A/N:
Kim Possible and related characters © Disney
Got Me © Stars and Crosses
I own Carmen Marshall, Autumn Gale and Eddie.
Lily is on loan from Love Robin.
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Chapter Thirteen: Got Me
One Way or Another
by sweetPixiesmile
Anne and James sat at the kitchen table across from each other, mugs of coffee in their hands. It was early in the day. Both of them typically would have been out the door twenty minutes ago on a regular normal day. On a regular normal day, They would have kissed each other goodbye and taken their respective cars, one heading west to the Middleton Space Centre just outside of town, the other to Middleton General. On a regular normal day, James would have been already kibitzing with the construction crew and Anne would have been reviewing her charts for the day's surgeries. The tableau was a very normal scene of a husband and wife sharing the morning together with a bit of coffee.
But today was not a normal day.
Today, their smart phones sat before them, silent and mute. The telephone was disconnected. The television was off. Today, was a day that they never imagined would ever come.
Today was the day after their daughter was dumped on national television by an active villainess. The secret was out. The cat was out of the bag. Kim's innocent passion had opened Pandora's box, and now, the demons were running amok.
The kitchen would have been silent, if not for the media helicopters circling above. Already, the Middleton Police had cordoned off their lawn, moving the media to the other side. Worse yet, protesters had begun appearing in droves, shouting unkind and obscene things. Their morality was questioned. Their ethics. Their fitness as parents. Even their patriotism. Their workplaces had contacted them and asked them to stay home until their respective governing boards could devise a measured response and solution to the droves of reporters, cameramen, celebrity chasers, morality fanatics and paparazzi that were now prowling the streets of Middleton. Kim could see the strain on the taut faces of her parents, and her heart ached at the pain they endured.
She'd cried all night, trying to purge herself of it. When her father had lifted her bodily and carried her into the house, she was near inconsolable. Her mother had gently lead her to the bathroom to clean up and change. The efficient surgeon's hands helped her remove her makeup, put away all the accessories, helped her into a tub, where her tears mingled with the bubbles her mother had put into the water. Then, with infinite care, the woman had lead her heartsick daughter to bed and quietly closed the door. Kim had cried, helplessly, listlessly the rest of the night, before falling asleep in the small hours of the morning. And when she awoke, she felt wooden and sore.
But it was strange.
It was weird.
She thought she'd feel more devastated than this. More hurt, more vengeful. More betrayed.
But every time she thought of Shego, which was practically all the time, she didn't feel hurt. It wasn't that desperate, terrifying chasm that she thought she might feel. Something that sapped her will to live and her determination to follow her heart.
No, each time she thought about that beautiful green villainess, she felt a warm glowing brand inside her, sending warmth and strength to her limbs.
It's not to say that she didn't feel pain. She felt the pain of their separation. The pain of their disconnection. The pain of how it ended, had to end. But her promise held true, much to her own surprise.
There were no regrets.
Maybe it was because she understood. She understood Shego's reasons. She knew the woman hadn't needed to make her home or to dump her on national television. Already the news was all over the internet. Media postings of a cell phone video had already hit ten million views and was still growing.
Maybe it was because it was doomed from the start, at least according to hints Betty and Anne had dropped in the last few days.
Maybe it was because she had seen the sparkle in Shego's eyes as the woman had turned away, the cockpit bubble crashing shut.
Anne and James looked up to see the pale, drawn face of their daughter as she walked into the kitchen. She moved mechanically, even if the motions were smooth and precise. Her eyes, red and puffy from a night of tears, she opened the fridge and pulled out the milk, pouring herself a mug before putting the carton back. Anne stood up and went to Kim's side.
"How're you feeling, honey?" Anne asked, putting her arm around her precious, precious daughter.
"Well, I'm alive...," Kim mumbled, her voice trailing off. Anne's arm tightened around her shoulders.
"I know, baby, I know..."
All Kim could think about was how good Shego's arms had felt around her, and how much she wanted to feel that again. Tears of longing prickled her eyes, a calm and stinging reminder of good days past.
"You're up early, Kimmie-cub," James said gently. "You're not thinking of, uh..."
"Going to school?" Kim shook her head, dashing her tears away. "Sure, why not? I've only been dumped on national television. What more could high school do to me that I'd care about anyway?" Kim reluctantly moved away from her mother's comforting embrace. "I'd better get ready," she said wearily before leaving the kitchen. Anne glanced at James with a worried frown who shrugged, eyebrows raised.
"Now dear, we agreed if Shego wasn't using her in an evil plan... don't tap you lips like that, you always do that when you're plotting. And not 'the stare', it'll give you crow's feet..."
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The whispering and pointing started even before she walked through Middleton High's doors.
She ran across the back of a few houses, flipping from roof to roof, before coming down. She glanced back down the block to where the reporters and cameramen still camped outside on the sidewalk and in their vans and vehicles, the noisy, nosey protesters shouting their slogans. Kim sighed and started walking to school.
A car full of Middleton University students drove by. One of them shouted "Hey, it's the vagitarian!"
At the cross walk, a gaggle of women from the local running club stopped beside her. Some sent furtive glances her way. When the light turned green one lagged behind and gave her a wink.
"Wouldn't kick her out of bed for eating crackers,..." the comment floated back to her. Her cheeks pinked in flattered outrage.
That seemed to set the tone for her day.
As she neared the school, a car behind her beeped. She turned to see a bright, blue eyed girl waving at her from the passenger seat of a sedan that slowed to a stop beside her.
Kim walked over to Tara, whose light blond hair shone in the morning sun as she leaned out of the car window. Hope, another member of the Middleton Cheer squad, whose long black straight hair was a thing of jealousy, was sitting in the back. She was carefully brushing the long lustrous locks. Beside her sat Marcella, one of the squad's more experienced spotters. She was touching up her makeup, carefully applying darkener to the mole above the left side of her mouth to give it better definition. It wasn't a paint-on mole, it was just that her regular mole only had a faded grayish look.
"Hi Tara, Hope, Marcie." Then Kim recognized the driver. "Uh... hi, Josh. What's up?"
"Kim, do you need a ride?" Tara asked. Kim knew Tara wasn't the brightest, but she had always had a big, warm heart. "We can drop you off behind the school."
"No thanks, I always walk to school."
"Kim, you don't understand, the reporters are all over the front doors. They're interviewing anybody who's willing to shoot their mouth off." Kim slapped a hand to her forehead.
"C'mon, Kim," Josh said, leaning over from the driver's side to look her in the eye. His unruly brown, blond highlit hair flopped over.
A new look with a new girl, Kim grimaced to herself.
"Let us help you."
Kim paused for a moment, considering.
"Thanks, guys, it really means a lot to me that you'd do this, but if I start sneaking around, people will think I have something to hide. And... ugh! Sorry Tara, but Bonnie's going to have a blast with this..."
"Look, Kim," Tara drew out her words, slowly, "I know Bonnie's always had a chip on her shoulder about you... but she's really not that bad..." Tara's eyes shifted lightly, looking away from Kim as she spoke.
"I know," Kim temporized. "I helped her find Junior, didn't I? And that weird bonding thing a month ago, we sort of... got along... in an a awkweird sort of way... I'm just glad I was never in school when her sisters were around... but we've been competitive for so long... No. I'm not going to hide and I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. I'll see you guys in school, okay?"
"If you say so, Kim. But you let us know if you need our help, alright?" Tara said, reaching out and taking Kim's hand in her own, giving it a squeeze.
"Yah, I will," Kim squeezed back before stepping back from the car. "I'll see you guys at practice." Kim started to walk again.
"I told you old tin teeth wouldn't go for it," she heard Hope snipe cruelly as the car pulled away from the curb. Marcella's giggle somehow seemed worse than the jibe.
"I dunno, she guess she really does love that She-Ra," Tara sighed, dreamily.
"Shego," Josh corrected. "Well, mission fouled..."
Kim bit back another body shaking pang of longing and a lesser spike of anger.
As she rounded the corner to the school, she could see the reporters swarming the sidewalk outside. Several students were being interviewed, some being very low-key, others gesticulating wildly. And right in the middle of it all was a ring of eager-eyed reporters surrounding a tanned, full-bosomed girl with mouse brown hair and bronze highlights. Students walked around her, shying or scrambling away as she approached the cruelly taunting classmate.
"Well, I've always suspected that she's never done this out of any goody-goody feelings. She's alway hogged the spotlight in cheer, top of the pyramid and everything, I wouldn't be surprised if this was just another publicity stunt-"
"Having a good time, Bonnie?"
Kim's deadpan cut across the brunette's tirade with a clarity that froze the massed media. Suddenly, the entire group shifted, splitting, the cameramen backing away for an angle, reporters and boom men scrambling forward, charging the red head for a word with the tarnished heroine. Kim expertly wove through the crush of charging bodies to stop beside her high school nemesis and rival.
"I guess Ron was such a bad choice he turned you gay, K," Bonnie shot back.
"Ron's been my best friend since pre-K. He's always watched out for me. He'll always be my best friend." Kim said, quietly.
"Everyone's heard the rumours you were a raging dyke, but I never thought you'd be stupid enough to date one of your villains!" There was a collective gasp at Bonnie's harsh words. Some of the other high schoolers whistled and hollered at the sheer audacity of the brunette.
Kim felt the painful separation anew deep down in some unfathomable part of herself. She blinked back the tears that threatened to come out.
"I... I don't want to fight you, B. But I won't back down from this," she said, looking the girl straight in the eye, even as her eyes glistened with unshed sorrow. "There's no wrong or right here. I fell for her. I might even die for her. But I don't regret it." Kim turned to leave, but looked back over her shoulder at the triumphant girl. "Maybe one day you'll understand." It took Bonnie a moment to recover from Kim's sudden retreat.
"Aw, did I hit a nerve, K? See you in class, loser!"
Big Mike went to detention for beating people for saying bad things about Kim before she arrived and stopped it, thanking him with a hand on his arm. In all her classes, there were whispers and stares. A few girls avoided her, sometimes just stopping dead in their tracks before hurriedly heading down a different corridor. Others just slipped by with their friends, trailing twitters of laughter behind. Still others would slip by her very close, and palm her their phone numbers, whispering mildly offensive promises of wild, mind blowing sex.
Kim wondered if she was the only girl who wasn't so focused on sex. Or maybe there was something wrong with her. Was she so naive and innocent that sex didn't seem like a big deal to her? Or that she didn't want it with just anyone? Same sex relations had identical health hazards as opposite-sex, even without the threat of pregnancy. Were girls really like this? Well, alright, Monique had told her things. That girl, she burned through boys like one of Dementor's ELBs on a Gherkin jar. And some of the things the cheer squad would talk about on road trips turned her as red as her hair. She supposed that some girls had to be all about... that. She'd been on group dates and the like, but nothing really serious. It was more like just hanging out with friends.
But then, when it came to Shego, something deep inside her would quiver with excitement; a deep, dark ocean of desire would well up inside her, a fretful wave of emotion that was as entrancing as it was dangerous.
Monique showed up at her first free period and hugged her, and led her to the spot where Kim had first revealed her relationship with Shego. Kim couldn't muster a smirk at the irony.
"How you doin' GF?" she asked, her large chocolate eyes full of worry and concern as they sat side by side. Kim gave her a brittle smile.
"I... hanging in there, I guess. Wish this day would be over! All the staring and the whispering... and the weird sex proposals..." Kim shuddered. "Is it true that people have been saying I'm a d-d-... lesbian?" Kim finally got out. Monique sighed.
"Well, yeah, I guess they have been. You know how losers think. It's all about the SAF. You have a way high SAF, but you don't have an official or a steady. You don't hook up with anyone. You don't even have a beard!"
"SAF?"
"Sex Appeal Factor."
"Beard?"
"Fake boyfriend, like a French manicure."
"Oh." Kim felt like she had been fighting all morning and was dead tired. Her neck was sore, her head ached and her back was killing her.
"I wanna talk to Ron, but I haven't seen him all morning..."
"Haven't seen him either."
They sat silently, side by side for a moment.
"I miss her, Mon'. I love her, and I miss her," Kim whispered. Monique put a comforting arm around her friend's shoulders.
"Yeah," she replied. "Yeah, I know."
Kim struggled to keep her composure the rest of the day. She was looking forward to cheer practise, a time to blow off some steam and perhaps forget about what was happening. During English class, the Principle's secretary, Mrs. Fosse came knocking on the classroom door, asking for Kim. She followed the wake of the old lady, a near fixture of Middleton High, having served seven different principals over forty years.
"Sorry for all the uh, trouble outside, Mrs. Fosse," Kim said as they walked past the biology lab, a favourite lookout for hallway monitors. "And thanks for not using the PA system."
"Don't worry, Kim. You'll always be a hero in my book, no matter who you're banging," the elderly secretary replied smoothly, then laughed at Kim's blushing face. "Here you go, dear," she said as they arrived at the office.
Kim swallowed as she pushed open the door.
The Principal's office hadn't changed since Kim had entered Middleton High three years ago. Two large bookshelves lined the right wall. Pictures and framed diplomas and degrees hung by the door. A grayish green metal desk dominated the room, a nice plush leather office chair behind the old utilitarian metal furniture. Nice cloth curtains hung from faux wood rods on the windows, flanking the desk. The left wall was shored up by two nondescript file cabinets, the same greenish-grey.
The last time Kim had been in the Principal's office was to speak to her about her hero work. Mrs. McAlistar, a slightly pear-shaped woman with stylish glasses, had been enthusiastic, already familiar with the teen's burgeoning reputation. Her bob-cut greying hair had flown about as she had nodded energetically at Kim's request to be specially exempt when an emergency call would arrive.
Principal McAlistar was not in her office.
Sitting in one of the chairs before an old metal desk was a man Kim had never really liked. Not because he was mean, or cruel or petty. She did not approve of his carrot and stick methodology, inherent distrust of students, and his insufferably condescending tone.
"Mr. Barkin?" Kim said, wondering what was going on. The Principal's chair stood empty.
"Ms. Possible. Please have a seat," he said, gesturing at the chair beside him.
"What's going on, Mr. Barkin?" she asked as she sat. The barrel chested man stood and moved to the window. He pulled open the drawn curtains to reveal the swarm of reporters hovering across the street.
"Mrs. McAlistar is at a PTA meeting right now, so I am filling in for her," Barkin's suspicious voice rumbled. He glanced back at Kim with narrowed eyes. "The meeting is about you."
"A meeting?" Kim frowned.
No... it couldn't be... could it?
"An emergency meeting. Yes. About your little... drama... yesterday."
"About me?" Kim silently groaned inside. Mister Barkin let the curtain fall and turned smartly to sit on the edge of the desk. He regarded Kim as if contemplating an insect he would like to step on.
"I always knew you were trouble, Possible. With your... extracurricular... activities, it's a wonder you can keep such good grades or attendance." Barkin paused before continuing. "But, you've kept your nose clean... for the most part. Mrs. McAlistar feels that she must attend to argue in your favour if any censoring motions appear at the meeting."
Kim's face flushed at the thought of the old Principal doing that for her. Then she looked Barkin in the eye.
"And what about you, Mr. Barkin? What do you think?" The tall ex-marine's eyebrows lifted in surprise at Kim's question. He considered the question for a moment before responding.
"You know," he began, " I was in Desert Shield, and following that, Desert Storm. Hot work, that. Saw things no one should see. Served with good men. Worked with militia. Was mustered out for Gulf War Syndrome. My opinion? You've served the old stars and stripes better than most. That will be all, Possible." Kim turned to leave. At the door she stopped and turned.
"Thanks for letting me know,... sir." she said, before closing the door softly behind her.
"Good luck," she heard him murmur under his breath.
After Trigonometry, Kim headed for the locker room, her pompoms and her freshly pressed uniform in her messenger bag. As she rounded the corner to the locker room, she was greeted with an odd sight. The cheer squad, still in street clothing, was milling about around the locker room entrance. Tara and Crystal, a cafe au lait from Morocco and a very steady base for the squad, were looking unhappy, while the others, Marcella, Hope and Liz, a wavy haired redhead, looked angry. The muttering stopped as they noticed her. She was getting weird vibes, but stuffed down her suspicions and walked up. The angry ones moved to block her way.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Kim stopped, pretending nothing was going on. Tara slipped into the locker room, clearly upset. Crystal paused, not sure what to do, before hurrying after the blond.
"We had a vote, K" came a snide voice from behind her.
"What are you up to, Bonnie," Kim sighed in exasperation as she turned around to face the the bane of her middle school and high school life. Bonnie sauntered up.
"We had a vote and we've decided that you can't change in the locker room with us." Bonnie's smirk was nearly the last straw. She clenched her fist. Kim's stress was boiling over.
"Bonnie, whatever you're trying to pull-"
"Because you're off the team."
"it's not going to-, WHAT?" Kim stared, her mouth open in mid-sentence. She couldn't believe it. She turned to the other squad members, her mouth open. A sudden flash caught her off-guard. Marcella lowered her cell phone.
"The look on your face was worth all these years of humiliation," Bonnie smirked.
"We had a vote," Hope chimed in, speaking as if to a child, "and booted you off the team."
"But... but what about the regionals? I've got the routine all worked out, it'll be killer-"
"Aw, K, it's so good to hear you beg, and feels even better for me to say... NO." Bonnie batted her eyes at her. She brushed by the stunned Kim.
"Marcie... Liz... why?" Liz had the grace to look away, but Marcella stood her ground, glaring defiantly. Bonnie looked over her shoulder.
"Things have changed, okay? We don't want you and we don't need you. Go home. There's nothing for you here." With that, the girls filed into the locker room and closed the door with a resounding thud.
Kim stood, root to the spot, unsure of what she should or could do. With slumping shoulders, she turned around and walked slowly to the exit. She stopped before the double doors and pulled out her cell phone. She dialled a number she'd been trying all day. The call connected but went straight to voice mail.
"Ron," she said after the beep, "where are you, I really need to talk to you. Call me, okay, please?"
With a groan of frustration, she put away her cell phone and prepared to head home.
She snuck out the back of the school, not wanting to deal with the waiting reporters. Unfortunately, one alert, sharp-eyed cameraman spotted her and she was forced to run for it. She eventually lost them after cutting across several blocks. She leaned against a back-alley fence, catching her breath, before expertly gripping the eaves trough and flipped onto the roof of the house, then leaped across the top of the next few houses to get home.
But home was not better. She forced herself to eat her mother's brainloaf, a brain shaped meatloaf, and was unresponsive to the tweebs' sniping. Confronted with the worried looks on her parents faces, she called it an early night and turned in. She felt bruised and battered, even though no one had laid a hand on her. She changed into her pyjamas and snuggled into bed.
Yet try as she might, she couldn't sleep. She tossed. She turned. She lay on her back, her side, her front. She tried counting sheep, attempted some math problems, even tried naming every single movie she'd ever seen. After several sleepless hours, she got up and went to her closet. She pushed a few shirts aside to reveal a security scanner. She place her palm flat on the circular scan pad and a panel in the back wall of her closet slid open. It revealed two pieces of clothing, one white and blue, the other, black and green. She took out the black and green catsuit.
Returning to bed, she took one of her pillows and stuffed it inside the catsuit, then tucked her self in, laying the surrogate beside her.
"Good night," she said, her voice thick with emotion, her arms wrapped around the tight fitting cloth. She thought she could still smell Shego's unique scent on the old suit she'd worn when she had been mind chipped.
Within minutes, she was asleep.
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Kim awoke to the sound of the door bell chiming through the Possible house. She groaned, not wanting to get up, but then wondered if it might be Ron. She struggled out of her pyjamas and into her home clothes, a lime green mid-riff t-shirt and blue corduroy yoga pants and slipped down the stairs that led from her attic bedroom. As she hit the second floor, she could hear the mutter of strained voices.
Not Ron... then who...?
She paused at the top of the stairs to the main floor and peeked past the banister.
She was greeted by the sight of her tall, statuesque mother squaring off with a squat, bespectacled, curly haired woman. Kim ducked down to remain unnoticed as she eavesdropped.
"But you can't do this! She hasn't even been summoned, or given a chance to defend herself."
"Now, now Anne, this is not a suspension. This is a request from the Association that Kim stay at home until we can guarantee the safety of our students. All our students."
"She's done nothing wrong, Clarisse Rockwaller! Why is she the one being punished?"
"In a few weeks time, when the Chairman of the Board of Education is back in town, we will reconvene. But as of now, the Association is working very closely with the school to get those reporters off the property and keep the environment from turning bad for everyone."
"A few weeks?" Her mother's incredulous voice was rising in volume. "It's Kim's graduation year! Mid-terms are next week! You can't be serious!"
"About safety, always, Anne. Now, you may be a Doctor, but us stay-at-home moms know quite a bit about safety, and the personal lives of our children."
There was a growl and the sound of a short scuffle.
"Well, thanks for dropping by, Clarisse," came her father's strained voice. Kim watched as Anne stomped past the stairs and into the kitchen. This was the first time she'd ever seen such an expression of barely controlled fury on her mother's face. "We appreciate a personal visit with the news."
"Thank you, James. You've always been so courteous. Well, then I'll be off. I'm taking a jet over to New York today to have lunch with Mister... oh, what's his name... Truman? Trap?"
"Trump?"
"Yes, I think so. Ta-ta!"
The sound of the door closing cut off the fading quick staccato clicking of heels. Kim sat down on the third stair from the top of the flight, her mind whirling. Bonnie's mother was the President of the PTA. A long standing rivalry between her mother and Bonnie's nearly mirrored her own competition with the younger Rockwaller.
"Kimmie-cub?" Kim looked up to see her father paused in the landing, on his way to the kitchen, noticing her. "Um... how much did you hear?"
"Enough," Kim sighed. "So... a suspension that isn't a suspension?"
"Looks like it. I'm sorry, Kimmie, but they do have a point."
"Don't they always," Kim groaned. "Like mother, like daughter, I guess."
"What do you mean, honey?" James walked to the bottom of the stairs and leaned an arm on the railing.
"Just that I got kicked off the squad yesterday."
"I thought you came home early, but I didn't think you wanted to talk about it. You looked like you were having a pretty bad day."
"I was, Daddy. And today doesn't look like it'll be any different." James looked up at her speculatively.
"How about I make some waffles? Come on down, we can make the batter together."
"Waffles?" James had won several local waffle competitions. "The Space Centre hasn't called you back yet?"
"Not exactly, Kimmie," James leaned forward, and spoke conspiratorially. "I've applied for some stress time, so I'm off for a while. Your mother, though..."
"Let me guess. The hospital hasn't called yet."
"Actually, they have, but they said it'll take about three more days to coordinate extra security with the local police and emergency crews."
"Mom must be climbing the walls."
"Which reminds me, I'd better talk to her before she starts... uh... calling in the... um, lawyers...! Come down when you're ready, alright?"
"Yeah. Sure daddy."
Kim speculated that she must have gotten her skills at dissembling from her father.
As her father hurried to the kitchen, the door bell rang again.
"I'll get it," Kim called out, unsure that she should or not. She pulled open the door. Standing there was Lily in her full dark blue with grey trim Junior Global Justice uniform, complete with armoured, shoulder-padded bolero jacket.
"Oh, um, hey, Lily..."
"Step out of the house, Possible," glowered the one-eyed girl. "Doctor Director wants to see you."
"Now?"
"We have to be in her office in fifteen minutes."
"Fifteen-, Lily, what's going on?"
"It's not for me to say," the younger teen's face hardened into a scowl, moving to the patio door.
"Alright, it's not as if I've anywhere to go today... gimme a sec." Kim took two stairs at a time up to her attic room, pausing to pick up her Kimmunicator watch from the nightstand and her messenger bag by her desk. She took two steps at a time coming down, before poking her head into the kitchen. Anne was sitting quietly at the table with a warm cup of coffee in her hands, her eyes closed. James was pulling out a container full of flour.
"Sorry, Daddy, but Doctor Director wants to see me."
"No waffles?" James looked so childishly crushed, it brought a small smile to her lips.
"No waffles," Kim confirmed, sighing melodramatically. She stopped at the landing to pick up a pair of shoes, then joined Lily by the patio door. Lily slid open the door, her face carefully immobile.
"Backyard for privacy?" Kim raised an eyebrow and a smile as she sat down with her shoes.
"You want the media to get a good look at our chute system?"
"Back for lunch?" she heard James call out.
"I dunno, I'll call," she replied over her shoulder as she put on her shoes. Her rocket shoes. You never know when you might need some serious speed. "Bye!"
"Be safe, Kimmie-cub!"
As she headed out she hear her mother speaking.
"Honey, let's make some batter..." Kim's face flamed bright red at her mother's suggestive tone, clapping her hands to her ears just in case. As her foot came down on the grass outside her home, a dark hole opened and she fell into the blackness with an odd mixture of relief and annoyance.
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"That was short," Kim commented as she packed away her hair brush, Lily rolling out of he transport tube with practised ease.
"Quickly, we need to get to the office in two minutes," Lily said, rushing out of the transport hub. Kim sighed before trotting after the taller girl. They ran past the control room with the large monitors and banks of control stations. They hurried down the winding corridors to where Betty's secretary was holding open the heavy security door, motioning for them to go in immediately.
Betty looked up as they entered. She had obviously been pacing, the carpet ruffled and worn, her hands clasped behind her.
"Kim!" Her face brightened noticeably as the red-head surged past Lily to stop just mere feet away from the voluptuous Director. The tall woman seemed to take an involuntary step in her direction, closing the gap to an arm's length.
"What's the sitch, Betty?" Kim asked, laying a hand on the woman's arm.
"There's a development, I need to brief you," the tall brunette said, her eye moving to the girl behind Kim. Lily shut the security door behind her as she stepped outside.
"In a moment, I will be receiving the call from the UN. The Security Council has reached an interim decision regarding you. I believe immediately after, we will be speaking directly with the United States President himself."
"Th-the President!" Kim touched her hair and looked down at her clothing. She was going to be speaking with the President, but in her grubbies?
OH MY GAWD!
"Let me explain... no, it's too much. Let me sum up. The UN is debating your participation in security matters. As is the US President and his Joint-Chiefs. They will be contacting us here shortly with their decisions regarding you. This is all high, high level Kim. Do you know that your hero track record is so good that if you were ever to retire or be killed, the Joint Chiefs are to go to DefCON Two?" Kim's eyes widened at that news. "Yes, Kim. It's really that serious." Betty's single dark eye flashed brilliantly. "And you really are that good," she smirked.
"To continue, since you're sponsored by GJ which is under UN jurisdiction, I have the inside track. I suspect they will make an interim decision and allow you to continue hero work in some form, with strict sanctions under Global Justice. But with the President... who knows which way the political winds are blowing right now?"
Betty broke off as a soft chime sounded. Kim's head was whirling with all the things Betty had said. She felt a weird sense of dislocation. Her world was shifting, moving in directions she was unsure of, vectors unseen, forces unknown. She felt precariously balanced on a very dangerous trap that could be set off with the wrong winds of change. Betty raised her eyebrow significantly, gesturing for Kim to sit at her desk. Kim sat down gingerly, looking into a camera the blue suited woman pointed at, situated on the corner of the large desk. Beside the camera was a screen. Betty pressed a button on the side of her desk and a red light on the camera flickered on, the screen behind showing a message that read "Connecting..."
After a moment, the screen darkened, then flickered. The head and shoulders image of a man of Asian descent flickered to life. He wore a dark, tailored. His hair was neatly parted and combed to one side above his rounded face.
"President Zhang Yesui, it is good to see you again, although I would have preferred in different circumstances," Betty said.
"Doctor Director, I too share your feelings. I will be brief, as we are in short recess for the moment." The mild brown eyes shifted to Kim. "And this must be the redoubtable Kim Possible."
"This is Kim Possible. Kim, Ambassador Zhang is the current President of the United Nations Security Council."
"Mister Zhang," Kim greeted him, attempting to fake a smile. Then her eyes blinked. "Mister Zhang, have we met before?"
"I am pleased to finally meet you, Miss Possible. Indeed, your memory is prodigious. I was present when you thwarted an attack by Monkey Fist at the National Museum of China, two years ago. I was one of the delegates held hostage by the madman's monkey minions."
"I'm sorry I can't say I'm pleased to meet you right now, uh... considering..."
"Ah yes, well to business. I will shortly be announcing that the United Nations will authorize an investigation on you and your once paramour, Shego. The United Nation will direct Global Justice to refuse assignation of security related missions to you during the interim, until the investigation is completed. We make the same request to you and Team Possible."
Kim felt strange. Her fate was in the hands of strangers, people she had never met.
"President Zhang, do you mean to say that Kim is still available to take on sanctioned, charitable missions?" Betty asked quickly.
"Yes, that is the second part of the statement. It is my understanding that Interpol and the European Union will be making their determination in a few days time, and until then, they will also similarly embargo security missions." Betty sighed in frustration. "Yes, Doctor Director, that means that Global Justice will have to take on those missions."
"Not what I was hoping for, but better than I'd feared."
"Indeed. I expect you shall hear from Interpol soon. Monsieur Baptiste has told me that they will follow the UN's lead, but Mister Sporin has not been as forthcoming." Betty leaned close to Kim, her mouth close to her ear.
"French Ambassador Baptiste, United States Ambassador Sporin," Betty whispered in her ear. Kim nodded as Betty straightened and addressed the screen.
"Thank you, President Zhang, for taking the time to speak with us."
"No, thank you, Miss Possible," President Zhang looked Kim in the eye. "It is still an honour to speak to you, however so briefly or in such circumstances. You have saved millions of my countrymen, something the politicos may forget, but I assure you, your name is on the lips of many. Most are confused, since alternative lifestyles are not well accepted in my country." President Zhang's face was impassive, neither apologetic nor condemning. That kind of bland attitude caused a tiny worm of discomfort light upon her.
"Thanks for talking to me, President Zhang," Kim chose to say.
"It has been my pleasure. And Miss Possible... good luck." With that, the screen blinked dark, with a message on the screen, reading "Connection closed."
"Betty, I-" Kim was interrupted by another soft chime. Betty gave Kim a warning scowl, then her face softened, and she nodded toward the camera and screen combination. Betty connected the call and almost immediately they were faced with a bespectacled woman whose dark chestnut hair was pulled into a tight bun. She wore a tailored jacket and ivory blouse.
"Freida...?" Betty frowned, puzzled. "What-?" The woman's face was openly apologetic.
"I'm sorry, Betty, but the President is very busy right now. He's preparing to tackle the environmental bill that's going to vote, so he's asked me to speak with you in his stead."
"Kim Possible, this is Freida MacIntyre. She's one of the the White House aides." Betty's voice was slightly frosty. Kim looked down to see Betty rubbing her thumb's fingernail with her ring finger; it was one of the few tells that Kim had spotted when Betty was repressing strong emotion.
"Nice to meetcha, Freida," Kim simpered. Betty's rubbing quickened.
"The pleasure's all mine, Kim," Freida said, picking up on Kim's use of her first name. Kim wondered if her fake teen ploy would work on this woman; she had to be pretty sharp to be one of the President's aides. "I understand that the UN has reached a decision?"
"An interim decision," Betty said crisply.
"C'mon, Betty, don't be like that."
"Freida, I know you're going to give us bad news if the big dog's sent you calling instead of himself." The woman sighed.
"Can you blame him? It's getting close to re-election year, and Congress is in an uproar about the whole thing."
"And you wonder why I went into international crime."
"Instead of skirt chasing congresswomen?" The woman laughed. Kim carefully kept her face neutral before carefully adopted an artfully innocent look. Betty rolled her eye. The woman's dark brown eyes spotted her look and laughed again.
"She really is just too precious, isn't she, Betty?"
"You might as well give it to us, Freida," the Director of Global Justice sighed.
"Well, it's as you guessed, Betty. Complete and total cessation of activity within any and all territories of the United States, including military and scientific jurisdictions. A complete ban on any requests."
"What?" Kim blurted out. A sudden wave of rage surged inside her, her pulse sky rocketing, thundering in her ears. She completely missed Betty's next words. She could feel the heat radiating from her crimson face and wrestled down her wash of emotion. She couldn't believe it. She was born in America, raised in America. The United States was her home!
"I'm sorry Kim, but the Joint Chiefs' closed door debate was pretty lively. But you'll never guess who went to bat for you."
"The military?"
"Uh,... no. They actually argued to put you on the Terror Watch List."
"WHAT?" Kim's gasp was loud and jarring. "What's with all the over-reactions? It's not as if I'd turned evil overnight or something!"
"I know, and really, I'm sorry Kim, but you being so good at what you do and taking on defence threats, even if a lot of the people in the forces adore you, the higher-ups just think you make them look bad."
"Then... who...?"
"Homeland Security?" Betty asked. The smug, satisfied smile on the screen said it all.
"I can never get anything past you, can I?" Freida winked at Betty.
"Homeland? But why...?" Kim wondered aloud.
"They didn't like your vigilante-ism... but they admired your courage and public image. They said that if the government completely banned you, they would risk having to raise the Terror Alert to Red, the FPCON to Charlie, not to mention having to raise REDCON to One Point Five."
"We'd have to raise our threat and readiness levels as well," Betty shook her head.
"Really Betty? The President wanted to allow Kim to continue, but his advisors..."
"Re-election year? The bread basket raising a stink in Congress?"
"It's out of our hands, at this point. The election machine is revving up, the delegates are getting themselves all sorted out, and the backroom negotiations are red hot already." Freida gave Kim another apologetic look. "Sorry Kim. The President wishes it wouldn't have happened this way."
"I-," Kim swallowed nervously. "I understand. Thanks for the call."
"I'm sorry, Kim." With that, Freida cut the connection.
Kim stared at her hands, that sat in her lap. She couldn't believe that her carte blanche had been revoked in the good old US-of-A, that she would not longer be allowed to be a hero in her own country. The country that her friends and her family lived. The place that Shego lived, and breathed, and dreamt and... to the United States of America, she was no longer a hero.
It hurt. It was a dull, tingling, strength draining ache that permeated her limbs. She felt a hand grip her shoulder and she looked up slowly at the concerned, tanned face.
"Kim, are you alright?" Kim hunched forward, shaking off the hand.
"I-" Kim stopped. She didn't want to lie, not to a good friend like Betty. "No Betty. I'm having the lousiest last couple of days in my entire life! And I've done nothing wrong! This just really, really, really sucks!"
"Kim... it's not going to get any better, not for a little while. I know you haven't done anything wrong, that you wouldn't. But people who don't know you will judge you based on their own prejudices. When you told me that you were dating Shego, I didn't know what to think. You wouldn't believe how I worried! But in the end, I forced myself to trust you. My mind told me this was going to end badly, but I decided to follow my heart instead." Betty's face darkened into a deep frown. "I just can't believe Shego would fold on you like that-"
"Betty," Kim cut off the woman's tirade. "Don't blame Shego. I understand what she did. And I think it hurt her as much as it hurt me... maybe even more. If she walked in through that door," she pointed at the office's security door, "and asked for me to come back, I'd be in her arms again in a heartbeat. I've risked everything to be hers, and so has she."
"Has she? Really? With her reputation in the Villain community, she could sell any story about why she was dating you! But for those of us who live in the light, even just a rumour of a smear can tarnish us, and make us one of the bad guys!"
"We've all got damage to deal with. Shego doesn't trust anyone. She only thinks the worst of people. She'll think the Villains won't be any safer for her than it would be for me. The next time you guys bag Drakken, I'll bet you won't see her." Kim sighed. "I know you won't say 'I told you so', but I jumped into this thing with both eyes open."
"Kim," Betty sighed in frustration. "Fine. Just lay low. Wade will continue to be our liaison with Team Possible." She hesitated before continuing. "How is everything else?" Kim gave a humourless laugh.
"I've just been handed a non-suspension by the PTA. I've been kicked off the cheer squad, and everyone's saying whatever they want about me and too me. My parents are holed up at home because they can't go to work. The only good thing seems that the tweebs haven't been pests."
Betty rubbed at her eye. She paused, looking into Kim's deep green eyes before looking away and fiddling with the jacket hanging on the seat Kim was in.
"Try to get some rest, Kim. I've posted a few GJ officers outside your home. You should be safe for now. I hope the Villains won't move too quickly." Kim stood, then impulsively drew the taller woman into a tight embrace.
"Thanks Betty," she said, drawing back to look the brunette int he eye. "You've always looked out for me. I'm sorry things turned out this way." Betty had a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Me too," she murmured. "And you're right. I'm going to have a ton of things to take care of now."
"I'll find my way back home. Thanks again, Betty." With that, Kim walked to the security door, drew it open and walked out, leaving a slightly flustered woman behind in the office. As Kim stepped out, the tall, dark haired girl moved to block her.
"Possible," Lily growled. "Sparring room, now!" Kim looked at the hard glint in the younger girl's eye. Had it changed colour?
"Lily, what-"
"C'mon!" The taller girl seized Kim's arm and pulling visciously.
What's going on? Why's Lily so upset?
Kim thought that perhaps if she followed along she would finally get to the bottom of Lily's near hostile attitude toward her. She let the junior Global Justice Agent drag her unceremoniously to the gym, where she practically pushed Kim onto a sparring mat and doffed her bolero jacket in one smooth motion.
"Out!" the girl roared at the other Juniors in the small training room. One look at her face and the five people in the room stumbled in their haste to clear the room. Kim watched wordlessly as they headed for the door. The training room door slammed shut behind the last agent to leave.
"Look, Lily-" Kim was cut off as she ducked under a sizzling roundhouse kick. The taller girl followed up with a triple punch combo and flowed smoothly into a shoulder charge. Kim neatly pushed away the blocks and sidestepped the charge, but gave ground as Lily whipped her foot up in a scorpion sting. Lily tossed her head defiantly.
"What the matter Possible? Can't take a girl three years your junior?" Lily lead with an overhand elbow that shifted into a series of finger strikes. Kim expertly wove around the girl's increasingly wild strikes.
"Do you know how much crap Betty's taking for keeping you on? How much it's going to mess up her career?"
Kim didn't want to retaliate, especially with the girl so emotional. She might accidentally hurt Lily more than necessary.
She ducked under a vicious double kick, sliding sidewise, forcing the taller girl to track her smaller, faster self.
The Junior Global Justice Agent began to breath in sharp gasps out of her mouth. Lily pursued her around the mat for another twenty minutes.
"C'mon Possible! Fight me! Fight back!" the girl screamed at her in frustration. Kim leapt back as Lily dropped into a double leg sweep that rose into a snap kick to the mid-section.
"Lily, what's gotten into you?" Kim faltered, seeing the hot streaming tears fall from the girl's good eye.
"Why? Why did it have to be you?" the voice rose in a wail of defiance. "She's my Aunt! MINE!"
Kim was stunned, and in that split moment, Lily kicked her in the stomach, caught her as she reeled away and threw her, lifting her bodily into the air to come crashing down, her breath knocked out of her.
Lily stood over the gasping hero, panting, sweat mingling with her tears, dripping down from her shock of hair, the bright red bangs plastered to her forehead.
"Why did Aunt Betty have to fall for a stupid, stupid girl like you?" Lily glared down at the gasping hero. "Just stay low and keep your nose clean if you consider Betty a friend. If not, I'll never forgive you!"
Kim eventually regained her breath, but sat on the mat in stunned silence. Betty, fallen for her? What the heck was that girl going on about? And her Aunt! Kim had thought the look was contrived; she assumed that Lily nearly worshipped Betty, like a starstruck teenager. That it was simply hero worship that lead the girl to imitate the head of Global Justice. But now, it turned out that the girl was related... what? Wait a minute... if Betty was her Aunt, then that meant she was... Sheldon's daughter? Kim was pretty sure that Betty only had the one brother, and he was the certified, bonafide card carrying villain, Gemini.
Oh my gawd!
Kim dusted herself off, realizing that the girl was not going to return. That was fine with her. Her mind was whirling with the revelations of the day. A couple of the other Juniors that Lily had chased out began to creep sheepishly back in. Kim walked past them in a daze, heading to the Transport Tube Hub. She stood, downcast and silent, waiting for a capsule to take her back home.
- KP - - KP - - KP - - KP - - KP - - KP - - KP - - KP - - KP - - KP -
As she popped out of the hole that appeared in her back yard, her eyes lit on someone she'd been dying to talk to.
"Ron!" she called out with relieved delight.
The blond boy was in his typical baggy tan cargo pants and burgundy sports jersey. He was hunched over, sitting on the steps of the back patio. As Kim ran up, she could tell something was wrong with the slowness of how he stood, as if bracing himself for something. She threw her arms around him.
"Oh, it's so good to see you! I really need to talk, Ron," she said, pulling back. She then punched him in the arm.
"Hey Kim- OW!" he cried as her fist landed.
"Where have you been? I'm having such a bad time and you just disappear?"
"Uh, yeah, Kim,... about that..." Kim felt a shiver of trepidation crawl up her spine. She ignored it.
"Well, all that matters is that you're here," she continued desperately.
"Kim, I-... I kinda need to-"
"Can we just hang out or something? Have I got a lot to tell you, oh, my, God!" Kim grabbed his arm to lead him into the house.
"Kim, wait... I-"
"I just came back from GJ. The UN's letting me take rescue and humanitarian missions, but they've nixed my villain missions for now. And don't get me started on the President! But while Team Possible's together, we'll be-"
"KIM!" Ron shouted suddenly, wrenching his arm from her grip. She turned as saw tears brimming in his deep brown eyes. "Please, Kim. I... I mean... about Team Possible..."
"Ron..." Kim backed away, fear rising in her in an uncontrolled hurricane spiral of dread.
"Kim... my parents... they told me..." The tears began to overflow, and running down his freckled cheeks.
"Ron, no... please..." Kim shook her head. She felt faint. Her pulse hammered in her head, but didn't, couldn't stop the words that were forcing their way past Ron's sobs.
"We're not even practising Jews... but they said..."
"No, please, Ron,..."
"They said so many stupid, bad-wrong things about you, Kim! I couldn't believe it! They called you a shiksa, and-and-and... we had a huge fight! They wouldn't even let me go to school! And then, Hana..."
"Ron, I need you... I need you right now..." Her vision blurred and she screwed her eyes tight against the scene that was unravelling before her.
"She thought my parents were hurting me and she got all mad, super mad... and she... I had to calm her..."
No, no, nonononono!
"They're saying I can't hang around with you anymore..."
Kim put her hands to her ears.
"No!" she screamed. "Don't say anymore, I don't want to hear it, just- just..."
She felt as if the core of her strength was being sapped, being drained away. Ron had been her best friend since pre-Kindergarten. They been together for so many years. They did everything together! Every Christmas and Hanukkah. Every spring break. The only summer they'd not spent together was when Ron's family had insisted that he go to Camp Wannaweep instead of following the Possible household south to Florida. It was a misguided and ultimately damaging attempt to set Ron on the path of a man, separate from Kim. After the trauma he suffered at both the hands of his camp-mates and the claws of the forest critters, Ron refused to be separated from Kim.
Kim's knees gave way and she slumped to the patio boards. Her best friend knelt beside her, wrapping his arms around her as she began to sob.
"W-w-what's going to h-h-happen?" Kim choked out. Ron put a hand on her cheek and raised her face. He put her hands on his, and looked into his earnest, freckled face.
"Nothing, Kim. We'll be apart for a bit. But I'm going to fight this."
"Seriously?"
"Note serious face," he said, pointing. Despite her feelings and turmoil, a giggle fought it's way past the tumult.
"I can't stay much longer," Ron said, as he put his forehead against hers. "I skipped out of being grounded to be here. I'll call you in a couple of days. I'll force a deal. I mean, we've been friends since pre-K! This is just sick and wrong."
"Wrong-sick," Kim agreed, sniffling. They sat with their heads together for a moment longer.
"I-... I gotta go," Ron murmured, but in his brown eyes was a determination that Kim rarely saw.
"Call me?"
"You bet."
With a flash of blue monkey power, Ron jumped into the yard behind the Possible property. Immediately, loud raucous barking resounded.
"Hey, hey! The pants, not the-" There was a tearing sound and Ron appeared on the house's roof in his sports jersey and boxers. He waved sheepishly at Kim, who smothered a teary giggle and waved back. But as he disappeared, her face fell. She sat, cocooned in a pall of silence.
If I can trust Shego, I can trust Ron.
A familiar beeping chime sounded. Kim stirred, then raised her wrist Kimmunicator and answered the call.
"Wade, I hope you have good news for me," Kim's voice cracked.
"Whoa..." She could see Wade's eyes widen even on the tiny screen of her watch sized Kimmunicator. She miust look horrible. She wiped at her tear streaked, blotchy face. "Uh, maybe this could wait-"
"Just, what is it, Wade?" Kim interrupted irritably.
Well,... if you say so. So, uh... How are you?"
"What do you think? The cheer squad's just kicked me off the team for being a lesbian. I'm non-suspended from school. The UN's suspended my criminal related missions. The President has nixed any missions on US soil. Lily took me to the mat, told me she hated my guts for distracting her aunt."
"Her... aunt?" Wade's voice was carefully neutral. Kim's curiosity was piqued.
"Did you know?"
"I saw the resemblance, but just thought it was just the chaos theory messing with me," he shrugged.
"Well, the worst is," Kim continued, pausing for a moment, "...that Ron said his parents didn't want him hanging around me. He got in trouble for hanging out with me. Said a lot of mean things, called me a shiksa or something..."
"Jeeze, Kim. I'm sorry to hear that." Wade looked off the the side. "Uh... my news is... kinda mixed."
"Aw man!" she groaned. "I'm like the dump girl of the week!" Kim lay silent for a moment, then sighed. "Well, you might as well sitch me."
"Well, I've been following the UN meeting. They're in session as we speak, debating a more permanent resolution on you. You might not hear from Doctor Director for a while, though. She's busy at the UN council. She said that with the number of times you've gone to bat for justice, it was time for justice to go to bat for you. She said to remind you to lay low and let her try to protect you this one time."
Kim's stark face softened a bit.
"Tell her thanks, eh, Wade?"
"I will. Now, on the subject of missions, your web site's taken quite a hit. We're getting major DNS attacks. I'm spiking most of those computers, turning the bots back on their zombie masters. That's going to drop off real quick."
"I-i-i-i'm," Kim drew out, "just going to pretend I know what you're talking about."
"Hacker talk, Kim. Most of your rides have checked in and said they'll take you anywhere you need to go. Your web site mailbox is getting hammered. You're getting about one sympathetic email for every ten hate or spam mails. That's still pretty good, since you're getting a lot of sympathy and emails from people all over the world, Kim."
"Don't worry, Wade, I won't let the man get me down," offered a small, teary, wry smile. "But there's only one person I really want to hear about."
"Sorry, Kim. I haven't been able to track down Shego at all. I thought I'd picked up a trail signature of a stealthed hoverpod over Washington, Dee-Cee, but it was just some fat guy. I'm trying to track down how he got access to a hover pod."
"I guess, with the embargo, I won't have to fight that guy."
"You never know. Betty's pulling out all the stops. She's contacted a large number of security groups and organizations who've benefited from your villain busting, search and rescue agencies, disaster relief... and bringing them before the UN and Interpol. You won't believe which of the Security Council members you've got going to bat for you."
"China. I got the call on the temporary resolution from the President of the Security Council."
"Yeah. I guess they remembered those radioactive rats you fought off from their Yangtze nuclear plant. Or the twenty million people you saved from that flood."
"I guess I have done a lot of stuff over there..." Kim said, dubiously. "This isn't one of those convoluted spy things, do you think?"
"Probably more political than anything. I'll bet they knew the US was going to unilaterally sanction you, so they went the opposite direction. Helps their international image. One last thing, you're getting a lot of requests for interviews."
"Lily's 'recommended' that I lay low, like Betty said."
"Well... I've got another opinion."
"Lay it on me."
"Ok. You heard who outted you?"
"Autumn Gale? Yeah. Hey, is she related to...?"
"Yeah, Summer Gale. Niece, twice removed. Well, ever since she snapped that shot of you, she's been promoted to special KP correspondent. She wants a live interview with you."
"This isn't about revenge is it? I mean, I put her aunt away because she was inadvertently making mutant snowmen. Not to mention screwing with the weather."
"She claims not."
"And let me guess... you want me to take the initiative?"
Wade's smile was all the answer she needed. She thought about it for a moment.
"Sure. It's not as if I've got anything else to do."
"I'll set it up."
"And the interview will be on my turf. They want it so bad, have them do it in a place of my choosing."
I can arrange that," Wade said. He paused for a moment. "I probably don't need to say this, but you'll need to be really on."
"No big. I've always been at my best in a showdown."