Kim Possible and all related characters and indicia are owned by the Disney Corporation. Supergirl and all related characters and indicia are owned by DC Comics/Warner Bros. This work of fan fiction is written for pleasure, not profit.

The Talon had a pretty good crowd for an early Wednesday evening. At least that was Kara's opinion. Kim supposed there were fifty or sixty people, either in the Talon itself, or hanging out on the sidewalk outside. By the time Kim parked the Team Possible van and the three of them got out, most of the people who had been in the Talon had joined those loitering outside. The crowd began pelting Kara with questions, but she waved them into silence and said, "Let's go inside. Kim can explain everything to you then."

The interior of the Talon was a study in contrasts. The heart of the place was the first room they entered: the coffee bar itself with its scattering of small tables. Three main areas opened off the bar: an arcade, with a nice sample of the latest video games and a number of pool tables; a dance floor, mostly deserted at the moment; and an area of tables separated by curtain walls arranged to give each table a degree of privacy. A jukebox hooked in to the building's sound system provided background music in the form of a sugary pop dance tune.

As Kim and Ron followed Kara into the coffee bar with the crowd on their heels, Kara was greeted by the girl behind the bar.

"Kara Kent! It's about damn time you showed up! We're all about to burst with curiosity."

"Strange words to hear coming from the mouth of Susan 'I mind my own business' Ross," Kara retorted. The girl behind the counter chuckled.

"Okay, okay," she said, grinning, her ivory smile bright against her chocolate brown skin. "You win. But at least you can introduce me." Kara grinned back.

"That I can do. Susan, this is Kim Possible, and this is Ron Stoppable. Kim, Ron, this is my friend Susan Ross." Susan smiled.

"Kara has all the luck," she said enviously, "going to Metropolis all the time, meeting famous superheroes. I should be so lucky."

Kim shook Susan's hand with a smile. "It's a pleasure to meet you too. Ron and I are hoping you can give us a hand."

"Oh really?" Susan asked, surprise evident in her voice. "I take it you aren't in Smallville for the fun of it."

"That's right," Kim confirmed with a nod. "We think Monkey Fist has set up shop somewhere around here." Susan's eyes widened in amazement. "A real supervillain in Smallville. Wow!"

The crowd gathered around them was quite large now, and it was getting hard to hear and talk over the jabber of dozens of voices and the constant barrage of questions. Mention of Monkey Fist had caused a stir as well.

"I think it's time for everyone to get a proper explanation," Kara said. "Susan, could I have the mike please? And could you fire up the PA system?"

"You got it girlfriend," Susan said, producing a wireless microphone from beneath the bar. A shelf behind the bar held the heart of the Talon's sound system. Susan turned a switch and the music died, replaced by a faint hum.

Kara held the mike up and spoke into it. "Hello! I know you're all dying to know what Team Possible is doing in Smallville." There was a chorus of agreement from the crowd. "The short answer is that there's a supervillain on the loose in town, and Kim and Ron are here to take him out. As to the long answer, it's best if you get that from Team Possible themselves." Kara gave the mike to Kim and spoke into her ear, "You're on!"

Kim was grateful that she was no stranger to public speaking. She calmly launched into an edited version of the events that had brought her and Ron to town. She was careful not to mention Jimmy Traskill at all. When the explanation was over she took questions, fielding them adroitly. The inevitable questions about how she knew Kara Kent were answered with only slight distortions of the truth. After all, she and Ron really had met Kara in Metropolis during the Duff Killigan case. Sure, Kara had been in uniform as Supergirl at the time, but the crowd here didn't need to know that. Someone did ask if Jimmy Traskill's disappearance was linked to Monkey Fist. Kim responded by shrugging her shoulders and saying she really had no idea. Her discomfort at lying must have shown a bit, because she was pressed on that matter and had to clarify herself.

"We don't know that Monkey Fist had anything to do with Jimmy Traskill's de-disappearance," Kim said. "And I'm afraid that whatever suspicions we have, we're not at liberty to discuss at the moment." There was a chorus of complaints. Kim went on in a mollifying tone. "I promise though, that when the time comes, you'll get a full explanation." Kara took the microphone then.

"In the meantime," she said, "Kim and Ron could use our help." That sent a buzz of curiosity through the crowd. "Obviously, we know this area better than they do. So if anyone has seen or heard anything suspicious, or even unusual, you can let them know by emailing Kim at her website, or you can call my Aunt and Uncle's and leave a message, or you can call me; I think most of you know my cell phone number."

The crowd broke apart after that, splitting into small groups to gossip excitedly about the events of the day. Kim chatted with a few people who lingered to offer leads. None sounded particularly promising, but she dutifully recorded them in her Kimmunicator. When that was done she turned to find Ron leaning on the bar, sipping a cafe mocha and flirting shamelessly with Susan Ross. "He doesn't waste any time does he?" Kara asked, her amusement evident.

"He's a lot more confident than he used to be," Kim agreed. "Thanks in no small part to you, of course," she added quietly. Kara smiled, then glanced warily about. "Then it had the effect I'd intended," she replied, her voice low.

"She doesn't have a boyfriend, does she?" Kim asked. Kara frowned. "Actually, yes, she does."

"I suppose we'd better pry him away then," Kim sighed.

By the time they left the Talon it was quite dark, the sun having set more than an hour ago. Kim and Ron decided to wait until the next day to interview anyone else, and the three headed back to the Kent farm, where Mr. and Mrs. Kent had offered to put them up.

When they arrived Kara insisted they come out to the barn with her. "I want to show you guys my lair," she grinned. Part of the hayloft had been converted into a kind of den/workshop, with chairs, a table, workbenches and a telescope set up at the loft door. Kara made a beeline for the telescope, a very nice six inch reflector model with plenty of accessories, including a two-axis drive system. She slid the loft door open and bent over the scope while Kim and Ron watched curiously.

"So how did you come to live with the Kents, Kara, if you don't mind me asking?" Ron said, breaking the silence. Kara looked up. "Not at all. After Superman brought me here from Argo I stayed at Star Labs in Metropolis, but Superman didn't think that was a very healthy environment for a girl who'd lost her entire family and found herself a stranger in a very strange world." She returned to fiddling with the telescope. "Superman knows Clark, of course, and mentioned his little problem to him. Clark suggested that his parents might take me in, and that staying in Smallville would make it easier for me to adjust to life here, since any screw-ups I made could be explained away as a result of living in the big city all my life."

"Staying in Smallville would make it easier for you to adjust to life in Smallville?" Ron repeated, sounding confused. Kara shook her head and Kim chimed in, "She means life here on Earth Ron."

"Exactly," Kara agreed. "I had to learn to speak English first of all. Fortunately Professor Hamilton, that's another friend of Superman's, had a prototype teaching machine that not only let me learn American English in two weeks, but even gave me a New England accent." Her voice shifted into a distinct Yankee twang as she spoke the last, and Ron shook his head in amazement.

"What about your background," Kim asked. "You couldn't just take the name Kent and appear out of the blue..."

"True, but Uncle Jonathan has cousins of one degree or another all over America. The Kent's of Kansas came from Boston originally anyway, so it wasn't hard to pass me off as the recently orphaned daughter of a cousin no one around here had ever heard of."

"And your school records, birth certificate, that sort of thing?"

"Faked up by another of Superman's friends." Kara frowned slightly. "Well, he's not really a friend, exactly, and he didn't do the actual faking, one of his colleagues did, but he planted the stuff."

"Who's that?"

"The Batman," Kara said absently. "Ah, there we are." She stood up. "Here's something you might be interested in. Have a look, just don't touch anything. I have the 'scope set to track it."

Not sure what Kara was talking about Kim bent to look into the eyepiece. "What am I looking for," she asked.

"See the red dot in the center of the field of vision?"

"Yes."

"That's where I'm from."

A shiver of wonder ran down Kim's spine as she looked at the tiny pinprick of red fire. She thought for a moment that she could actually see a round disk, but decided that it was her imagination. There was no way to see that at this...

"How far?" she asked softly, not looking up.

"Six thousand light years."

"Wow," was all Kim could think of to say.

Ron took a turn at the eyepiece. "That would mean that the light we're seeing now..."

"...is the light that left just about the time Argo was settled from Krypton." Kara shook her head. "But enough of that. If I talk about it too much I'll get depressed, and that's no fun. Have at look at this instead," she suggested, crossing to a workbench and flipping a few switches. A boxlike machine a foot or so on a side rose into the air with a hum until it hovered a foot above the bench. Two cables, one thick one for power, another skinny one for data, were all that attached the box to anything. Ron gave Kara an interested look.

"How are you doing that?" he wondered, passing his hands all around the box, checking for wires and finding none.

"It's a very large, very crude counter-gravity coil," Kara replied. Even as she spoke an alarm began to chirp and the box descended to the bench again. Waves of heat and a little smoke rose from the top of the box. Kara picked up a desktop fan, turned it on and aimed it into the box. "It'll revolutionize life here," Kara said.

"I don't doubt it," Kim said skeptically, "but it doesn't seem very reliable."

"Oh of course not," Kara agreed. "I'll need better materials and better computers to make it work really well. But I'll be 'inventing' those as well."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked.

"Simple. After I graduate from college I'm going into the technology business - the Argoan/Kryptonian technology business to be exact. You should consider investing in Kent Technologies when I take it public. It'll take time of course. Years, in fact, but in the end it'll put Microsoft to shame."

Kim stared as she took in the full implications of what Kara had just said. If she went through with her plan, life on Earth would be radically changed and...Kim stopped. 'What the Hell am I worried about?' Cars, planes, telephones, radios and the like had all radically altered life on Earth. That's what technological advances did. She relaxed and smiled. "I'll start saving for my investment now then."

"Sweet! Let me show you some of the other stuff I'm working on." Kara fired up several more gadgets, and launched into a technical discourse about each that soon made Kim's eyelids droop. Technology wasn't something Kim got excited about. At least not for its own sake. Gadgets came in handy, but you didn't need to understand how they worked to use them. Kim yawned widely.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "I guess I'm a bit more tired than I thought. I think I'll turn in for the night. Don't stay up too late Ron, I want to get an early start tomorrow. Good night Kara." Kim headed for the ladder down to the ground floor.

"Good night Kim," Kara called after her. "Night K.P.," Ron added, "I won't stay up too late." Kara crossed to one of the loft's windows and watched Kim walk back to the house. As she went inside Mr. Kent came out and called, "Remember it's a school night, Kara. Don't stay up all night."

"I won't, Uncle Jonathan."

Closing the window Kara turned to Ron. "I thought she was never going to leave."

"Who, Kim? Why would you want her...to...leave?" Ron's words trailed off as Kara gave him a smoldering look.

"I thought we could use a little time alone to get to know each other better. Much better," Kara added as she crossed to where Ron stood, took hold of his shirt, and planted a passionate kiss on his lips. Ron's brain was wondering what the Hell was going on, but his hands and mouth knew what to do. His arms slid around Kara's waist, drawing her against him, while he returned the kiss with equal enthusiasm. When they came up for air Ron asked, amused and hopeful at the same time, "Are you offering what I think you're offering?"

Kara pursed her lips thoughtfully. "If you think I'm offering to fuck your brains out, then yes, I'm offering what you think I'm offering," she nodded.

"Hallelujah!" Ron exclaimed softly. He was leaning in to kiss Kara again when he paused. He began a frantic search of his pockets while Kara looked on in confusion. "Damn!" he swore. He gave Kara a stricken look. "I don't have any rubbers with me," he said. Kara grinned and went to her workbench. A drawer yielded up a box of condoms. "I have plenty," she assured him. Then she let them fall back into the drawer and closed it. "Fortunately, we won't need them."

"Are you sure, Kara? I mean, using them is the smart thing to do," Ron said as she approached him again. Kara gently pushed him back until he sat down on a wooden chair. "That's very responsible of you Ron," she said approvingly as she began unbuttoning her shirt. "And if you were anyone else I'd insist, but only for the sake of appearances. And since you know my secret that isn't necessary."

Ron was staring hungrily at the inner curves of Kara's breasts and the creamy white lace of her bra. Hormones were raging through his blood, but he kept his head enough to ask, "Why isn't it necessary?"

"Why do people use condoms?" Kara asked.

"To prevent unwanted pregnancy, and to block the spread of STD's." Ron nearly choked on the last as Kara let her shirt slide off her shoulders onto the floor.

"As to the second," Kara said, straddling Ron's legs to sit on his lap, "My immune system is as super as the rest of me. I can't catch Earth diseases, not even sexually transmitted ones, and I can't be a carrier either." She shivered as Ron's fingertips glided up her back, tracing her spine. "So I can't catch anything from you, and there's nothing for you to catch from me. As to the first," she went on between hungry kisses, "Appearances to the contrary not withstanding, I'm not human." She moaned softly as one of Ron's hands found a breast and squeezed it gently. "Your DNA comes in twenty-three chromosome pairs, mine comes in twenty-four." Ron was fumbling with the catch on the back of her bra with his free hand, and finally got it loose.

"Which means?" he asked, sliding the straps down her arms and tossing the undergarment to one side.

"You can't get me pregnant no matter how hard you try." She stopped kissing him just long enough to pull his shirt over his head. It joined her bra on the floor.

"I'll try hard anyway," Ron pledged, kissing her again.

"Please do," Kara sighed.