at her younger brother. "Did you say….?"
To everyone's shock, Mego stepped forward, and nodded at her, saying, "Do it. If you can really take this power away from me. Do it. Do it, now."
Not even Hego could find anything to say as they all stared at the usually self-centered member of the team.
To Be Continued…..