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.
Jonathan Kent took a glass of iced tea from the tray Kara held and leaned back in his easy chair. His house was abuzz with activity, a fact which brought a smile of contentment to his face. It was funny how one grew accustomed to have young folks around. He and Martha had half expected to end their days childless, until Clark literally fell out of the sky and into their lives. When Clark had gone off to college and then on to Metropolis the Kent house had suddenly seemed empty. Oh sure, Clark could and did drop by on a moments notice, but it wasn't the same as when he had lived here. Kara's equally unexpected arrival two years ago had been like a gift from Heaven, despite her stay being far more tumultuous than Clark's. Clark had no personal memories of Krypton, and was almost entirely a product of a typical Midwestern upbringing. Kara, of course, had crystal clear memories of her life on Argo, and was a product of that world's 'typical' culture. The two weren't radically different; in fact Argoan values squared rather nicely with those of central Kansas - in general. The problem was in specifics. Behavior that was perfectly acceptable on Argo could raise eyebrows in Smallville, if not cries of righteous indignation over 'moral degeneracy'. Kara had had some choice words about 'sexually repressed Kansans', especially after... Jonathan shook himself. He didn't think of himself as a prig, but he was admittedly old fashioned about certain matters. He blushed at the mere idea of using the phrase 'slept with', let alone the terms Kara had used after she and Melanie Andrews got in a fight at school over Kara 'getting familiar' with Melanie's boyfriend, Tim Zerble. Jonathan snorted in amusement. He and Martha had agreed not to comment on Kara's amorous adventures after Brainiac (the information storage and retrieval device, not the murderously insane android) explained Argoan sexual mores, beyond suggesting that she limit herself to boys who were 'unattached'. That had worked well enough, though Martha, and to a lesser extent Jonathan, was worried about Kara's growing reputation as a hussy.
"Uncle Jonathan?" Kara's voice shook him out of his reverie. "Ummm?" he vocalized, looking up into Kara's cobalt blue eyes. "You all right?" she asked with a bemused grin. Jonathan smiled back at his 'niece'. "Fine," he assured her, "I was just woolgathering." "Well, Chloe just turned on to Bluejay. She should be here in a few minutes." Jonathan glanced over to where Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable were setting up a video camera and monitor in a corner of the living room so their friend Wade could join the conversation they were going to have when Chloe arrived. Looking back at Kara he spoke again. "Are you sure about this?"
Kara stepped back and hugged herself nervously. "Not really," she confessed, "But if Kim and Ron trust Wade, I guess I can too. Assuming he makes the connection, of course." Jonathan nodded silently. As far as Kim and Ron knew, Wade had no idea that Kara Kent even existed, let alone that she was also the Girl of Steel. Still, Wade had seen Kara Zine, and he might make the same leap Kim and Ron had, even if she was wearing glasses and a different hairstyle.
There was a knock at the front door, then the sound of it opening. Footsteps sounded in the hall and Chloe strode into the Kent's living room. "Sorry I'm late," she apologized breathlessly, "I got behind grading papers."
"No big," Kim assured her with a smile, "We just finished setting up, ourselves."
"Let's get started then," Chloe said. Kim plugged her Kimmunicator into the junction box between the camera, the monitor, and the van's satellite antenna and keyed it. The monitor blinked to life and Wade's broad face appeared on the screen. "Hey Wade," Kim greeted him.
"Hey Kim," he returned. "New friends?" he asked curiously.
"These are the Kent's" she explained. "Jonathan and Martha, and their niece Kara." She had to force herself not to clench her teeth in worry as she said the last. Wade had an uncanny knack for reading her moods, and she didn't want to give the game away by sounding nervous. Wade said nothing, so she plowed on. "Chloe introduced us to them, and they've been kind enough to let us set up shop on their farm." Again Wade said nothing, just nodded silently. "Anyway, we've got an eyewitness account of Monkey Fist now, and a location we're going to check out." She turned to Jonathan. "Mr. Kent, what do you know about a Mr. Healey that owns a machine shop in town?"
Jonathan blinked. "Trevor Healey is involved in this?" He sounded incredulous. Kim swallowed nervously, worried that she'd offended him by insulting a close friend. "He seems to be," she clarified. "At least that's what our eye witness said," she explained, giving a brief sketch of what John Wright had told them. "But we don't know if he's a willing accomplice or if he's being coerced." Jonathan gave her a knowing smile. "Relax Kim," he reassured her. "Now that I think about it, the idea of Trevor Healey working with Monkey Fist isn't that much of a stretch. Not because Trevor is bad, so much as because he doesn't have much sense." He shook his head. "It wouldn't be the first time he's done something stupid."
"What do you mean?" Ron inquired.
Jonathan leaned back in his chair. "I don't know him real well, you understand. His older brother Roger was in my class at school, and he and I would hang out once in a while, so I was aware of Trevor, but I didn't pay much attention to him.
"I do remember that he was always taking things apart and putting them back together, even as a child. When he got older, he worked in his dad's car repair business, and set himself up a little shop in a shed behind their house." Martha chimed in. "He used to make his own radios and television sets, too, and he even built an automatic dishwasher for his mother." She gave her husband a fond look. "Jonathan and Roger didn't really get along that well," she explained, "But Jonathan put up with him because, well, he was Carol Healey's brother." Jonathan's cheeks reddened a bit and Martha grinned wickedly. "I was only using Carol to get to you, dear," he demurred. "You two were best friends after all. And didn't Trevor have a crush on you?" It was Martha's turn to blush. "Yes, he did," she admitted. Turning to the others she went on, "He always wanted to show me his latest creation. I have to admit, some of them were pretty impressive. The only problem was that Trevor never followed through on any of them. If he had, he might be a rich man today."
"He is a rich man, Martha, at least by Smallville standards," Jonathan commented. He paused briefly. "But let's see. What do I know about him? Hmmmm. Well, if you haven't already guessed he's the youngest of three children; he got a degree in mechanical engineering from KSU; he was in the Army for twenty years, which still amazes me because never struck as the type who would handle discipline well. I remember Roger telling me that Trevor worked at Redstone Arsenal as a weapons developer - missiles I think it was; he came back to Smallville in the mid-eighties after he retired; he worked at the fertilizer plant for a while but left on bad terms; then he went to work for Donald Ross but got fired for insubordination; then he set up his own shop and that's pretty much it."
"You said he didn't have much sense," Ron remembered. "How so?"
"Trevor, when he was younger at least, had trouble telling good ideas from bad ideas. Once, when the ice cream parlor got a new jukebox he started taking it apart right there in front of everyone. It never occurred to him that the owner might not appreciate that." Ron nodded. "Plus," Jonathan went on, "He had a penchant for taking things that didn't belong to him. He didn't think of it as stealing, he just didn't think it was necessary to ask permission first. And Heaven help anyone who said 'no' to him or tried to stop him taking something he wanted."
"He had a temper?" Kim asked.
"An explosive temper," Martha said. "Carol used to tell me about the temper tantrums he threw when he was younger. His parents weren't soft on discipline, mind, far from it. His father had no qualms about using his belt on the boy, and his mother would send him out to the garden to pick his own switch when she thought he needed correction."
"He calmed down as a teenager though, somewhat anyway." Jonathan added. "And the Army seemed to teach him self-control at least. I've heard he still has an explosive temper, but he keeps it bottled up for the most part."
"So he's a temperamental genius with bad judgment," Kim summarized.
"Sounds like he and Dr. Drakken would get along great," Wade joked, and Kim chuckled. "Is there anything else?" she asked hopefully.
Martha frowned. "I'm not sure how relevant it is, but he was always jealous of Roger."
"Sibling rivalry?" Chloe asked.
"Way beyond that," Martha corrected. "Carol used to say that it seemed that Trevor hated and envied Roger at the same time. Whatever Roger did, Trevor wanted to do better." She looked over at Jonathan, who nodded solemnly. "Roger played football; Trevor played football. Roger went in the Army; Trevor went in the Army. Roger tried out for the space program; Trevor tried out for the space program."
"He was an astronaut?" Ron whistled.
Jonathan shook his head. "Roger was, though he only ever flew one mission. He was the Command Module pilot of Apollo Nine. Trevor got turned down."
"And when he was," Martha told them, "Carol said he threw a temper tantrum that put all the others to shame. He actually hurt himself bad enough that he had to be hospitalized."
"Wow," was all Kim could say. "Anyway Wade, I want you dig up whatever you can on Mr. Healey, especially his machine shop."
"Blueprints and alarms?"
"Please and thank you," Kim smiled. "Have you found out anything about the mutants yet?"
"Oh yeah," Wade nodded. "Chloe and I have come up with a basic list of mutants, direct relatives, and first cousins."
"How many people?"
"Four hundred and ten."
"Four hundred and ten!" Ron exclaimed. "How many mutants were there?"
"Only twenty-two," Wade said, "And two of those aren't confirmed, just highly suspect." He paused briefly, his brow furrowed in thought. "Twenty-two serious mutations, I should say," Wade clarified. "And by serious I mean mutations that got noticed. There may have been many more that were never detected, even by the people that had them."
"How are we supposed to protect that many?" Kim demanded. Wade held up his hand. "Let me explain. The total number of mutants and their relatives is four hundred and ten, but only three hundred and twenty-seven of them are still alive, and of those only one hundred and seven still live in Smallville or the immediate area."
Kim relaxed a bit. "That's still a lot," she said, "but we can at least warn them. And we'll need to tell Chief Gordon that Monkey Fist is definitely in town."
"Don't forget to tell them about the special people on the list Wade," Chloe chimed in.
"Special people on the list?" Kim asked.
"Of the six surviving mutants, two still live in Smallville."
"They're the special people?"
"No, their kids are."
Chloe took over "Sasha Eswara and Jordan Cross are the mutants. Their 'powers' faded years ago, after they got treatment for kryptonite exposure. They both got cancer but managed to survive it. The whole ordeal gave them something in common and brought them closer together. They got married what, twelve years ago, and have three kids."
"So why didn't Monkey Fist go after them?" Ron wondered.
"He may have," Kara pointed out, "And we just don't know about it yet."
"That's a good point," Wade agreed. "I got hold of Jimmy Traskill's autopsy report. There were no signs of a struggle, and no needle marks, so however he was exposed, it can obviously be done without the victim knowing it."
"We definitely need to warn them," Kim said firmly.
"I'll handle that," Chloe said. "Sasha and Jordan don't like to talk about what happened to them, Sasha especially. She and I were never friends in high school, but we've warmed to each other over the years, more so now that we're colleagues."
"She's a reporter?"
Chloe smiled, "No, school teacher. Second grade, to be exact."
"Ok, we'll leave warning the Cross's to you. In fact, maybe you should warn all of the people on the list. They might take it better coming from someone they know, especially if they're at all sensitive about it."
"I can do that," Chloe agreed. She bit her lip thoughtfully. "I think the city might still have some kryptonite detection kits down at the water treatment plant. I'll see if I can commandeer them."
"Good idea," Jonathan agreed sagely. "That just leaves the problem of what Kim and Ron are going to do about sneaking into Mr. Healey's secret lab."
"We never said we were going to sneak in to his lab," Kim said innocently.
Jonathan gave her a stern look, and she grinned. "Ok, we are," she admitted.
"We'll start planning when Wade gets us the plans and the alarm setup."
Wade seemed to hesitate, then said, "Wouldn't it be easier for Kara to scope the place out with her x-ray vision?"
Kim gaped at him, and Kara threw her hands in the air. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to try," she exclaimed irritably. She glared at the camera. "Ok Wade, what gave me away?"
Wade grinned at her. "Well, the glasses and the different hairstyle worked," he began. "You looked sort of familiar, but I couldn't place you."
"My voice gave me away?"
Wade shook his head.
"Then what?"
"If you look over your left shoulder, there's a picture of you without glasses on that wall. When I saw that, everything else just clicked into place."
Kara went to the wall and took down the offending photograph. Sure enough, it showed her sans spectacles. She sighed. "How the heck did you see this?" she demanded.
"Noticing background details is one of the things Wade does best, Kara," Kim said quietly. "This is my fault. I should have thought of that myself."
"Don't worry, Kim," Kara said, grinning slightly. "I'm sure I can trust Wade. And now that he's pointed this out I can get rid of any photographs of me without my glasses."
Kim smiled, relieved that Kara wasn't upset. "He does have a point though. Would you mind..?"
"Oh, not at all," Kara said, "I was going to suggest it myself." She paused. "Although, I have to say that I don't want to parade around Smallville as Supergirl unless it's absolutely necessary. Are you two ok with that?"
"Of course," Ron said immediately, Kim echoing him.
"Good. Of course, if you really think you need my help, don't hesitate to call. Now, it's nearly supper time. If you two will help Aunt Martha get supper ready, I'll go take a look at this lab of yours and sketch us a map, and we can plan the night's adventures while we eat."
