Chapter 13

"What's my role in this mission, dear?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"Ship's surgeon. Considering Shego's condition, you need to be there to keep her going. Everything depends on her," was the answer.

Mrs. Possible nodded. "Okay, I'm in too."

"Kimmie, Ronald, you will help Shego, and do the delivery and setup of the bomb and the experiments," said Mr. Possible.

"You got it, Dr. P!" said Ron, giving a thumbs up. Rufus did the same.

"Are we all agreed, then?" he asked, looking around the room.

Everyone nodded, Shego reluctantly.

"Great! Wade, the techs at the Space Center are waiting to hear from you. I want you to look over everthing, and see what needs do be done," said Mr. Possible.

"On, it," said Wade, and the Kimmunicator screen went dark.

"What about our boys?" asked Mrs. Possible.

"I think we need to send them to stay with Nana. We don't need them underfoot right now," he answered.

"I agree. I'll call her in a few minutes, and see if they can go tonight," said Mrs. Possible.

"Are you sure you don't want them with us? They'd be able to take the asteroid apart with their bare hands," commented Kim.

There were chuckles around the room.

"Okay, first thing tomorrow, we're all going to the Space Center to be outfitted, and start getting familiar with the equipment," said Mr. Possible.

"Ah, Mr. Dr. P? What do I tell my parents?" asked Ron.

The aforementioned Mr. Dr. P sighed. "Nothing, Ronald. Just that this will be an extra-long mission. You can say Kim's mom and I are involved, if you think it would help. It's going to be a top-secret operation, and keeping it quiet is key."

"Got it, sir, thanks," said Ron.

"I might as well say that I have experience in space too, and I can fly pretty much anything," said Shego.

"Great! That will save a lot of time!" said Mr. Possible. "If there's nothing else, I suggest dinner! I'm starving!"

Kim and Ron helped set the table, and bring the dishes to it.

Kim was about to sit down, when she noticed Shego wasn't there.

"Back in a minute," she said, and left the room.

The living room was empty, as was her room. The master bath was open, and she wasn't in the guest room. That left one possibility. She went downstairs, and there was Shego, sitting on the bench with her back to the door.

"What do you want, Kim?" asked Shego without looking around.

"Is something wrong?" Kim asked, stepping into the room.

"I'm sulking. Go away," answered Shego.

Kim blinked. "Why?"

"Wounded pride. You got the better of me. AGAIN!" was the answer.

"So not the drama, Shego, we're talking about saving the world!" protested Kim.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you always have the best intentions," said Shego.

Kim walked over to her, and Shego suddenly turned around and put a finger in Kim's face. "You used two, count 'em, two, rotten, low-down, dirty, underhanded tricks to get what you wanted!"

Kim was taken aback. "But-"

Shego grinned. "I'm very proud of you."

"Uh... what do you mean?" Kim was very confused.

"You're not quite the goody two-shoes I've always thought you were," said Shego, and stood up.

Kim didn't know weither to be insulted or flattered.

"Let's go eat, I'm starved," said Shego, and disappeared up the stairs. Kim followed slowly, bemused.

The Possible family, plus guests and minus the twins, had a quiet dinner. Most of them were pondering what the next month would bring.

Shego looked at Mrs. Possible and smirked. "Last mission, huh?"

Mrs. Possible took a deep breath, thought better of answering, then rolled her eyes and continued to eat.

Unable to get a rise out of her, Shego turned to Kim. "You know, you took a big risk with CeCe."

"She nearly killed you, Shego," said Kim, "I did what I had to do to get her away from you and Ron."

Upon hearing his name, the blonde boy looked at his redheaded friend briefly, then went back to his food.

"That's not what I'm talking about," said the older girl around a mouthfull of mashed potatoes.

"Well, what, then?" asked Kim, taking a bite of meatloaf, which mercifully wasn't brain-shaped, this time.

"You were on pretty safe ground when you guessed Dr. D hadn't waterproofed her. I would have taken that gamble myself. But turning off the speed shoes right in front of her was foolish. She might have blasted you," answered Shego.

Kim grinned. "The time limit was nearly up anyway. But it wasn't as big a risk as you might think. I've fought the BeBes before, and I could tell he hadn't made any major modifications to the programming. You know how single-minded they are..."

Shego nodded, drinking some iced tea.

"All I had to do was get her in position, then do something unexpected to keep her attention on me. I knew she would follow me back to normal speed, just out of curiosity to see what I was up to. After that, it was all over. My only mistake was forgetting about the electricity," said Kim.

Shego shook her head. "You're more of a risk-taker than I ever thought," she said quietly, "Two surprises in one night. What surprise do you have planned for tomorrow?"

Kim smiled, a little embarrassed, and shrugged.

After dinner, Ron walked home slowly, pondering what to tell his parents. He had to tell them something, but what?

"I dunno, Rufus, what do you think I should say?" he asked his little friend.

Rufus looked up at him, and shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno," he offered.

"You're a lot of help," Ron muttered.

Arriving home, he found his parents in the living room, watching the news.

"Mom, Dad, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"Sure, son," said his dad, and turned down the sound. "What's up?"

"Well, Kim and I have a mission that starts tomorrow, but we won't actually leave on it for a month. We have to take some training first," he said.

"I see. What kind of mission?" asked Mr. Stoppable.

"That's the thing," said Ron, rubbing the back of his head, "I can't tell you, it's secret."

"It sounds dangerous," said Mrs. Stoppable, "I don't think I like this mission."

"We're going to try to save the world," said Ron, "At least as much of it as we can save."

"What does that mean?" asked his father.

"Uh, sorry, I shouldn't have said that," said Ron, then brightened, "But I can tell you that Shego, and Mr. and Mrs. Possible are going too."

"Well, Ronald, you are an adult, and can make your own decisions. If you think this mission is important, then do it," said his dad.

"Yes, Son, I agree," said his Mom, "It's like a mother to worry, but I know you will be fine."

"BOOYAH!" said Ron, and high-fived with Rufus. "You guys are the greatest!"

"You say this mission starts tomorrow?" asked his dad.

"Yes, sir. They are going to pick me up at seven, and I don't know when or if I'll be back," he answered.

"Then you better get to bed early. Have you eaten?" asked his mom.

"Yeah, Mom, but I'm always ready to fill in the corners," he said.

After some snackage, he went upstairs to his room. He IMed Felix that he would be busy for the next month, so had to cancel their game nights. He wrote Frederick the astronaut monkey who was still aboard the space station, telling him they might have a chance to get together soon.

About 10 o'clock, Ron changed into his nightclothes, turned off the light, and slipped into bed. He lay on his back, as Rufus settled in beside him.

"Y'know, Rufus, I've got great parents. I tell them I'm going to be gone on a mission for a month, and they support me. How many parents would do that?" he said.

"Dunno," said Rufus, shrugging.

"I don't know either, but not too many, I can tell you that much. Yeah, I'm really lucky..." he turned over, and drifted off.