Okay, long, long overdue chapter, thank you, though, for waiting so patiently. I never thought that writing so many stories at once would be so taxing on my mind. The ideas won't come so easily anymore. Given that I already have an ending for this, with quite the twist to it, I can't figure out a way to get to it. Oh well, I guess all I can do is my best, and that should be all you can expect.
I'm going to be trying some HTML code this time, so, if it doesn't work, I'll know what I did wrong.
( ) author's notes
== - dreamscape
- telepathy
The Assassin: Nemesis
Chapter 11
Cowritten by Nate and Felicia
The day had finally come, Christmas Vacation, a whole two weeks without school. It still felt odd to him to be with people, before last year, he had been alone on Christmas, usually on a job.
'But now that's over,' Nate thought as he laid on the couch, Bonnie laying with him. 'All of this just feels so right, so complete...'
They had been in this position since they had gotten back from school this snowy, Friday afternoon. Bonnie seemed to be completely drained from balancing her training, and school, and her life outside of both. She was asleep, her arm reaching behind her, curling around Nate to pull him closer, and, at the same time, trapping his around her.
As the demi-god watched her, she slowly began to stir, her face contorting slightly, as if she were having a nightmare. He knew she had told him, repeatedly, not to enter her dreams, but now he couldn't help it. No one else was home, and he couldn't stop his hand from resting on her cheek, lightly caressing her soft olive skin. Closing his eyes, he concentrated, placing himself as a simple spectator.
==
Nate appeared in Bonnie's old house, but it looked much different. Furniture was turned over and askew, picture frames were torn from the wall and flung across the room, and the walls had large holes in them. It was raining outside, lightening flashing and thunder roaring against the window. Looking down at himself, he saw that he was wearing a pair of black shorts with his usual tank top, and was barefoot. His head whipped around when he heard whimpering coming from the room behind him.
"Bonnie?" he walked into the room, wincing slightly at the glass shards sticking into his feet.
There, in the corner of the room, which he had deduced to be the dining room, was a sobbing little girl. He recognized the hair and the skin, and the cheerleading outfit; it was Bonnie, when she was younger. Stepping forward, he stooped in front of the girl and gently placed his hand on her head, only to have it slide right through.
"Right, spectator," he stood and turned around upon hearing a noise.
There he was, Bonnie's father, an oafish brute of a man; jet black hair was slicked back, wide shoulders squared almost evenly with his massive lower jaw, and barrel chest heaving. His eyes were completely blank, Bonnie most likely didn't remember, or chose not to remember their color.
"See what you made me do, you stupid, little girl," he said, his voice carrying a slight slur to it.
As Nate watched, he saw him grab her by the hair and pull her up to eye contact; his other hand struck out, slapping her hard across the face with a vicious backhand. She sailed through the air, through Nate, and into the hall, onto the glass shards of broken picture frames. He saw the glass slice into her skin, leaving long gashed, which started a pool of blood on the floor. His hands clenched as the man who dared call himself her father walked right through him.
He grabbed the girl again, and began dragging her upstairs, to which Nate followed, having a feeling he knew what was coming. He rounded the corner and saw him pull her into a bedroom, his bedroom. Nate walked down the hall and looked in the room, his eyes widening when he saw him throw Bonnie onto the bed and start to rip off her clothes.
"No more spectating," he said and stepped forward, a wave passing over him. His voice became more of a growl with what he said next, "Get off her, NOW!"
"Wha', who the hell are you?" Rockwaller turned to him, then back to Bonnie, slapping her. "One of your friends?"
"Yes, I am," Nate strode forward, grabbed the man by the scruff of the neck, and threw him to the floor. His hand whipped around and launched a sphere of light at the floor, dropping him to the first floor, onto the dining room table.
Teeth gritting, he jumped through the hole, landing on Rockwaller's chest, forcing him down, the table collapsing beneath them. He struck out again and again, pummeling this man's face into a pulp; the first punch broke his jaw, the second knocked his left eye into his head, the third gave his right eye a similar treatment. By the time he was done, you would never have recognized him as Bonnie's father. He stood up, stepped off Rockwaller, and started to walk towards the stairs.
Bonnie was there, not young Bonnie, his Bonnie; she sat on the third stair up, the sheet from her parents' bed wrapped around her. Tears streaked down her face, her eyes red from crying, and her entire body was shaking. As he got closer, she refused to look at him, at the blood on his hands, the blood on his feet, and his soft, caring eyes. He sat next to her, and placed an arm around her shoulders. At that she just broke down, crying hard into his shoulder.
"This is what you didn't want me to see?" he asked, placing his other arm around her, hugging her.
"Yes," she answered between sobs.
"Why not, why didn't you want me to know this?" he pulled her closer, resting his forehead atop her head.
"Because, I knew if you knew, then you would try to kill him," she pointed at the body not ten feet away.
"Bonnie, how can you let this happen? Every night I watch you twist and turn in torment, and can't do a thing because you barred me from your mind," he gently stroked her hair. "I can't bare to see you unhappy, Bonnie; I couldn't let that monster continue to do this to you."
"I...Nate...I'm so sorry," she buried herself further into his shoulder, seeing the scars there from his battle with Quetzalcoatl. "All this is my fault, it's all my fault."
Now it was Nate's turn to slap her, not hard, but just enough to get her attention.
"Listen to me, none of this is your fault, so stop taking responsibility for my mistakes," he said a little too forcefully, then he softened. "Bonnie, I love you, you know I do, please, don't beat yourself up for what you haven't done."
"Nate," she looked up at him, finally, and leaned forward, kissing him harder than she had in a long time. "Thank you, for everything."
"Come on, time to wake up," he smiled and she returned it wholeheartedly.
==
Bonnie's eyes were first to open, feeling the soft touch on her cheek, and gently brushed the hand away. As she was doing so, the hand grabbed hers and brought it behind her, for Nate to lightly kiss it. She blushed and pulled her hand away; no one, not a single person she had knows was like him. Many promised as much, but none had ever delivered. He was, for lack of a better term, the best thing that had ever happened to her.
"Nate?"
"Hm?"
"I meant it, thanks for everything."
"I know, Bonnie, and I meant what I said," his hand moved from where he had let hers go, to her abdomen, and lightly rubbed it. "I know I don't say it enough, but I love you Bonnie (It has come to my attention while reading some back chapters of this story, but Nate has never told Bonnie he loves her. Why didn't anyone call me on that?)."
The door then opened and in walked Shego, no Kim this time, talking off her scarf and winter coat. She looked over at the two on the couch, snickering slightly at the compromising situation they were in. Her hat came next, her long hair spilling out from where it had been confined. Boots were next, being placed in the closet, on the mat, to soak up the water.
"Well, looked like you two had a productive evening," she said with a smile as she sat in the chair adjacent to the couch.
"You could say that," Nate said as he settled further in to the couch, pulling Bonnie closer in the process.
"Where's Kim?" Bonnie asked, having expected the two lovers to be together.
"She went home to help her mother put up Christmas decorations," the raven-haired fighter said.
Nate found this somewhat odd, surely Shego would have gone with her. It didn't make sense for Kim to just send Shego away, unless there was something wrong.
"Does she want it to be a surprise, or something like that?" her brother, the seemingly all-knowing one, asked.
"Yeah, that...that's exactly it," she stammered slightly, wondering how he knew that exactly.
"I thought so," he said, closing his eyes. "You two are too close to be experiencing any type of separation, and most of the villains are dead; so she can't be off to 'save the world.'"
Bonnie giggled a little at that, she remembered those days, when she would always rag on Kim for being late for, or missing, cheerleading practice. Then, one day, this boy showed up and changed everything for them. Even though he had originally seemed to be after Kim, she now knew that it was just to get her to realize her feelings for Shego. And since that night at the Holloween party, she had just been infatuated with him.
'But he always seemed so far away, so untouchable,' she thought as she placed her hand over the one that was on her stomach. 'Then he just showed up with his mother, and gave me that cloak (which she still has), it was like it was meant to be.'
Then her thoughts were interrupted as Shego turned the TV on, trying to find something to watch. The channels flicked by on the large screen, barely on one before it changed to another. Finally the channel surfing stopped on something they could all watch, the preview channel.
"Man, five thousand channels, and nothing to watch," Shego moaned as she sat further in the chair.
"There's always anime," Nate said.
"Yeah, but the good stuff doesn't start for another hour."
"Hey, Mom, what would be a good gift for Sam?" Kim asked as she checked her bank account. "I want this year to be really special."
"Well," her mother said from the kitchen, "you could always make her something."
Kim sighed as she slumped onto the couch, how do you get a gift for a woman who could have just about anything she wanted? She knew that with just the flick of her wrist, Shego would have half the boys, and many of the girls, from Middleton High groveling at her feet. Pulling out her kimmunicator, she started searching through clothing websites for something her girlfriend might like.
Her boots, last year's gift from Shego, sat by the door. Shego had given her them after a hiking accident, where hers had been torn beyond repair. This year her gift had to be something she would never expect, something so outrageous, so extravagant, that nothing could ever top it. A ring, no, a necklace, no, earrings, no, no, no, nothing was good enough.
"Why is this so hard?" she whined. "I'm Kim Possible, I can do anything...except shop for the love of my life."
She turned to lay on her back, kimmunicator held up at arms' length. Continuing to hit buttons, she searched and searched, trying to find a way to find out what Shego would want. Then it hit her, why not ask the person who knew her best...Nate. quickly her fingers looked up the Sindel house number, and dialed.
The phone rang, and Nate reached over the back of the couch to grab it off the small table behind it. First he checked the number, and pressed the talk button.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Nate, good, I was hoping to talk to you," he heard Kim's voice.
"Oh, and why me?" he asked, a little suspicious now.
"Because I need to know what to get Sam for Christmas."
"Ah, I see, well I'm sure that she'll love whatever you get her," he said reassuringly.
"I know, but can you meet me in the park in, like, ten minutes?" she asked in a bit of a hesitant voice.
"Sure, we can discuss this there."
"Thanks, see you there."
There was a click, and the line went dead. He clicked the phone off and placed it back on the receiver. Turning to Shego, he saw that she already knew who it was, and what it was about. Looking down, he saw that Bonnie was asleep again, this time with a smile on her face. Gently he pulled himself out from behind her and stood up, making his way for the closet.
"What did Kim want?" Shego asked.
"Oh, I had almost forgotten that her and I planned to go shopping together," he quickly half-lied, knowing that this little expedition will lead them to the mall.
"Okay, well, don't stay out too late," she said in a 'I'm-the-big-sister-and-I'm-just-looking-out-for-you' tone.
"If she wakes up, tell her I went shopping," he pulled on his coat and boots, lacing them up, and tightening the knot. "Dinner is in the fridge, try to finish off some of the leftovers."
"Alright, alright," she waved him off as he opened the door and was gone. "He's just like Mom sometimes."
It didn't take long for Nate to get to the park, especially with his jeep having four-wheel drive (honestly, I can't live without it). He had only been waiting a few minutes when Kim pulled up in her little VW Bug, the traction was so bad she almost slid into his precious vehicle. By a sheer stroke of luck, or maybe it was skill, she managed to slide into the spot next to him.
"Luck or skill, gotta give her some credit," he said to himself as the door opened and she got out.
"Thanks for coming, Nate," she said as she reached him. "I don't know if I can do this without an expert."
"Well, I'm glad you called me then," he smiled a little, though he doubt she saw it in the near-blizzard conditions they were standing in. "So, what should we do."
"We should probably head to the mall..."
'Called that one,' Nate thought with a bemused sense of self-satisfaction.
"...that way we'll have everything right there for us to choose from."
"Right, we'll take my jeep," he said, and started right for it.
"Why not my car?"
"Kim, I don't care if you can 'do anything,' I don't trust you driving in the snow," he called back over his shoulder. "Come on, it's all warmed up and ready to go."
"Well, alright, if you insist."
He got to the door and opened it for her, then closed it and walked around, getting into the driver's side. Almost out of pure instinct he knocked her hand away from the stereo, glaring at her in the process.
"Don't be messing with my radio, Kim," he growled, barely containing himself from ripping her arm off. If there was one thing you didn't do in his jeep, it was touch his radio.
She huffed and settled back in her seat, pulling the seatbelt around and hooking it in. Rock music began to blare from the stereo, loud and hard. Meteora would be the name of the CD, and Linkin Park the name of the band, the song was...um...who cares what song, they all kick ass. The only thing that mattered to Nate was that Kim knew who controlled what they listen too.
Luckily for them the snow was keeping most of the people in town indoors, so the roads were practically barren. Nate had one hand on the steering wheel, the other on the armrest, fingers drumming to the beat. Kim, having gotten used to having control, was sitting with her arms crossed; trying to find what Nate found interesting this music. She, of course, got to pick what to listen to in Shego's car, mainly because they enjoyed the same music.
They pulled into the mall parking lot in almost no time at all, and Nate, just for fun, did a few donuts in a mostly empty portion. Finally he parked and turned off the radio, removing the faceplate in the process. He and Kim got out and started for the mall, him pressing a button on his remote to lock the jeep.
Her mood seemed to lighten as they entered the large building, which, as always, was bustling with people. She grabbed Nate's hand and started pulling him towards a store, but soon realized she wasn't moving. Through a combination of her shoes being too wet, and Nate not wanting to be moved, she merely succeeded in making a small spectacle of herself.
"Kim, there's no hurry, we have all day," he said as he pulled his hand from hers.
"Oh, I thought we would do this really quick."
Nate sighed heavily as he wiped his shoes on the mat provided, taking his time. "Sam is, how shall I say, hard to shop for. She may seem to be all about material things, but really she just wants the people around her to be happy. Besides, you and I haven't hung out in a while without the others."
"Right," she conceded, 'again.'
As they walked through the mall, they looked in just about every store they thought might have something. Nate felt odd about this; like this situation would never present itself ever again, like he would never be this happy again. He couldn't quite understand it, but, instead of letting it trouble him, he simply went about his business. After checking all the jewelry stores, they decided to check out Club Banana, it was always worth a visit anyway. Upon entering, they saw Monique working the register, Kim was quick to break away to talk to her friend.
'I wonder if she would like this?' he picked up a purple sweater, then put it down, realizing she already had this one. 'It's harder than shopping for Mom.'
"Hey, Nate, come on, I don't think we're gonna find anything here," Kim called from the door.
After a quick wave to Monique, they were gone, heading down the north wing of the massive mall. While walking, they passed Josh Mankey, who seemed to be in the grasp of one of Kim's fellow cheerleaders.
"You know, Josh actually asked me if Sam and I weren't seeing each other," Kim said in a quiet tone.
"Well, from the looks of it," Nate cast a glance over his shoulder at the boy, "he wants another go."
"Psh, like I would ever let that happen, again," the redhead scoffed at that memory. "That time in my life is over."
"Agreed," he nodded looking around, "let's try there."
"Sure."
They entered the small store and looked around at all the different trinkets it had to offer. There were quite a few shiny stones and polished rocks, a few woven baskets, and some small statues of ancient deities. Nate seemed particularly interested in those, looking at each one thoroughly. He would laugh and snicker at a few of them, remember what a few of them had been like. Others he glared at with a look of deep contempt, also remembering what they had been like. After a few minutes he found his, and picked it up, looking at the statue of what his people viewed him as.
He met Kim at the register and saw her holding a small, blue stone, with what looked like a storm of color swirling within. She looked down at what he got, and then back up at him, smiling at the resemblance. They reached the register and Nate gestured her to go first. The woman rang them up and they were gone, Nate having paid considerably more than Kim for the statue.
"So, what will Bonnie do with that?" Kim asked, eyeing the box that contained the gift. "Why would she need it if she's already got the real thing?"
"For posterity," he replied. "Hey, can I stash this at your place for now?"
"Sure, you guys are coming over for Christmas dinner anyway," Kim said in a matter-of-factly tone, "right?"
"Yeah, unless something comes up, we'll be there."
Glancing at his watch, Nate saw that they had been there for almost three hours, and the skylights above told them that night had settled in. No real surprise there, it was winter after all, and the days were getting shorter. Soon it would be the winter solstice, the time when the darkness was at its strongest. He was hoping that she wasn't going to try anything.
'Mor, please, give me no trouble this year,' he silently pleaded.
They passed Josh again, who was looking even more depressed this time around. He eagerly waved to them, almost begging them to come over to where he was. It was by this time they noticed he was alone, no hyped-up cheerleader hanging off him. Nate looked to Kim, and she looked at him, together they nodded and strode over to him.
"Hey Kim, who's this?" he asked, giving Nate a sideways glance.
"Nate Sindel, how have you been Josh?" Nate asked as he extended his hand. "Mother doing alright, how about your little brother?"
"Uh, they're fine," Josh said as he scratched his head, his other hand taking Nate's and shaking it, wincing as the assassin squeezed.
"Nate, stop that, be nice," Kim said almost playfully as she batted his shoulder.
He let go of Josh's hand and placed it back on the gift, smirking a little as he did.
"So, Josh, what brings you here?" Kim asked.
"Oh, you know, last minute gifts for second and third cousins," Josh answered, though he seemed a little preoccupied with his hand.
"That's cool, well, we should get going," she said and started to move away. "Merry Christmas, Josh."
"Yeah, same to you," he said, with a look in his eyes that gave Nate a strange feeling.
As they walked away, Nate knew that the teen was still watching them, well, to be more precise, he was watching Kim. For some reason, Nate couldn't see into his mind, someone was blocking him, and I'll give you three guesses as to who it is. There was no real reason for her to have any interest in that boy, Kim had given up on him when the 'incident' had been resolved.
"Kim, I think I'd better drive you home, we can get your car tomorrow," Nate said in a very casual manner.
"Nate, I'm quite capable of driv..."
"I don't want to hear anything about it, your car sucks in the snow, and I have a bad feeling about tonight," he stopped her before she could say anything else. "I let you drive that thing in weather like this, we'll go and pick it up tomorrow."
"Well, if you have a bad feeling, then we should probably just drop off the gifts at my house, and then go to yours. Does that sound better?"
"Better for who, me, or Sam?" he winked and Kim giggled a little.
They reached the door to the parking lot where the jeep was parked, and Nate opened the door. While holding it for Kim, he looked back the way they came, and saw that Josh had followed them. He smirked again as he followed Kim out the door, then used a slight mental push to lock it. They walked through the deepening snow to the vehicle, and Nate unlocked it. He helped Kim in, and then got in himself, stealing a glance back at the door to see Josh struggling with the locked door.
'That takes care of one problem,' he thought as he started the engine.
TBC
Well, that's the newest chapter, can you believe it only took me three sleepless nights to write this? Yes, I have been neglecting this story, and for that I apologize, there's not reason for it. Heh, all I needed was some good music, something to jar the creative side of my brain. I'm hoping the HTML tags that I placed here will work, I gotta find out how they do that. Who's they? Other authors, of course. Okay, here's what I need your help with, should I have Josh complete whatever he was meaning to do, or should I just have him stay at door.