Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible

Claimer: I do own any OC's in this fic

Okay, I'm glad you all liked the last chapter. About Ron and Tara being the making out type, you have to understand that Ron has grown up a bit; sure he's still the paranoid, clumsy buffoon he always, but hey, that's what we love about him, right? But enough about the past, onto the present. This chapter will continue where the last one left off, just so you can see Tara's response. We'll see where Kim and Ron were taken, and find out something new about Nate.

" " speech

' ' thought

( ) author's notes

***** scene change

The Assassin

Chapter 9

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ *~*~*~*

Nate held his hand out to the stunned Tara; her eyes widened with shock and realization. Without really thinking she reached out and took his hand, and he hefted her to her feet. She was unaware that he was probing her mind, finding out what had just happened.

"Does this mean you trust me?" he asked giving her hand a small squeeze.

Tara blinked and quickly pulled her hand away. She gave him a look that told him all he needed to know. She looked from him to the roof across the street, and back to him. But he wasn't looking at her, he had his eyes closed and his head bowed slightly.

"They're close," he said opening his eyes and looking over his shoulder at a small access shed that housed a flight of stairs leading down into the building.

As the door opened he grabbed Tara again and leapt from that roof to one across the main street. He didn't stop this time, but turned and leapt to the building next to that; and continued from building to building for a few minutes, before stopping on a rather tall building. There he set her down and stepped back, waiting for her answer to the question he had asked.

"Well?"

"How do I know you're really him?"

"God, I'm starting to think I should have left you back there," he said turning away and walking to the edge of the building.

"Where are you going?" she asked in a desperate tone running over to him.

"Easy, to carry out my contract," he said getting ready to jump again.

"NO!" she yelled, jumping on his back.

He reached over, grabbed her by the back of her shirt and pulled her over his head. In doing this he now held her over the ground, five stories below.

"Well?" he asked again getting impatient.

"Let me come with you, I could help," she almost pleaded.

"Does this mean you trust me now?"

"Yes."

"You're telling the truth," he let go of her, after shifting his arm so she was over the roof (admit it, I almost had you there).

"What do you think they would have done with me if you hadn't come along?" she asked with an innocent look on her face.

"After raping you, probably take you to Shego, and have her decide what to do with you," Nate said with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"They would really do that?" she asked horrified.

"They're lechers, what do you expect them to do?" he said pushing the opening of his cloak aside.

On his sash were revealed many different handles. All of them slightly different, but none with a blade showing, except the pike. He looked at them until he found a suitable one. Unhooking it he lightly squeezed the handle, and it began to change. It grew longer, about two inches from its previous six, and two struts extended outward from the hilt. A blade then grew from between those struts, growing longer, and longer, till it was about four feet long. He held it out to her.

"What's that for?"

"Do you want to help?" he asked her like it was obvious.

"Yes."

"Then take it," he handed it to her handle first. "Do you know how to use it?"

"How hard could it be?"

"No, I meant do you know how to use it, as in can you kill someone?" he asked looking her straight in the eye.

"I d-don't know," she said looking at the katana in her hands.

"It's not murder, if it's self-defense," Nate said placing a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to use it if you don't want to, just keep it as a last resort."

"Okay," she said turning it over and over looking for a way to make it retract. "Um, h-how..."

"Like this," he said and tapped the center of the base, on the end of the handle.

Instantly it began to retract back to a handle, which she placed in her pocket.

*****

Shego walked through the halls of this new base of operations. She entered the room where they held their prisoners, and there, in a cell, chained to the wall, was Kim, looking as if she had been roughed up a bit. Her hair was a mess, all her pockets had been removed, and she had been knocked around. Kim's eyes slowly opened when she heard the door close and Shego step up to the cell door.

"Ah, I see you're awake," she said pulling out a key and unlocking the door.

Walking in she stepped up to Kim placed her hand on the girl's cheek. She forced Kim's head to the side and placed a small, modified nano-tick on her neck.

"What's that for?" Kim asked as her eyes strained in their sockets, trying to see it.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Shego responded watching the tick go about its business.

The robotic insect used its sharp forelegs to cut a small incision in Kim's skin and crawled into it; the hind-most legs cauterized (sealed by heating) the wound. Kim's face twisted in pain as she felt it crawling around beneath her skin, finding a place to plant itself.

Shego watched her reaction with interest. The corners of her lips twisted upwards as she had finally caught Kim Possible, and nothing was left to chance. All of her devices had been removed and thrown in the power core, where they had been instantly incinerated. Her kimmunicator was first to go. It was a strange feeling for her though, she had finally won, and had Kim completely helpless to boot, but all she could think about was how Nate had given her permission to kill her; she had thought he cared about her.

"Why did I ever think that my brother would...could be interested in such an annoyance like you?" Shego said while caressing Kim's soft cheek. "But, then again, Nate had always been a very complex person."

Kim's eyes opened wide when she heard that, but what Shego said wasn't the only thing that caused her to do that; the nano-tick had found her spine, and had proceeded to plant itself firmly on one of her cervical vertebrae. She knew that Shego wanted her to scream at the pain, or to gasp as the veil over her memory lifted itself.

"Yeah, he liked to toy with people, lead them in the wrong direction," she continued. "His favorite method was to befriend them, sometimes he would even get involved, then, when they thought he actually cared, he would either leave, or kill them. Over the years he's gotten very, very good at it."

"But, that's just cruel," Kim said through gritted teeth, the only thing to keep herself from screaming.

"So, he's a cruel person," she shrugged like it was nothing.

"Why are you telling me this?" Kim asked.

"Oh, just so you understand him, and because you most likely won't be leaving this place alive," she laughed and turned to leave.

Shego slammed the door of the cell closed with ease and locked it. After doing that, she moved to the cell next to Kim's. In it, on the floor, slumped against the wall, was Ron. He was not restrained because he had not been deemed a threat. His knees were drawn up, not all the way to his chest but close enough so he could get his head between them. All his thoughts were turned to Tara, and if she was okay or not.

"She's fine," Shego said leaning against the bars of his cell.

"How did you...?"

"Well it's obvious you're worried about that girl," she lied since she had been reading his mind. "Besides, if she's not here by now, than she must be okay."

"Thanks," Ron said looking up at her.

"You know, we're really not all bad, it's just business," she said running bare fingers through her hair; she knew Nate was close, which is why she didn't have her gloves extended. "I'm a mercenary kid, and when my contract is over, then you two will be just another memory."

"I guess that's good to hear."

"That is, if you don't die here."

She turned around and walked back to the door. She placed her hand on a pad next to the door, and activated all the sensors for the room; heat sensors, pressure sensors, laser sensors, the whole nine yards. Walking through the door, she locked it and continued down the hall. Such precautions were taken because Kim was being treated as a high-risk security threat.

"Drakken sure has gotten some common sense now that he has that damn armor," Shego said to herself as she entered the surveillance room. "He's actually thinking things through now."

*****

In the desert outside the city Nate stood surveying the sand, trying to find any sort of imperfection. Next to him stood Tara, wearing a cloak that Nate had pulled out of his bag. His head turned side to side, looking for something, anything, that might give him a clue to where the entrance would be. But there was nothing except sand in all directions, and the slight wind that had picked up had covered any tracks that had been left behind.

'Wait,' he thought as his head snapped back to a place where there seemed to be a slight impression in the sand. "Follow me," he said to Tara and they started forward.

"Where are we going?" she asked looking up at him.

"Straight ahead," he said without looking at her.

They continued walking for a few minutes until Nate was sure they were right on top of the depression. But there was nothing there, nothing at all. This led Nate to suspicion, there wasn't a single pebble, or shrub, or slight bulge; just flat, even, sand. He pulled out the pike handle, and the pole extended; raising it above his head he slammed it down through the sand. After about six inches he hit something obviously metal. At that moment the skies darkened as massive storm clouds moved in. Looking up, they saw something small, white, and cold falling from these clouds.

"Snow? In the desert?" Tara asked as the snow began to come down heavier.

"Dammit, weather manipulation," Nate said getting down on his knees and scooping away sand by the handful till he had exposed enough of the metal plate to slice. "Stand back."

Tara did just that as he raised the pike again and slashed down, twice, in a crisscross pattern. He knelt back down and pulled up the points, making a hole large enough for them to get through. Standing up he held out his hand, she took it and he lowered her down into the hole. He followed after her and discarded his cloak once he touched the floor.

They were in what appeared to be a maintenance hallway, since there weren't many lights, and no panels on the walls. Nate's eyes began to glow green as he looked into the darkness. There were no people here, nor were there any cameras. He looked at Tara, who was looking around frantically, obvious afraid of the darkness around them.

"There's no one here," he said grabbing her wrist. "Come on, I have a feeling Ron's close by."

"Really?" she asked her voice shaky from being in this place.

"Do you think I would lie?"

"Well..."

"Don't answer that."

He led her through the dark hall till they came upon a door. He pressed the button and it opened into a normal, plated hallway. They stepped out, and the door closed behind them, camouflaged as a wall panel. Now that there was light, the glow from Nate's eyes faded, and he let go of Tara's wrist.

"Ow," she yelped looking at the cuts in her skin.

Nate looked at his hand, his nails had extended into the talons again.

"Sorry," he said and produced a bandage and some gauze.

He placed the bandage over the scratches and wrapped it in the gauze. After securing the end of the fabric with a small clip he quickly let go.

"Better?" he asked.

"Yes, thank you," she looked over her tightly, but not too tightly, wrapped wrist.

"Good," he said and they started down the hallway.

As they walked he looked up at one of the cameras, knowing that she was watching them. Even though she was watching them, she still didn't sound the alarm, this surprised Nate a little. He had been expecting her to immediately inform every guard on the floor that intruders had gotten inside. They walked for about ten minutes before reaching a door. This door was, from what Nate could see, three inches of high-tensile steel. Looking to the side, he didn't see any access panel.

"You'd think they'd give me a little more credit then this," he said and slammed his clawed hands into the metal.

Bracing his feet against the floor he gave one good pull, and the door ripped open. He saw the sensors all in full effect at the moment but none of that really mattered because he wasn't the one going in. Placing his hand on Tara's shoulder he shoved her in, and wrenched the door shut.

"Hey!" she yelled jumping up and pounding on the door.

"Tara?" Ron said from his cell, then stood up and looked through the bars. "Tara!"

She turned around and when she saw Ron she ran over and kissed him through the bars.

"Where's Kim?" she asked.

"In the next cell, she's been really quiet," he said moving to the point where the bars met the adjoining wall of their cells.

There was Kim, suspended against the wall, her head down, and eyes closed. Her breathing was slow and irregular, like she was in a trance. Tara reached up into her hair and pulled out a hairpin. She slid it into the lock and twisted and turned it.

"What are you doing?" Ron asked watching her.

"I'm trying to pick the lock, it can't be too hard," she said and went back to what she was doing.

*****

Nate walked down the hall to a large, high-ceilinged room that was filling with guards, all equipped with shock poles (that's what I'm going to call those things, don't like it, tough). A smile spread across his lips as he reached behind him, and pulled out a handle, not for the pike, but something else. The handle extended into the scythe he had carried on Holloween.

"Bring it on," he said looking over his enemy.

One swipe of the scythe sent red blades flying at the guards. The first wave of them cut down all the guards in a single flash. He walked forwards stepping on, over, and around the hacked up bodies of the former henchmen. Some of them were still stirring, even though they had no legs or arms. Others had their chests ripped open, and their heads sliced down the middle, or just cut off completely.

*****

Shego watched from the surveillance room as he did this, and she was smiling. She had always wondered just how strong he really was. Until just the other day she didn't know that the pike had once belonged to a god, and now that she did, she wanted to know more about it. Nothing, in all the databases she had searched, was there ever reference to the winged serpent god Kukulkan ever possessing a pike. But this information was all based on what recent scientists had speculated. Seeing as how most of the native tribes from those regions were completely decimated, there was no one who knew enough about the old ways. So all of her searching had been for nothing.

"Was he even telling the truth?" she asked herself. "Of course he was, he's never lied to me before."

Soon he would enter the main operations chamber, where Drakken was. So she stood up, stretched, and left the room. She opened one of the maintenance tunnels and walked through it, to step out in the main chamber. This was one of the many short cuts she had placed while designing this facility.

*****

Tara had finally gotten both cell doors open, and was working on the cuffs that held Kim to the wall. Kim had regained conscious thought when she heard her cell door open with a rather loud creak. Ron was busy studying the door, which had been bent by Nate's pull, and was now wedged in very tightly. I know what you're all asking by now, where's Rufus? Well, Rufus didn't come this time; the desert sun is bad for his skin.

"Tara, try turning it," Kim said.

"Kim, I got your door and Ron's door open, I think I know what I'm doing," Tara retorted with a hint of irritation in her voice. "These locks are just different, that's all."

With a final twist, thrust, and yank, there was a click and the shackles around Kim's ankles opened. Tara then moved to the cuffs that held Kim's wrists to the wall. Now that she was sure she knew what to do, the entire process went by much quicker. With a click the shackles opened and Kim dropped to the floor on her hands and knees, panting.

"Now all we have to do is figure out how to get out of here," Ron said wrapping on the door with his knuckle.

"I've got an idea," Tara said and pulled out the handle she had been given.

She squeezed it slightly and it extended into its full form, a four-foot katana. After making sure that Ron was out of the way she raised the sword and sliced at the door. The blade made contact with the door, and snapped in half. Two feet of the blade were stuck in the door, with the rest was still in Tara's hands.

"That bastard!" she yelled throwing the handle down to the floor.

Kim and Ron stared at her, she had never used that kind of language for as long as they had known her.

"What?" she asked looking at them. "He is."

"Tara, I agree with you completely," Kim said from the floor of her cell, even though she was free, she had no energy left.

A sound from behind them made them all jump. The wall panel at the opposite end of the room opened and through the opening came nine armed guards. Three of them grabbed Ron, while the next three grabbed Tara before she could pick up the piece of the sword on the floor. The last three walked into Kim's cell and just lifted her up; she had no fight left in her at the moment.

TBC

That's the end of this chapter, I hope you like it. Now that it's Christmas vacation I can finally write at the speed I used to. Vacations are always good because you can stay up all night and write. Anyway, this chapter was mainly written so you could find out more about Nate's personality, and next chapter, you'll find out even more. Ever so slowly his life is being revealed to you, and next chapter will be a big step forward, as the final battle against Drakken begins, but is abruptly put on hold. Find out the answers to this and many more of my ranting and ravings next chapter. And thanks for the reviews.