I don't own these characters; Disney does. I do own Trin. This story is also based on a concept and several pictures by YogurthFrost.

Warning: domestic violence and implications of rape.

2.8: When in Rome

Kim had managed to survive the massive desert that had been on the other side of the Mountains as she entered Junior's territory – Neo Roma. When she said it, even in her mind, the name made her want to giggle. It was not just the odd faux-Latin vibe that came with it, but the idea that Junior thought of himself as a Roman Emperor.

"Well, I guess he might be along the lines of Augustus' successors. I can see him being indulgent toward his own demented needs like Tiberius and Caligula and Nero," the redhead commented.

She still could not believe that Junior had turned into some sort of psychopathic monster. Sure, his father had been a villain, but most of the time, Junior just seemed like he was along for the ride. Yes, he tried a few times to do things on his own, but even those did not seem very serious. She doubted that she would ever forget when he stole a bunch of items, including a singing bear, in order to start an exclusive club. He stole a cookie recipe once for goodness sake and even to do that he needed Shego with him. Junior needed someone pushing him, someone forcing him forward or he would never do anything that did not have to do with hedonism. So, it was hard to imagine him with enough motivation to make war with the entire world and then manage to take over more than half of it.

"And destroy a lot of what he didn't take," Kim reminded herself. "And, apparently, much of what he did take."

It just did not add up to her. She knew that Junior had come on like the devil himself when his father died based on what she read and based on what Trin and Wade told her. She supposed that he could be trying to capture his father's dreams, but he definitely was not doing it in the manner that Senior would have wanted or even had taught him. Senior never would have approved of taking so many lives and sending the planet into ruins. It was like Junior was beyond insane and Kim was not sure what to make of him.

"But, then again, who can make sense of the deranged?" Kim asked.

Trying not to dwell on it, she shook her head of the thoughts. She noted that the desert was as dead as she read about. She had not seen much wildlife, even at night. There were not many cacti around either. She was lucky that she had the Toltec send her directions as she was able to stick to places not as scorching as the desert was supposed to be. She had seen images of places where it was so hot, the sand and rocks flowed like molten rivers. Twisted metal of a forgotten, dead world loomed out of the dried and broken ground and new rock formations. Bones of the departed had turned much of the sand white with their dust.

Kim had walked through much of the cracked ground and noticed that there were very few bare shrubs. She had to force herself to stay vigil and conscious in between places where the Toltec assured her that there would be water. Sometimes, the water would be gone and she just pressed through. She survived a trip through one of the most deadly wasteland on the planet yet again. Now, she wondered what was ahead of her. She had only read vague reports on Neo Roma, so it would be most informative to see things with her own eyes.

Reaching the outskirts of the desert, the first thing that she witnessed was a city. It looked much more modern than anything that she had seen in Kimber, but still not something that she was used to. The buildings were white and none of them were over seven stories tall. As she got closer, she saw what looked like Spanish styled villas and empty streets.

"Kim, you are about to enter Henchipolis. It is the main city of the state controlled by Jack Hench. There could be electronic monitoring, so we should be careful. I will keep an eye on it from here. You should do the same," the Toltec informed her.

"I know. I'll be careful," Kim replied.

"Is there anything that I should report? My creators have been monitoring my systems, so they know that I am in contact with you and storing data for you as well as giving you information. They seemed worried when the last time they were here and saw that you had headed into the Satan's Living Room, I believe they called it. I had to look it up and found out that it is the local term for the Great Desert."

Kim chuckled. "At least they're helping you by having you look stuff up, even if they don't know it. They don't have any reason to be worried yet. I'm fine and they should know that if they've seen the data."

"Tatsu did want me to transfer a program to you. She says that you should be able to figure it out. She is a woman of few words."

"Tell me about it. Send the program."

"You wish me to tell you about Tatsu being a woman of few words or you wish me to tell you about the program?" the Toltec inquired, quite clearly confused despite the fact that it only had a monotone voice.

"It's just a saying, Toltec. I was agreeing with you that Tatsu is a woman of few words. We can go through the program separately and then compare notes when it's safe," Kim stated.

"Are you sure you want to do it that way? We could go through it now before you walk into the lion's den, I believe is the phrase," the Toltec replied.

"Aw! You sound like you're worried about me," she teased.

"Monotone voice, Kim. Again, you cannot detect emotions in my voice because it is a monotone, not to mention a mere program set to mimic a voice."

The redhead chuckled. "So you continue to say. Okay, I'm about to be in the city. I don't think we should keep talking."

"Contact me when you think it is safe. I will try to find out more on Henchipolis just in case."

"Good thinking. Send it to me when you think it's safe or if you can get past any security that might be out there."

"Affirmative."

The communication was disconnected and Kim hit the city limits. She was surprised by what she saw as soon as she entered. It actually looked like Roman city, but modern. There were wide streets and she was willing to bet they were set up in a grid from what she could see with the cross streets. The buildings were all white and seemed to mimic being made from stone and brick, but the material was different. She was not sure what it was, even as she ran her fingers across the cool, smooth wall. It felt foreign, strange.

"I shouldn't be surprised by that. I'm sure Hench still has some of the finest scientific minds in the world working for him. So, they probably came up with something suitable for the wasteland that Junior inherited during the war," Kim muttered.

The city was quiet despite the fact that Kim assumed there were fine, brilliant people working for Hench and probably living in his city. It was quiet to a disturbing degree. There seemed to be shops and boutiques, like she would expect in any modern city, but there did not seem to be many people making use of them. There were few cars in the street, too, but much more than she had seen in Shego's territory and they looked like modern cars.

The trickle of people that were out and about struck Kim as strange, but she could not quite put her finger on it. Most of them were carrying bags or on they were on their way to carrying bags. She saw a few folks head back to cars idling on the empty streets. It made her think of servants.

"Which might make sense. Whoever lives here and lives well probably works for Hench and then probably get paid in whatever valuables still exist. The average people here probably work for Hench's top people. God, they're probably slaves," Kim considered.

She was tempted to test her theory, but she did not want to call attention to herself without having more intelligence on the rules of the society. So, she moved out of sight and observed what was going on. As she continued to see a person here and there, she was getting more certain that they were servants. Now, that was definitely something that she had not seen in Kimber. Even though Shego and her inner circle could get people to do thing for them, no one was a servant or slave.

The more she walked around, the more she felt like she was at a ghost town. Yes, there were people sprinkled about, but they were so few and far between in the massive city that she did not see the point of the spread … until she got to the villas, anyway. But, even then, there were not many people around.

The area that held the villas struck her because it was not fenced off in any way. All of the properties were open for each neighbor to see what the other had. She had a feeling that the city was heavy on the sin of envy as well as pride, showing off what they had and coveting what they did not. And, from what she could tell, there was not much the villas did not have.

There were fountains that were blatant rip-offs of pieces found in Rome and Vatican City. There were massive gardens that would have made the Hanging Gardens of Babylon look like a pubic garden. Every vehicle that she saw was the stretch version of it, except for roadster and tiny sports cars. There were regulation sized courts of all sports and Olympic-sized whatever was left. Expensive baubles dotted the well cared for lawns and brilliant mosaics tiled the walkways that led to mansions that funnily enough all looked the same. It seemed that the building code had to keep with the idea of the place being a roman city.

Every villa was the same color. They all had the same amount of floors and the same window design. As she continued walking, she noticed that the backyards all had similar setups with balconies and verandas. Then, there were all of the toys, just like in the front yard.

Of course there were pools along with top of the line grills. For a moment, Kim entertained the idea of her father enjoying one of the grills. The thought brought a tear to her eye, which she quickly wiped away. She rushed her way through the rest of the neighborhood, not wanting to see anything else that might remind her of the family that she was missing.

As she exited the residential area, she came to a part of town that she would have thought was supposed to be like the Roman bathhouses. There were frescos outside that drew her attention and she could see activity going on just inside of the gates. There seemed to be outside pools, sporting courts, and pretty much anything to be found at a gym and a park. There were buildings that appeared to be orange brick that she guessed held inside pools and whatever other activities; if the city was anything like ancient Rome, she knew there would be gambling, reading, and socializing.

She could see the mosaic paths that led into the buildings, which she guessed had mosaics on the floors as well. The people that she was able to see allowed her to easily determine who was important and who seemed to be on the level of a serf. Everyone in a servile position was dressed in a drab light blue tunic and barefoot while the patrons were all decked out in the finest, eye-catching clothing that they could find. There seemed to be many more servants than masters, as she would expect in any place.

The servants had three body-types from what she could tell; malnourished, as many appeared, then there was average, and, lastly, strong. The malnourished servants probably performed menial tasks and were not viewed as important. The strong-bodied ones were more than likely that way from having to do heavy manual labor. She figured the average ones did everything in between.

The people in charge could be classified almost the same, except in the place of the malnourished there was the near obese. They obviously eat very well around here. She wished the same could be said of the servants or the average citizen that lived over in Kimber. She was almost willing to concede that Shego probably did not eat as well as the lords of Neo Roma, but she shook that away.

She was very tempted to talk to someone and ask questions, but she was not sure how she would be received. She did not want to do it in a populated area, in case whoever she spoke to quickly alerted whatever authorities there were. She then realized that she had not seen a single police officer or official.

"I'm going to have ask someone," she decided, but she moved on. She would have to find the perfect person to ask before anything because she did not want to end up on the bad end of a Bebe or something even worse so far away from anyone who might have her back.

Continuing on her way, Kim ended up in what she gathered was the forum area and market place of the faux Roman city. There was not nearly as much activity as she would have believed happened around the forum. It felt like being in a shadow of a city. The buildings were all decorated with statues and images of Junior and his father. It was like the area was a memorial for Senor Senior Senior complete with a grand fountain and what appeared to be a temple dedicated to him … next to a temple for Junior. There was only a trickle of people around those areas. The place that seemed to be the spot to be in was the market and she was very disgusted when she found out just what was for sale at the market.

The market dealt in bodies. There were humans in cages, waiting to be sold off. There were also some animals for sale, lions, crocodiles, and other creatures that were damn near extinct as far as she knew. They're selling people and rare animals like toys? People in Kimber can barely have families and the animals have to be genetically engineered to have any sort of environment and they're just selling people here! She could not have stopped the righteous indignation that flared inside of her if she tried. Of course, she did not try.

Kim eased into the area, slinking about in the shadows. She wanted a good look at the cages that the "livestock" were being held in. A frown settled onto her face when she saw they were digital locks around Plexiglas boxes with air holes drilled into them.

"Well, it's about time to live up to that 'anything's possible for a Possible' creed," Kim muttered. She crept around until she found one cage unattended with a rather pathetic looking young man slinked over inside. He glanced up just in time to notice her.

"You don't want to buy me, miss. I'm slated for execution after hitting the last bitch that tried to buy me," he boasted with a satisfied smile. There was a spark of pleasure in his dull eyes. He then displayed a large brand on his palm of a skull that she guessed marked him for dead.

"Don't worry. I'm not really looking to buy anything right now. You're going to be executed just for hitting someone?" Kim asked curiously in a low tone.

"Of course. What did you fall out of the sky or something? You never touch one of Hench's precious brain-trusts. The Emperor himself has decreed such," he replied with a mocking sneer.

Kim grimaced, wondering how many people lost their lives to such a law. "Then why do they have you here in the market?"

He gave her an incredulous look. "You must really be slow. This is where they execute slaves, so the other slaves know what'll happen if they decide to get out of line. Who the hell are you to not know something so basic?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you. So, how was life before you decided you'd risk your life for one hit?" she asked.

He scoffed. "You're kidding, right? I'd rather be dead than to do one more thing for that greedy bitch. I wish I'd hit her harder when I had the chance. Damned cowards pulled me off of her instead of joining in. You'd have thought I hit their mother or something!"

"You worked in a villa?"

"Yeah, for some fat bitch of an engineer. Tons of slaves were at her beck and call, her and her brat. Damn," he muttered as if he had just had an epiphany. "I shoulda hit the fucking brat, too. Ah well, hopefully, I won't have to see them again. There has to be a different Hell for slaves and the Privileged, right?"

"I don't think you're going to Hell for hitting someone who was mistreating you."

"No? That's all they teach us. The Privileged have been granted domain over the underclass and it is evident in their special skills. Should anyone underclass touch the Privileged in a less than reverent manner shall be drawn and quartered before being damned to the fire abyss of Hell and suffer the wrath of Satan for all eternity," he spoke as if he were quoting scripture.

"Is that written somewhere?"

"Yeah, the Emperor's Creed. You really are an idiot," he chuckled.

"How are the Privileged chosen?"

"Based on your usefulness to Hench and to the Emperor, duh." He glanced away and then chuckled. "Hey, you think that fat dodger is eyeing that big beast more as a meal than a pet?" he joked.

Kim glanced over to where he was looking and saw a large, well-dressed man eyeing an elephant. "He might be looking to have elephant steak," she remarked.

"Elephant? Is that what it's called? First time I've seen one," he said.

"I've seen a lot," she admitted. "What about lions? You seen many of them?" she asked while pointing over to the aforementioned predator.

"Nah, I'd remember those teeth. Wouldn't want to be on the business end of that. My mistress, the fat cow, didn't like animals. Her brat was sickly and couldn't breathe around critters. She damn near beat one of the servant kids to death when he brought in a little mouse."

Kim nodded. "What if she had killed him?"

"She'd have paid a fine, of course. Children are hard to come by anywhere even if the boy was just a slave," he answered with a snort.

Kim noted that he seemed to think that was a suitable punishment. The more she spoke to him, the more it disturbed her and they only spoke for a few minutes. Apparently, Junior's laws were scripture and he quoted them as if they came from God himself. He even accepted his fate as if it there were nothing to be done of it, as if there were no injustice in it all. Kim, of course, could not accept anything of the sort.

"Who would she pay the fine to?" the redhead inquired.

"One to the Emperor and one to Hench. They probably use that money to pay the worthless Praetorians that do nothing more than enjoy wiping on the slaves when the Privileged aren't looking."

"Praetorians?" She had not noticed anyone that could be mistaken for an officer of the so-called law.

"Yeah? They mostly stick close to the Privileged, like bodyguards. Really, they're nothing but thugs in nice clothes, happy to pick up scraps from the rich."

Kim nodded and realized that she might have seen some of the Praetorians and mistaken them for the wealthy. Mentally, she reclassified the people of Henchipolis into three classes: slaves, service people like the Praetorians and vendors, and the Privileged. She wanted to learn more, so she continued to engage the condemned man.

While speaking, Kim made her way to the locking mechanism. She studied it for a moment and then quickly sent a typed message off to the Toltec. The machine responded with a typed message of his own and she found a port to hook her kimmunicator to the lock of the cage. She knew that she was taking a big risk, especially if the Toltec could not open the cage, but she had to try. She had to do something, not just for the one man she was talking to, but for as many of the captives as she could. The cage door suddenly popped up and Kim smiled.

"Toltec is getting good at techie things," Kim muttered to herself. "Well, friend, your door is open. What you do with it is up to you. I must be on my way," she informed him and walked off before he had a chance to say anything.

Behind her, Kim heard the footsteps of the man as he hopped out of the cage. She quickly moved to the next cage and opened it. She moved rapidly and with such stealth that no one knew what happened until she released the lions. Chaos ensued as she freed more beasts and humans. She was able to get away without a problem.

"The virus I made to open those locks is going to spread. That was very dangerous, Kim," the Toltec scolded her.

"But, it was worth it if it allowed a condemned man one moment of freedom. Besides, someone might actually get away and make it to freedom somewhere," Kim replied.

"Kimber."

"Excuse me?"

"You said 'freedom somewhere.' The only land that they can be free in is Kimber."

For some reason, Kim did not want that to be true. Maybe because it was so difficult to reach Kimber from Neo Roma and she knew that most of those who tried would never make it. Or maybe it was because Shego was in charge of Kimber and it was just impossible for her to believe that Shego could seriously be the only salvation. How can Shego be the Savior?

As the question entered her mind, she blinked as flashes assaulted her brain. She was hit again with thoughts of having coffee and conversation with Shego. There were echoes in her mind of the nicknames that Shego called her, but not with the early spite or mocking condescension that Kim expected. There seemed to be genuine affection echoing through her mind. Making it worse, Kim could hear her own laughter and almost feel a smile in her own head and she knew somehow Shego's company caused them. Making matters worse, she could have sworn in her heart that she once confessed to admiring Shego.

"All the traveling must be getting to me. My brain is going whacky," Kim decided.

"Will you be heading to the next city?" the Toltec asked. "Now that you have caused a stir, they will be more alert. You should leave as soon as you can."

"I will."

Kim wasted no time fleeing the scene, going so far as to steal a motorcycle to do so. The Toltec scanned and disabled any security on the bike and Kim was back in the desert within minutes. The barren landscape clashed with the wonderfully white city that was at her back, but it was certainly more honest than anything that she had seen within that place.

"But, I suppose since it is supposed to be Rome, I should have expected slaves," Kim frowned.

-8-8-8-8-

"Get me Hench," Junior ordered in a calm tone, speaking into the intercom on his desk. He was not in his usual office, but in one of the rooms. A few feet away in the dark were the sounds of sniffling and whimpering. He frowned. "Do stop with cowering and crying. It's unbecoming," he spat without bothering to look behind him.

"Sire, you called for me?" Hench responded, turning Junior's attention to his call.

"Yes. We had plans and you are holding them up. What is the matter?" Junior demanded in a collected, but clearly impatient tone.

"Forgive me, sire. I have an issue in my capital, though. Somehow the locks failed on several cages in the open market, freeing slaves and beasts alike."

"Why was I not informed of this? Is there something wrong with the lock designs that we are using for the whole empire?" the emperor inquired.

"No, sire. These malfunctioned somehow. A possible accidental virus could have spread from one to the next. Unfortunately, the market and the surrounding areas are now a circus of confusion. It could take hours to clear and determine exactly what went wrong."

"Hours?"

"Hours if we're lucky. We'll have to check all of our systems to make sure that the virus hasn't infiltrated any other pieces of our systems," Hench explained.

"Is it that important?"

"Yes. We don't want to leave this only to find out that Shego somehow got Wade or the last sane Possible to create a virus that made it into our systems. She could be stealing information as we speak," Hench pointed out.

Junior nodded. "All right. Inform me of this when you're done and we can continue working on the plans to hurt the land of Kimber as much as possible."

"I will, Sire."

The communication was disconnected and Junior scowled. "Set backs and drawbacks. How fucking lucky can Shego get?" he snarled and then heard sniffling again. "Goddamn it, Bonnie, stop fucking crying! Do you think my father cried when you kept me from him every night? Of course he didn't, so just stop fucking crying!"

The sniffling stopped, but there was heavy breathing. He snarled and pushed himself from his chair, flinging the chair against the wall while he was at it. He stormed into the room and glared at the shivering pile of flesh in the corner. A sinister smile crept onto his face as he took in the sight of her tanned, bruised skin. Dark, purplish splotches covered her bare form and they were kept company with maroon bite marks and bright red scratches.

Reaching down, he snatched her by her mussed, shoulder length hair. She shrieked and cried, but quickly quieted down as Junior's tongue snaked out and ran along his top lip. She panted, even though he knew that she was trying to control her breathing.

"Bonnie, baby, I need you to stop crying," he whispered before nipping hard enough on her ear to leave teeth imprints. She whimpered and he chuckled. "You brought this on yourself," he reminded her.

"Junior …" her voice was low and trembling. A tear ran down her broken turquoise eyes, streaming down the dark circles right underneath the cracked orbs.

"Shh." He put his finger to her lips. "I don't want you to say my name any more than I want you to ever say my father's name. Now, just admit that you brought this one yourself. I might consider letting you put your clothes back on then."

"It's my …" her voice cracked. She had to take a deep breath before she could say anything else. "It's my fault. I …" she gulped. "I brought this on myself …"

"How?" he growled.

"Because I wasted all of your time, so you couldn't rule the world with your father. I made your father think you didn't care about him. I ruined your relationship with your father," she recited, blankly staring down at the floor.

"You ruined everything!" he snarled as he grabbed her jaw and began to squeeze.

"I ruined everything," she said through gritted teeth.

"Yes, you did. Now, you must be punished for ruining everything, from taking my father from me, and for bewitching me."

Bonnie whimpered and felt tears welling up in her eyes. Junior noticed and chuckled darkly. Every time it seemed like Bonnie had run out of tears, she managed to conjure more. He wanted to steal all of her tears and turn her into the shell that his father now was. He wanted her to pay for stealing his life and taking away the only thing that mattered.

"You shouldn't have killed my father, Bonnie," he hissed.

"I …" she did not finish as his hand moved to her throat. He knew what she was going to say and he did not want to hear her lies, her denials.

"You did. Because you are such a whore, you shocked his sensibilities and he couldn't stand the sight of you. He would rather die than to see me with you. You have to pay for that, Bonnie. You have to pay for everything."

Even though she knew that it would only make matters worse, blue-green eyes poured heavy tears. Junior lapped up the nearest one with his tongue before closing his grip around her throat tighter. She gagged and he lifted her off of the floor, tossing her onto a nearby bed. His smile was crocked and the glint in his eyes would have caused the devil to cower as he regarded the weeping, quivering worthless mass.

He glanced upward. "Do you see, Father? I punish this horrible girl who has separated us and I will have this world under our name."

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Shego and Ryujin have a field trip while Kim goes into another city and we meet a couple of new (old) characters.