I don't own these characters; Disney does. I don't own this concept; it comes from Bubblegum Crisis 2040.

This title is a song by Bill Withers.

12: "Ain't no sunshine"

"Kim, are you coming or not?" Vivian inquired, speaking to Kim over her cell phone.

Kim was trying her best to get to the Silk Android, but her motor scooter seemed very against that idea. The scooter sputtered and it smelled almost like it was on fire. There was no smoke to be seen, so Kim continued to push it with the hope the vehicle would get her to her destination. She would be able to check on it later. She just wanted to get there right now.

"I'm coming! I'll be there in a few minutes. Just wait for me!" Kim begged. Lately, that seemed to be her favorite line. Her scooter seemed to cough, as if calling her a liar while alerting her that she was pushing it too hard. She ignored the sound.

"You said that last time and you didn't make it," Vivian pointed out. It was more than just last time, actually. It was the last few times. Kim just could not make it to them on time. In fact, if it was not for the mobile Pit, she was not sure if Kim would ever make to a mission.

"I had overtime! I couldn't just cut out on the mandatory overtime," Kim countered in a voice that pled for understanding. She could not get away from her job as easily as Shego and Tara could sometimes.

"Okay, you had overtime. Try to come in and we'll try to get you out, like always," Vivian replied. She had no problem sending Kim out if the eager redhead could just make it to them at some point.

"Okay."

Kim tried to push her scooter to go faster. The little vehicle coughed again, harsher than ever before. It was not the first time that the scooter made such noises. Usually, Kim had enough knowledge to fix the thing, so she did not think anything of it. She just wanted to make it to the Silk Android before her teammates left without her. And then she saw two red lights blazing across the night skies and she sighed.

"Guys… why didn't you wait?" Kim pouted, knowing those two streaks were her comrades rushing to the scene of the berserker Bebe. Taking her focus off of the crimson dots, she noticed her scooter slowing and black smoke came from several sections of it. "Oh, come on!" she groaned. Her Mega-Go City bad luck streak obviously continued to haunt her.

Kim stopped the scooter; it was just seconds away from stopping itself. She got off and started to push the thing. She headed in the direction she saw her teammates. She wondered if she would ever make to a mission on her own again, especially if her scooter was really dead now.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Tara landed on the scene where a Bebe had already morphed its form and was terrorizing a group of men. Shego glanced around them, seeing a hole in a grimy looking motel. She had to fight off the urge not to laugh as she figured out what happened.

"Berserker sex-doll Bebe? I'm damn near tempted to let it have its fun," Shego remarked, shaking her head.

"I'm going first!" Tara declared, smiling behind her helmet.

Shego did not object and let Tara dash into the fray. She noticed that Tara had been much more eager to get into battle lately. She gathered it had something to do with all of the time that Tara spent with Kim. Part of her, a part she generally ignored, burned thinking about the two and their damned sleepovers.

Shego wondered what her teammates did at those sleepovers. Fight training had to be part of it since Tara had certainly improved, but she could not guess beyond that. It bothered her to the point she considered joining them plenty of times, as they always offered; Tara always made it a point to say that Kim wanted to see Shego and so she should come. Of course, the big, bad biker could not go to a freaking slumber party, so she was left to her thoughts, which she generally ignored.

Shego shook her thoughts away and turned her attention to Tara. Spending time with Kim was one of the things that got Tara fired up about combat. Tara now moved just like Kim, especially the kick moves. Tara seemed to be built just right to copy Kim's graceful, gymnastic moves and turned into kicks with the same style as Kim. She lacks Kim's power and flare, though, Shego mentally noted. It was good to see Tara finally making use of the bomb features in her suit, though.

Kim still looks better when kicking the shit out of a Bebe, though, Shego commented mentally and then she shook her head. Where the hell did that come from? I've got to be losing my mind. It was the only thing that made sense.

Tara practically danced on the Bebe with her new moves. She had practiced as much as possible just for moments like this. She went in for the finish, punching at the Bebe with her suit's knuckle bombs and destroying the head of the machine as the bombs exploded. The core of the robot suffered the same fate. The decapitated body of the Bebe dropped with a heavy thud.

Tara shamelessly cheered herself, jumping up and down while clapping. This prompted the crowd around to cheer for her, too. She took a bow, moving to make sure everyone saw. It was in her move she spotted a familiar face in the crowd.

Tara locked eyes with Kim, who stood in the crowd with her scooter leaning against her. Tara almost called out to her friend in her excitement, but she caught herself. Shego noticed Tara's attention focused on one part of the crowd, so she decided to see what was so interesting.

Shego caught sight of Kim, whose shoulders were slumped and her face long. It was like her heart and soul was spread out on the pavement. Shego felt her own heart drop into her stomach at the sight of Kim's crestfallen eyes.

"Let's go," Shego ordered in a hard tone as she took off.

"Bye!" Tara chirped to her audience before following the green and black Knight Saber.

Kim sighed, disappointment infecting her so badly that she felt like she might throw up. She turned around, continuing to push her broken ride. She needed to make it home, after all. Just as useless as Shego insists… she mentally sighed.

-8-8-8-8-

"You know, you're not kind to this bike," Betty commented, speaking to Shego as she looked over the singer's ride. The sky was painted orange and red as the sun sank behind the cityscape.

Shego smirked at her as she leaned against a broken sign advertising this rundown piece of nowhere as a garage. "You say that all the time, yet I never see you do any extensive repairs on it. I think you just want to me to think that so I keep coming back here."

"Please, you're lucky I haven't shot you yet to keep you away," Betty retorted, eyes focused on the motorcycle, so she did not see the look in Shego's teasing emerald gaze.

Shego was about to say something utterly smart, but then she noticed Betty reaching for a part. She glanced down at the metallic cylinder and noticed the name "Gemini" printed across it. She craned an eyebrow to that.

"You use Gemini parts?" Shego frowned as serious attitude crept into her tone. She could not believe they were supporting the very idiot who made and supplied Bebes!

"They make the best ones," Felix explained with a shrug as he exited Betty's extremely humble abode.

"And it doesn't strike you two as just a little idiotic to support the fucking company giving us so much grief?" Shego inquired. Silence was her answer from Felix while Betty just ignored her. Felix at least had the decency to look away.

Shego snorted and was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the sound of pathetic wheels squeaking toward them. Seconds later, Kim came into view, pushing her scooter. She noticed all eyes were on her as she made it to the garage and she smiled quite sheepishly at everyone before waving.

"You do know this is a garage and not a toy repair shop, right?" Shego remarked, eyes shining with joy and mischief.

"I thought it was a kid's birthday party considering your makeup," Kim retorted.

Felix almost snickered, but he caught himself, knowing Shego would have murdered him — twice — if he dared to laugh. He decided to take charge of the scooter since it was obvious Kim needed some work done on it to give himself something to do to avoid laughing.

"I've done all I could with it, but I think it needs professional help," Kim admitted.

Felix smiled at her. "I'll do my best to save it."

"Thanks. It's that or the bus." She would never make enough at work to buy a car, especially with all of the damned demerits.

Shego scoffed. "Better start looking up bus schedules then."

Felix huffed, a little insulted. He could fix anything and he was determined to save Kim's little scooter. So, now Felix and his mentor had things to occupy their time. Kim and Shego were left to not kill each other. Felix almost wanted to make a bet, but he doubted Betty would take him up on it.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego and Kim ended up on two lounge chairs on top of the roof of Betty's business. They were quiet and stared at the sky for a long time. Neither were sure if they had ever had a moment like this one, feeling completely relaxed and unguarded. It was like they were just existing and being at peace. Hell, Shego could not even recall the last time she felt at peace.

"Tara's improving a lot, isn't she?" Kim asked out of the blue. Her eyes stayed on the sky, watching the color fade.

"Yeah, I wonder where the hell she's getting that stuff from," Shego commented, not bothering to look over at her teammate.

"If you have patience, she's eager to learn."

"The hell kind of freaky shit have you been trying to teach her?" the biker teased, even though some part of her really wanted to know the answer to that. She might have to break up some of those little slumber parties.

Kim, getting the implications of the line, bristled a little and blushed. Shego caught the blush out of the corner of her eye and had to keep a chuckle at bay. She wondered if she had finally won a definite verbal bout with Kim. Okay, she actually counted every time that she and Kim went back and forth as a victory for her, but she was sure Kim would dispute that.

Beyond that, though, Shego wondered how deep the blush went. Was there something going on between Kim and Tara? She doubted it. After all, Tara was really chummy with Felix, too.

"You know, you could find out if you'd just hang out with us a little more. But, I guess you're too scared," Kim replied with a devilish smirk. There was never a time she was lacking in a smart-ass comment, so, no, Shego would never win as far as she was concerned.

Shego snorted. "Scared I'll find out exactly how geeky you two really are."

"You're probably just as geeky. The bike and leather are just for show."

"You think that and then when I pull out the whips and chains, we'll see how geeky I am." Internally, Shego winced. Okay, she did not mean to say that. Unfortunately, it was the first thing that came to mind for some reason she would rather not think about it.

"Don't tempt me." Kim flinched and another, hotter blush burned her face. She did not mean to say that. Where the hell did that comeback come from?

The two decided they needed to go back to being quiet for a second. They let the silence eat away those last two comments before daring to open their mouths again. Kim was the one that started to speak for the second time.

"You know, I guess it's good Tara's getting so much better. She can feel better about going into battle against these crazy Bebes," Kim stated.

Emerald eyes rolled. "Now she can get beat up slower than before."

Kim cut Shego a sideways glance, as if scolding her with the look. Once again, Shego held in a laugh. It was rare for someone to have the nerve to reprimand her. In fact, Vivian was just about the only one who dared to do it. She figured that was because Vivian was not exactly mentally stable, but Kim was obviously just plain crazy to admonish her with a look, she thought.

"She's better backup since you can't seem to show up on time," Shego commented, adding that one to show she was far from rebuked by that look. She then regretted her words because Kim's expression dropped just a little bit. Olive eyes became glazed over with sadness.

"I know. It was almost like there was no point to me even joining the team. I mean, this is how it was before I even showed up, just you and Tara. Hell, even when I am there, my suit runs out of power or something else. What's the point, right?" Kim sighed.

"You have your job and everything. One of us has to live in the real world," Shego pointed out. She did not want to think why she said that either. I must be losing my mind!

Kim was silent for a moment and then she chuckled a bit. "You're trying to lift my spirits! You must care about me!" she teased… or she thought anyway.

Shego grunted and scowled, as if she had just been deeply insulted. She tore herself away from the lounge chair and decided it was time to go see if her bike was ready. Kim made a panicked face before letting out a very disappointed and undignified yelp.

"I've got to go home for a few days," Kim said hurriedly, seemingly out of the blue.

The words apparently caught Shego's ears because she stopped walking away. Her back remained facing Kim, though. She tried her best not to stiffen her body, but it tensed anyway as she wondered why Kim was suddenly leaving. Kim took the pause as a silent invitation to continue on.

"It's for a memorial service or something like that. One of my dad's old coworkers. According to my parents, I liked the guy when I was little and my dad used to take me to his job. I don't really remember. Anyway, I was hoping you could tell Vivian. Not that any of you guys would miss me," Kim said with a hollow chuckle. The only one she was kind of close to was Tara outside of the missions.

Shego grunted. "Nothing to miss about you," she stated in a gruff tone while muscles in her body seemed to liquefy at the thought. "When're you leaving?" she managed to ask. She was not sure how her voice got around the lump in her throat.

"Tomorrow."

"And you're going to come back?" Shego found herself asking. What do I care if the little pest makes her way back? Kim was just someone who got in her way, like Tara. Just like Tara, in fact.

"It's just for the service. I'll be back, so you don't have to miss me too much," Kim remarked with a forced smile. Somehow, the words lacked their usual luster, making her just a little less than believable.

-8-8-8-8-

Gemini watched the large monitor in his office and leaned back in his chair. The screen showed his latest grand project. It tickled him so much he had named it the Alpha Project. The company would mine for natural resources in space. He would become the biggest dealer in the world's energy if everything went right. He frowned, as it was not going according to plan and he wanted answers why. He was mere months away from controlling not just the Earth's energy, but also other planets as well, and now they were in a "snag."

Gemini summoned the lead scientist. "So, Drakken, what's the hold up?" he demanded as Drakken darkened his door. "I put you in charge of the Dragon Line because you said you could handle it."

"I can handle it," Drakken insisted.

"Then, why am I hearing the connection that's supposed to power my Alpha Project is behind schedule? What's the problem?"

Drakken squirmed in the doorway, suffering the attitude of his boss that seemed to come off in poisonous waves from a good distance. He had better things to do with his time than listen to Gemini whine about his precious project. The Dragon Line was coming together.

"The space station is almost done," Drakken pointed out, hoping that would appease Gemini. He needed to get out of here.

"I know the station is almost done!" Gemini slammed his metallic fist on his desk. "This is why the Dragon Line should be near completion. We need to get power to the station, after all."

"The placement of the Dragon Line is what the problem is," Drakken explained. "You wanted to put it some place out of the way in the city, so you didn't have to go through a lot of red tape for it. Well, you get what you pay for," he remarked, feeling quite clever about himself lately.

Drakken knew money tended to make things easier, which was how Gemini got a lot of things done. This time, Gemini went for something cheap because it was easier, which was one of the reasons they were in the position that they were in. Although, it worked out almost perfectly for him, he silently admitted.

"Is the problem because of the quake?" Gemini asked. He figured the mess the quake made of that area could be one of the reasons things were going slowly, but he did not understand why they could not get a team there just to make things perfect. He wanted to have the world's energy in his hands now!

"You wanted to put the Line in an area that wouldn't be a problem and the city gave you a spot that was perfect for it where you wouldn't have to worry about a bunch of people or anything. It's just that area wasn't fixed after the quake, which is why it's out of the way," Drakken answered. It was a blessing and a curse in his opinion.

"Is that all?"

"The Line is also being built near where all of the Bebes disappeared. So, production is slow in that regard, too. Those Bebes who were working are gone and need to be replaced." The Bebe disappearance slowed me down, too, Drakken mentally complained.

A scowl cut across Gemini's face as he took in those words. "That is tragic. I need that Line for this to get started."

Drakken put pressed his hands together in thought. "You know, when this Alpha project is done, the company's main focus is going to be on energy rather than Bebes." This has plagued him since he found about the Alpha Project.

"That's rather personal for you, isn't it, Drakken?" Gemini asked, almost as if he cared. The sneer on his lip showed he taunted the scientist, though.

Drakken scowled. "Bebes made this company."

"This company existed long before a person gave a damn about a Bebe and it will exists long after it. Bebes are just a product. The world runs on energy and when I control that, this company will be unstoppable, so go fix the Dragon Line now," Gemini commanded in a stone, cold voice.

The scientist frowned deeper and took that chance to exit the office before he lost his temper. He marched back to his own office, thinking about just how much his hatred of that one-eyed bastard had grown in less than five minutes. He flung himself in his chair and glared at his desk, knowing he had to make a move quickly or Gemini would beat him to what they were both after.

"That idiot. He doesn't realize that the power to control the world is right at his fingertips. So, how can I get to this while I have the chance?" the cerulean scientist wondered, rubbing his hands together in thought.

He turned on his computer and there happened to be a video of the Knight Sabers on the desktop. He glanced at it and decided to play it. It was a leftover from when Gemini was close to obsessed with the group. Drakken had been less than curious, but now, he began to think. He wondered why the group was so interested in the Bebes.

"What do they have against clearly the perfect invention?" Drakken asked himself.

Gemini had lost interest in the Knight Sabers because he could taste the completion of his precious Alpha Project. The Knight Sabers would not be able to stop that or stand in the way or that. His sister would not be able to mess up his plans. So, Gemini relaxed. Well, tried to anyway.

The Alpha Project was on pause thanks to the problems that would need to be worked out. Drakken figured he would work slowly, buying himself time. He considered he might be able to put the Knight Sabers to work in someway since they were so interested in Bebes. He just needed to figure out how, so they could once again distract Gemini.

"Shouldn't be much of a problem with my genius," Drakken convinced himself. There was something about the Knight Sabers and how they always knew where to be scratched at his brain. He had to be able to use that. He would have to keep Gemini out of his hair while he was at it.

Drakken focused on the video of the Knight Sabers. He watched them move and he could not help thinking about the past. The design seemed close to familiar, which explained Gemini's attraction to them before.

"Was this a project from when Director was in charge of things?" Drakken's blue forehead wrinkled as he tried to recall. "There were so many different projects going on back then, but the Bebes were the priority. Still, this looks like something that could have come from the lab."

Now, he wondered about other things. Drakken knew he was easily distracted, so he tried to put the design of the suits out of his mind and just think about the Bebes. The most perfect invention, even if that fool Gemini thinks otherwise.

"I'll show him just how perfect the Bebes are," Drakken vowed.

-8-8-8-8-

"Aunt Vivian, are you going to go to bed sometime soon?" Felix inquired as he poked his head into her office, which was down in the Pit.

"Soon enough. You go ahead," Vivian said with a wave of her hand. Her eyes were glued to her computer screen.

Felix shrugged, knowing better than to argue. She was on a mission, after all. Well, he assumed she was on a mission. She did not tell him much about things and Betty said even less. He knew it had something to do with the Bebes and he was trying to put things together, but he could not quite figure out why his aunt was so obsessed with taking care of the berserker Bebes. He doubted it was just because she did not like seeing robots going against their programming, but he was not sure what. He was also not sure why Betty helped Vivian since Betty did not seem to care one way or another about the Bebes going insane.

"I hope she doesn't think any of this is her fault…" Felix muttered, glancing back at his aunt's office.

Vivian remained on her computer, trying to get into the Gemini Corporation server. She meant to get Tara to do it earlier, but Tara had been in a silly mood Vivian was not looking to deal with. It would seem Tara was still feeling the high of successfully battling a Bebe. Vivian just wanted to check on what Gemini was up and what his people were doing in that beat-up section of town.

She found information about the Dragon Line and how it was expected to power the space station for the Alpha Project, but it was delayed for a few reasons. She scoffed at the idea of Gemini going after controlling the planet's energy. He certainly was ambitious, but she considered he might not be searching for what she thought, until she saw who was in charge of the project: Doctor Drew Drakken.

"Is he looking for it or is it just a coincidence? He can't be so stupid as to be looking for it," Vivian said to herself. No, no one with a semi-brilliant mind could be looking for that thing, she silently convinced herself. Yet, she continued looking, trying to figure out if he was up to something. After all, maybe he was that stupid.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim could not believe how easily and quickly the Metro Express got her home. She got home almost a couple of hours before she planned on it. She guessed she might as well take the bus home to avoid bugging someone about a ride. Besides, she needed her parents to get it in their heads she could take care of herself. Really, she needed her dad to figure out she was not ten anymore, which was partially why she moved to Mega-Go City.

She arrived home after an hour-long bus ride and knocked instead of using her key. It was her way of announcing her arrival. The door opened and before she could even see which parent it was who answered, she was yanked into a crushing embrace. Her father answered.

"Kimmie-cub, it's so good to see you again!" her father, Doctor James Possible, declared with a happy grin as he practically crushed her against his chest.

"It's good to see you too, Dad," Kim replied with a smile. She then groaned as he hugged her so tightly.

"You're just in time for dinner. Come on, come on," James said, ushering her in and letting her go at the same time. His arms got tangled up for a moment, causing her to chuckle a little. Same ol' Dad, she thought.

James shut the door behind Kim as she dropped her backpack by the stairs. James went back to the table while Kim dipped into the bathroom to wash her hands. With that out of the way, she went to the dining room and saw her brothers. The heckling came right after that.

"Hey, Kim's back! They fired you already?" Tim asked with a taunting smirk on his face.

Kim sighed, but did not dignify that with that a response. Same ol' tweebs, too. She hated how Tim's dig was close to the truth, in two different instances.

"They probably found out she's gay," Jim added in. "Bet they have a 'no tolerance' policy on ugly lesbians."

"Now, now, boys," James scolded them before Kim just exploded on them.

Kim was amazed out how easily they could get on her nerves in less than thirty seconds. It was like she had never left the way with they fell into line with some of the worst insults they could think of. She decided she needed to just ignore them.

"So, how's your job anyway, Kimmie? I've been seeing reports about that space project from the Gemini Corporation," James said as Kim sat down.

"It's not bad. I mean, I think my bosses hate me and I'm probably two sneezes away from being fired, but it's not that bad," Kim answered honestly with a slight shrug. She worked hard with her usual perfectionist thinking. She was certain that was the only thing that saved her from having every supervisor she had come to fire her at the same time.

"You know, if you find it's too much for you, you're always welcomed back home," her mother, Doctor Ann Possible, stated as she entered the dining room with dinner in hand. They were having a roast and she had actually taken the time to cook it instead of ordering it since it was a special occasion. Kim was home, even if it was for a somber event.

"I just left home. I like it in Go City," Kim pointed out.

Her mother shook her head, but smiled. "You only just got there. The shine hasn't worn off yet."

Kim decided against arguing because she knew that her mother just wanted her to come back home no matter what. Instead of letting the matter drop into silence, the twins decided to chime in.

"I'd say Kim's probably got a boyfriend in Go City, but no self-respecting boy would date her," Tim remarked.

"No self-respecting girl either, so she's ruined no matter what," Jim added and they got a good laugh.

Kim rolled her eyes. Ever since the boys hit puberty, her love life or lack there of had been the target of their jokes. They ran the gamut from her growing old as a spinster to her being gay to no one in their right mind finding her attractive. She had learned to just let them go until they got bored, which happened eventually. After all, how long did any boy want to talk about his sister's love life? By then, dinner was over and Kim helped her mother clear the table.

"You know, I was serious about you coming back to the house if you want to," Ann said.

"I know and I was serious about liking Go City," Kim replied with a grateful smile.

The worried mother sighed and regarded Kim with concerned blue eyes. "You used to tell us about stuff that you like, but you haven't called and said a good thing about Go City. You haven't really called at all and every time we call you, you hurry off of the phone."

"I've found a few things to like about Go City," she assured her mother. Wait, a few? Why did she say a few when she was pretty sure that she was only referring to the Knight Sabers? She did not have an answer for that and decided to just dismiss it from her mind.

Ann made a noise in agreement. "That's good. I'm happy for you if you've found something you like. I hope you keep at it."

"I'm trying… I just feel like I'm being left behind…" Kim sighed. "Like I'm not needed."

Ann turned to her daughter and focused solely on her. She locked eyes with her child. "Kim, you're a brilliant, talented, resourceful girl in many different ways. No one could leave you behind if you didn't want them to and you're always needed and I don't say that as your mother. I say that as a person who has seen you in action."

Kim nodded, even though she doubted that. She just did not have it in her to bring her mother down. Her mother did not know about her luck in Go City, after all. Maybe it would not be such a crazy idea to just stay in Middleton. At least she could make a difference here.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Does Kim stay in Middleton? Shego goes out to fight a monster-sized Bebe on her own. Can she handle it?