I Do Not own the rights to Kim Possible, any of the other characters from that show, nor those from other media I may reference.

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It was not the first time that Shego had driven down the Sunset Strip. Nor the first time she had done it in a convertible with the top down, breeze in her hair, etc. It was the first time she'd done it with someone she considered a friend sitting next to her. And as for the alien in the back seat...yeah, that was a first.

"So in order for you to locate this fellow alien of yours, he has to stop consciously blocking you?" Bernie was asking their 'third wheel'.

'He' had been sitting completely immobile in the back seat since he had first climbed in the Barricuda, which was very convenient in that it made him look like an inanimate object to observers. Nevertheless both women were quite sure he was taking in his surroundings quite efficiently from some comments he'd made. As well as discrete in terms of volume. If certain motorcycle riders they'd passed had heard his observations regarding their attire, there most certainly would have been plasma flying.

"That is correct, and based on his behavior prior to leaving us, the discipline he is currently displaying in that regard astounds me!" The being replied.

"Is he by chance the one from the Open Lair who had to be rolled out of the place?"

"No, that one has made a remarkable recovery of sanity since our change of habitat! No, this is the one we mentioned as having designs against Rhode Island, you remember?"

Shego spoke before Bernie could this time. "Wait! You mean the one who wanted to wipe out a whole state is now hooked up with WWEE?"

That caused the first physical animation from their guest in some time, a shrug. "Actually, we believe he's past the destructive phase, but we don't have our equivalent of a psychiatric expert in our team, so that's just conjecture."

"Great!" Shego muttered as she stopped for a red light. She turned to Bernie, but as she opened her mouth, the alien spoke again.

"Most interesting! An individual in that restaurant adjacent to us, upon apparently recognizing Shego, expelled an astonishing amount of the carbonated beverage he was drinking through his nasal passages! A Team Go fan, perhaps? Or possibly a Ferretwoman fan?"

Both women's heads were swiveling to search for the subject under discussion before the alien had half finished. It wasn't hard to spot the man due to the disturbance he was causing, along with a companion, as they hastily threw first money on the table, then frightened looks out the window, and then dashed for the rear of the building. Their clothing caught both Shego and Bernie's interest, being black pants and jackets over...

"Teal pullovers?" Bernie shook her head, "Is everyone getting an invitation to this Crazy Convention?!" Then Shego ran into her line of sight, dashing to circle the building, which sat at an intersection, and offered two normal entrances the two fugitives were avoiding.

"Take the Helm, Bernie!" She shouted back, then concentrated on the hunt. When she reached the alley entrance, she pivoted right and slowed a step as a precaution against ambush. But then a very familiar humming filled the air, and she leapt forward again. Circling around a dumpster she spotted a black-and-teal hovercraft rising into the air. Skidding to a halt, she loosed a bolt of plasma at the craft.

But even though she scored a direct hit, it appeared to have little effect. "Not like the old days when I could knock those things down with no effort, they've had too long to upgrade their defense against my plasma!" Even though she could throw a more powerful attack at them, she saw that they'd be out of effective range by the time she could, so she stood there frowning mightily, watching the craft zoom off into the distance.

"Only in LA could someone fly one of those things around in broad daylight and get away with it!" She thought angrily as she turned to find the Barracuda at the end of the alley, Bernie also watching the departing vehicle. Stalking back to the car, Shego circled to get in the driver's seat, directing a glare containing all her pent-up frustration at a car that honked at her. Which caused the driver of same to cease honking and cower behind his steering wheel.

Shego dropped back into the driver's seat as Bernie was fastening her own seatbelt back up. The frustrated ex-thief followed suit, still looking in the direction the hovercraft had vanished. "I think you had better make a call, and hope Abby Hogan doesn't block you by the end of the day!" She commented bitterly, then looked into the back seat. "Don't suppose you can track that thing, can you?" She wasn't actually expecting an answer, and her jaw dropped when one came.

"Actually, yes! In fact, I have been this whole time."

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Back at the Global Justice base things were a bit hurried. Doctor Director, Frederick Lipsky, and the base's own commander were holding court in a large chamber which also constituted an intersection, with wide corridors entering on all four sides, and the corners filled with cubicles. And a small break area, where Kim and Drakken currently waited, along with their four minders.

Kim was getting frustrated at the continued efforts to keep the pair of them separated, even if it was an attempt to keep them from coordinating their stories. Which, considering all the opportunity they had had back in Middleton, was a bit ridiculous. And the fact they were currently separated by the length of the ten-foot counter holding a coffee machine, small refrigerator and microwave made the whole thing almost ludicrous.

A steady stream of agents was showing up to report to their three superiors. The agent who had interrupted Drakken and his uncle hovered nearby, having to shift occasionally to avoid a hurrying agent.

Indicating him, Drakken asked one of his guards, "What's his story? Besides not trusting me, which is no surprise, I assure you."

The agent looked to his partner, then whispered back, "That's Smarty. His uncle's the rich guy, I'm sure you've heard of him?"

Not sure if the agent was being sarcastic, given Drakken's involvement with Martin Smarty earlier in his career(Though in far less humorous circumstances then Ron Stoppable's story had portrayed), he kept his voice neutral as he replied. "Agent Smarty? Doesn't resemble his uncle or cousin very much." Then he smirked, 'And lucky his name isn't..."

"Hey, Max!" The bellow drew the attention of everyone in the room, but specifically the very man Drakken had asked about, who somehow managed to pivot 180 degrees without his feet in contact with the ground, he'd jumped so dramatically at the shout.

Drakken looked incredulously at his guard, who was grimacing. His partner on the other hand, was hard-pressed to hide his amusement. The first agent shrugged. "His mother was in labor 20 hours with him, his dad was overseas, so she had a bit of revenge, that's all!"

The source of the shout was a broad shouldered woman about fifty, who also had at least three inches in height over the subject of her displeasure. "Your line is lit up with at least a dozen calls on hold, when you leave your station, you are responsible for seeing that it's covered, Agent Smarty!" She then pointed back down the corridor she had emerged from.

The chastised and red-faced agent ducked his head and strode quickly past her without a word. The woman nodded to the trio of senior agents, then marched after him. A stray thought that he might want to introduce the woman to Steve Barkin passed through Drakken's mind, and caused him to shudder. He tried to regain his composure and humor with his next comment.

"If I was him, I might consider suing my mother for saddling him with that name, or have it legal...what did I say?" He ended as he saw both agents with him wince.

After a moment, the first replied. "His mother is a lawyer, and a damn good one! And that brings up another problem for Max, the guy representing Daw is the younger brother of his mother's legal partner, Edgar Panz!"

Drakken's eyes practically crossed. "So, the firm's name is Smarty and...Oy!"

Both agents had trouble hiding grins, even though both shook their heads. "The name's only funny until they get you in court, then there is absolutely nothing funny about them!" The second agent informed him, "But the kid brother, Sammy, is a nowhere near as good as big brother, I'm kind of surprised Daw would let him handle the defense, the guy's so unethical, he's bound to pull something, and get the whole thing...oh."

"Possibly." Drakken muttered, his attention now drawn to Doctor Director as she responded to a call on her comm. And the expression on her face afterwards concerned him greatly. Apparently her two companions heard the message as well, and neither took it well, if Drakken was any judge.

Betty left the others and headed towards them, signaling for all six of them to gather together around her. When Drakken's two bodyguards opened their mouths to protest, she cut them off with a sharp gesture. "Let's forget that nonsense!" She snapped.

She regained her composure before addressing them, however. "Listen, we now believe that EWWE is also present in LA, this thing is turning into a circus!"

"One is trying to pull something..." Drakken began.

"And the other trying to foil it, or turn it to their own use!" Kim interrupted, then gave Drakken an apologetic look, which he waved off. "Could Alpha be trying to spring his brother? Except that makes no sense, considering what he did to him at their last meeting..."

"Or maybe it's WWEE that wants to spring him...and that makes even less sense!" Brenda Core finished sourly.

"Could Frau Hildy believe her husband is here?" Drakken asked doubtfully.

Doctor Director shook her head. "She'd know better then that!"

"Hang on..." Kim began slowly, then began to show some excitement, "Is there anyone here she might believe she can trade for Gemini?"

"Outside of me and Frederick?" Betty replied, "There's the three judges, of course, but still..." She looked around, frowning, "How could she get in...well, maybe she doesn't have to, she might be planning to wait for them to come out, that would make far more sense with her current resources!"

"How many other egresses use that transport system?" Drakken inquired.

Betty gave him a long and searching look before replying. "Five, in total. But that leaves a dozen safe ways out, so she can't find or cover them all, at least not without some fantastic satellite technology."

"Which she is unlikely to be able to afford, even Jack Hench's basic package is quite pricey." Drakken remarked, then shrugged at the suspicious looks he received, "It was two years ago, and I doubt Jack is ever going to change his stripes!" That received a grudging nod from Doctor Director. "By the way, Doctor Director, is your source for the information on WWEE's and EWWE's presence in LA confidential?"

Betty pursed her lips as she considered her answer, then shook her head. "The source, believe it or not, is Miss Barr, who is in LA now, along with Shego and a unidentified third party, who first informed them of WWEE's presence. Then they apparently stumbled across some EWWE Agents who fled at the sight of Shego, flying off in a hovercraft in broad daylight!"

"She can be quite inspirational in that regard..." Drakken commented distractedly, frowning, "And possibly quite vengeful!"

Kim decided not to let such thoughts distract her from her own curiosity. "Did they tell you who that 'third party' was, Doctor Director?" Frederick Lipsky joined the group at this point.

Betty frowned as she replied. "She didn't want to say too much over the phone, but she said he was looking for WWEE himself because one of his crew was with them?" She paused to study the reactions of both Kim and Drakken. Both frowned in puzzlement at first, but then Kim's face underwent a contortion that would have defied even Ron's descriptive powers. "She also said he dropped in on that little Caribbean vacation you girls took, and though he didn't meet you, he delivered some news that upset you a bit, Kim?" She didn't mention Shego's voice in the background saying something about 'waking half the island'.

A stunned look froze Kim's face for a moment, then she reddened noticeably. "Spankin'" she muttered, "How do I explain this..." Then she shook her head and looked around. "Doctor Director, I think we need more privacy for this conversation, honestly!" Then she looked at Drakken. "But since this involves Shego, I think the Mayor ought to be included."

That caused Betty's eyebrows to elevate, but she nodded. Looking at Frederick, she stated "Just the four of us then..." She swept her gaze across the other four agents, silencing any protest, "And we are only to be disturbed if Supervisor Wicks figures out where we are going to relocate to, understood, Agents?" After receiving various signs of acknowledgement, she turned and strode off down a new corridor, trailed by Kim, Drakken, and Frederick Lipsky, in that order.

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"I know this goes against your nature, Ana, but you promised to wait! We have no idea what Alpha has in his base, and I'm sorry to bring this up, but he has surprised you before!" Bernie stated firmly as Shego's fidgeting reached a level the young woman had never witnessed before, even during convalescence from her injuries, and that was saying something!

Shego nodded so abruptly Bernie imagined the car actually shaking, and her scowl didn't deepen at the reference to her first near-disastrous encounter with Alpha, where she'd been rendered helpless and only saved from death by Bernie's intervention.

She suddenly stopped scowling and subsided with a growl of frustration, trying to look everywhere except the small studio complex where their alien companion insisted the EWWE hovercraft had landed. Then her eyes widened as they fell upon a sign down the street. She immediately looked around for other familiar landmarks and spotted two, though she hadn't seen them from this angle before.

Meanwhile Bernie was still trying to placate her enough to keep them safely in the car until a Global Justice team could arrive. Which might take a while due to the restrictions on their operations within the United States, several people had to be notified and agree to a raid being the proper course of action, other agencies including the LAPD might have to get involved to help keep GJ out of the public eye, it was quite a list of requirements.

So she was surprised when her spiel was interrupted by Shego starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot of the corner gas station/convenience store, but turned away from their target to drive two blocks and pull to the curb while gazing at the building opposite. Bernie saw a sign she had to puzzle over for a moment due to some characters needing to have their paint touched up. "J & D Highland Pub" she muttered aloud. Underneath this in smaller print: "Safe and quiet, ANY abuse of our hospitality will be severely dealt with!"

"Wait here, and keep an eye on him!" Shego unnecessarily indicated their alien passenger, "Just going to drop in for a word with an old friend, I'll be right back!" She then exited the car quite eagerly, leaving Bernie with her mouth half-open to speak, a bemused expression on her face.

Then something astonishing happened, at least from Bernie's experience. As Shego reached the far side of the street, a large figure stepped out of the pub and stepped forwards, arms wide. Shego came to an abrupt halt, hands held up in protest, but the figure swept her up in a hug that she endured without lighting up in the slightest.

Jaw slack in astonishment, Bernie blinked rapidly, then turned in her seat to regard their alien companion. And somehow got the impression despite the lack of visible facial features that it was as surprised as her. "Have you...have you ever seen someone treat her like that and...uh, nevermind what I almost said..."

There was a brief silence, then "N-not since the d-day they got their powers...I mean, the day they realized they had powers, and Hego cracked three of her ribs by accident!"

Bernie winced, suppressed her first intended response before not speaking at all as the man let Shego down, then put his arm across her shoulders and led her into the pub, with a brief glance back at the 'Cuda from each of them. Shego was talking, so probably offering some sort of explanation for the situation.

"Well, that was interesting..." Bernie scowled briefly at some thoughts she was having, then shrugged. "Might as well..." She took out her phone and accessed her Internet app. Her attention was fully focused on her phone for several minutes, with her eyes widening near the end, taking a quick glance at the pub as if to verify the name.

But as her eyes returned to her phone, she realized that she had seen something out of the corner of her eye...then a sharp pain emanated from the back of her skull, and everything faded quickly to darkness.

Standing next to the car was a slender and somewhat handsome man with dark hair dressed in casual clothes. As he slipped his blackjack back in his pocket, he looked around to see if anyone had emerged onto the street in time to see what he'd done. With the run of luck he'd been having...but there was no one in sight, not exactly a common situation in this city.

He then watched as two rather well-muscled young women hastily removed Bernie's unconscious form from the car. "I believe I owed you that blow, Miss Barr, it wasn't business, it was purely personal!" Smiling at his own quip, Agent Alpha turned to regard the back seat occupant. "And now, I have an alien of my very own!" He said with obviously satisfaction.

Said alien was apparently not as calm as Alpha regarding the situation. "I think we need to leave before Shego returns, she is certain to be quite angry!"

Alpha's smile merely widened. "Those two men who just entered the establishment have just the thing to deal with Shego...and it appears that they already have! And no alarm seems to have been raised!" Across the street, two men had emerged from the pub, one with Shego over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. The other glanced back inside, then gave Alpha a thumb's up.

As he acknowledged the gesture, Alpha noticed the warning on the pub's sign. "Oh, dear! We seem to have quite thoroughly abused the hospitality of the place!" He exclaimed in mock alarm, then smirked, "Should I be concerned that the publican will retaliate?" He made a gesture to the alien. "Come along, I don't like being on the street this long, we need to get back to my base of operations!"

As the alien climbed out of the car and followed Alpha away, neither took note of Bernie's dropped cellphone, which displayed the data she had called up regarding the pub, and the item that had surprised her:

PROPRIETOR: JOHN 'JOCK' KILLIGAN

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Sorry to be so long getting this out, too many distractions...lame excuse, but I'm sticking to it!