Ah, I'm FINALLY back. This story will continue. It'll probably be a couple more chapters, maybe three. Also look for a couple new stories I'm working on that should be up soon. As always, everything is owned by Disney. (P.S. Didn't know Tara's last name, so just used the actress')

Prodigy

Chapter 7 - Anti-Climax

Before:

Bonnie brushed off her outfit with as indifferent a manner as she could muster, checking for any rips she might have gotten in the struggle. All this was, of course, Possible's fault. It wasn't enough for her to prance about saving the world, she had to have thugs following her back to school and ruining things. And in the end, Bonnie hadn't needed 'Miss Perfect' after all. She'd escaped just fine on her own, though she conveniently forgot about the rest of the group that Kim had fought off single-handed. The cheerleader cast an annoyed glance at the red-headed nuisance in question as she stared at the hole in the gymnasium wall.

"Something's fishy about this," Kim mused mostly to herself. "They were dressed like Drakken's henchman, but they didn't seem like his usual type. His thugs were never this precise. Besides, he'd have wanted to be here to gloat. And no way would Shego miss out on a chance to try and take me out..."

"Well, you coulda tried questioning one of them," Bonnie remarked smoothly. "Too bad you let 'em all get away. You'd think that a HERO would have done a little better."

"I didn't see you helping, Bonnie," Kim forced through gritted teeth, trying not to loose her cool.

"Whatever," was the brunette's flippant reply. "Not my job, now is it. You're the big superhero around here Kimmie." With that she turned around and walked from the gym, leaving a seething Kim Possible in her wake. The students were dismissed for the remainder of the day because of the disturbance and Bonnie left with the rest of them, ignorant to the pair of eyes that watched her through binoculars.

"Sir, shouldn't we be getting out of here?" Major Greg Roberts turned from his observation of the girl to stare holes in the soldier who'd asked the question.

"The girl saw my face, Howards," Roberts answered, his voice like ice. "She gives a description to the cops, which gets to the military, and it'd be pretty simple for them to find me. And even if she wouldn't normally talk, Possible knows she saw me too and she'd make sure that the authorities knew it."

"Well, what should we do then, sir?" Roberts raised the binoculars again, watching the girl a little longer before answering.

"Find out where she lives."

The blackness of sleep slowly began to lift and sensation slowly started to return to my body. I could feel cool metal against my back through the shirt I was wearing, which made me realize I was inside somewhere warm and my coat was gone. There seemed to be restraints on my wrists and ankles as well which caused my panic level to spike a little. What really snapped be out of it though, was the small burning felling in my arm. My eyes snapped open to find myself strapped to a table and someone sticking a needle into my arm. The buzzing flared up and the guy hardly had time to notice I was awake before he was thrown into the wall. I held him there as I mentally ripped the straps from my arms and legs.

"What the hell were you doing?" I ground out, my vision going a little red from anger and panic. He started to make some official sounding lecture about how I shouldn't be assaulting anyone and such, but I cut him off. "What the HELL were you DOING!" He winced as I accented my question by knocking him against the wall again.

"Just taking a blood sample," he gasped, struggling futilely against the invisible force that held him. The guy couldn't have been much older than me and looked about as clean cut as you could get. Even his hair was slicked back perfectly, except for what had come loose from me tossing him around. Before I could ask him where I was, however, someone shouting from the door cut me off.

"Put him down," two people wearing the same uniform as the guy I held were standing in the doorway, their guns trained on me. My confident attitude faltered a bit, but my brain still seemed to be thinking. A few of the metal stools in the room began floating into the air, causing the two at the door to grip their weapons a little harder and repeat their warning. Of course, I was still a little to out of it to completely understand them and my brain wasn't cooperating at all, still preparing to hurl the stools at them. Luckily a third person appeared, diffusing the situation rather quickly.

"Agents, stand down immediately." The guns were instantly holstered and the two people moved aside to make room for the newcomer. She wore a variation of the same outfit, but from the way she acted it was obvious she was the one in charge. I suddenly felt rather small under her hard gaze, the eye patch over one eye only adding to the effect. Still, I had plenty of attitude of my own and a bit of frustration to work out as well. Shaking off the feelings of inferiority I returned her cool look with the best glare I could manage.

"What's going on here?" I demanded as forcefully as I could, though I could hear the slight tremor in my own voice. The one-eyed woman walked calmly into the room, as though the situation was completely normal though she kept to the edges, like she was trying not to appear threatening.

"I'm sorry you had to wake up to such disturbing surroundings, Miss Rockwaller," she spoke slowly and evenly to calm me down, and I'll admit that it was working a little. "It was obvious you had sustained several injuries, and we wanted to make sure you were in good health." Okay, the guy HAD been taking a blood sample. Maybe I could buy that.

"And who is 'We'?"

"Global Justice," she answered. "We have been looking for you for quite some time Miss Rockwaller."

"Looking for me?" I repeated warily.

"You and Miss Possible to be precise," she had eased a little closer, but still kept the calming attitude. "Ever since you went missing and the military team you were with was found dead. When we received word that Miss Possible's tracking chip had reactivated, of course we rushed to her location. I'm sorry about the tranquilizer, but we weren't sure who you were at the time and didn't want to take any chances."

"Where's Ron and Kim?" It sounded plausible and I really wanted to believe her. I just had to see Kim and Ron to be sure. The woman nodded a bit in understanding and spoke into a communicator.

"Please inform our guests that their friend is awake and would like to see them." She turned back to me after issuing the orders, giving me a small but reassuring grin. "They were being debriefed on what they know, and Mr. Stoppable required some examination for drug intake. We sent them to a room to rest for awhile, but they insisted on being told when you recovered. I'm sure they'll be here shortly."

As if on cue, the two of them suddenly ran through the door, pausing when they noticed the guy hovering against the wall. Looking them over I couldn't find anything wrong, and they actually looked a lot better than they had. Both looked rested and Ron seemed more stable than before, the glazed jittery look to his eyes was almost completely gone.

"Bonnie?" Kim spoke first, glancing nervously between me and my 'hostage'. "Are you okay?" I mumbled that I was fine. With both Ron and Kim here apparently free and unharmed, I was starting to believe that I was safe. Of course, that meant that my current position started making me feel a little ridiculous.

"Miss Rockwaller came to while we were taking a blood sample and became a little agitated. Understandably of course," she added, raising an eyebrow in my direction. "Speaking of which; would you mind letting Agent Du down now?" I nodded sheepishly at the floor, the guy on the wall slowly lowering to the ground as the buzzing in my head receded. Everyone except the woman visibly relaxed and Kim and Ron hurried over to me. I'll admit that while I still had those spiteful feelings toward the red head, she and Ron being here put my mind at ease.

"Hey Bonnie," Kim greeted softly as she reached me, putting a hand on my arm as if to comfort me. I gave the hand a stern glare, but didn't say anything. I'd let her get away with it for now. "Sorry we weren't here when you woke up, but they've had us answering questions and getting examined ever since we got here. Then they shooed us off to our room insisting we needed rest."

"You know these guys?" I asked them, still a little wary.

"Yeah, Global Justice," Ron answered, his calm tone surprising me. "They're like the real life version of all those spy organizations you see in the movies. They're usually okay, but... well after all, they ARE spies."

"Oh knock it off Ron," Kim waved off his statement. "Global Justice is just like any other government agency. A little stiff sometimes, but they're the good guys. We lucked out having them find us. Hey Dr. Director," she called over to the one-eyed woman. "I'm gonna take Bonnie to our room so she can get cleaned up, okay?"

"Of course," the Director answered, looking up from her shushed conversation with the Du guy. "I should tell you, we felt obligated to inform some people of your safe recovery and they should be showing up soon. Still, you have plenty of time to rest a little before they arrive."

"What people," Kim asked, hope edging at her voice.

"Your parents of course. And we sort of had to invite Mr. Load as well, seeing how he was instrumental in your retrieval."

"BOO-YAH!" Just about everyone in the room flinched at Ron's sudden shout. He withered a little under the looks, shrugging sheepishly. "Sorry. Just got too excited for a minute there."

"You and me both," Kim laughed happily. "C'mon guys, lets get ready before they get here." Ron and I were almost dragged along by the girl back to the small, but comfortable room that Global Justice had put us in. Kim insisted that I take first turn in the shower since she and Ron had already had a little time to rest. I'll admit I didn't put up much of a fight over it. The very thought of a shower was enough to make me weak at the knees. I may not have remembered anything about my past, but I think I could safely say that that shower was one of the best I've ever had. For the longest time I simply stood under the warm water, letting it run down my shaven scalp and over the rest of my body. I honestly felt like lying down on the floor and just resting there for awhile, but eventually finished washing and rejoined Kim and Ron.

"Hey, you enjoy that as much as I did?" Kim smiled as she turned toward me. Despite my inherent dislike for the girl, I had to agree.

"Didn't realize how dirty I felt till I got in there," I said, letting out a contented sigh as I laid down on one of the beds.

"Don't get too comfortable," the red head added apologetically. "Dr. Director wanted to go over your examination with you after you were done. She already ran through me and Ron's with us."

"Damn," I moaned, covering my face with my hands. "More probing and poking. Can't I just get a few minutes rest without someone wanting me to go somewhere or do something?"

"The Director's a real stickler for 'procedure'," Ron said sympathetically, sitting down on the edge of my bed. "Still, it'd probably be a good idea to know just what those NDC guys did to you, wouldn't it?" I could tell he was trying to make me feel better and I had to admit, I'd come to like the guy a little in the time we'd spent together after me and the Doc had rescued him. His encouraging words only made a small dent in my sour mood, however. But I couldn't fault him for trying.

"Fine," I sighed. "Five minutes; then I'll go see her."

"We'll go with you," Kim added, trying to lend some support. I simply rolled my eyes.

"Fine, if you gotta," I groaned darkly. Underneath the act, though, I was actually relieved. I was still pretty nervous about this 'Global Justice', and having Kim and Ron with me went a long way toward helping. After delaying as long as I could, I finally gave in and we headed off for the Director's office. The hallways were all sleek, metal and futuristic looking. I had yet to see a window anywhere and suddenly realized I had no idea where we actually were. I shoved the thought aside as we reached the office door. Kim knocked, receiving a muffled 'come in'.

"Ah, thank you for joining me," the woman smiled, looking up from some notes on her desk as we walked in. "This is Dr. Harold Kobb and Agent William Du," she gestured to the other two occupants of the room, one being an older looking man in a white coat and the other was plainly the guy from the medical room. "I believe you've already met Agent Du." There was the faintest hint of amusement in her voice as she looked from him to me. I simply muttered an apology that Agent Du merely nodded at.

"So, you wanted to talk to me about my 'check-up'," I said, taking one of the seats she gestured to.

"Yes. Dr. Kobb has finished his report and I thought you might want to know what he's found." The Director turned to the older man, motioning for him to begin.

"Ah yes, of course." He opened up the file he'd been holding, leafing through the papers inside. "Here we are. Rockwaller, Bonnie. First let me put your mind at ease by saying that apart from your obvious injuries, you are in fine health. The gunshot wounds to your abdomen are healing nicely and the swelling around that eye should be gone in a day or so. However, there seems to be a couple of side-effects to what was done to you. Nothing serious mind you, but they are there."

"Like what," I asked a little nervously.

"Well, due to the large amount of electrical activity they triggered in your brain, some nerve endings were a bit 'scorched' as it were." He paused to take out a few x-rays, pointing to spots as he talked as if I had ANY idea what he was talking about. "Your optical nerves received a small shock leaving you with slight short-sightedness. Have you noticed things being a bit blurred the farther away they are?"

"I suppose," I answered hesitantly, "but I can't exactly... remember how well I saw before." Kobb nodded briefly in understanding before going on.

"It wouldn't be too noticeable, but you'll probably want to get glasses for driving. For legal purposes if nothing else. Next," he indicated another x-ray, "is your scalp. A large amount of it was fried pretty good, almost killing the roots. To put it simply, most of your hair won't grow any longer than it is now. There are a few small patches that aren't quite as dead, but even those won't get very long."

"Okay, glasses and REALLY short hair," I sighed as calmly as I could. "Anything else?"

"One more thing," he grinned sympathetically, motioning to the last x-ray. "Quite a few of the veins in your cranium were zapped, literally cooking them. Now your natural skin tone covers up most of them, but you will notice that your cornea will appear a bit bloodshot. As I said, nothing too serious. Other than that you're quite healthy. Well, for someone who's been through what you three have been through at least."

I nodded in understanding and he started putting away his papers, signaling that he was done. The Director thanked him for coming and followed him out of the office, excusing herself to us.

"I'll just be a moment," she said as she left. The room was quiet for a few minutes after the door had closed. Finally Kim broke the silence.

"I'm sorry Bonnie," she almost whispered, moving to put a reassuring hand on my leg, but then seeming to think better of it.

"Sorry for what?" I asked in a normal voice.

"Well... your hair and... the glasses," she stumbled over her words a little, obviously thrown off by my response. "I mean, I know how much... how important your appearance was to you." A nice way of saying 'vain and self-absorbed', I added in my head.

"Was I?" I asked, actually laughing a little. "Guess I don't remember."

"Oh yeah," she mumbled, suddenly looking horribly guilty. "Sorry."

"Just... stop apologizing Kim," I sighed back at her, consciously pushing back the instinctual snippy reply. "Look, I was worried I'd end up having a brain tumor or something. Compared to that, 'bald and glasses' just doesn't worry me all that much. Maybe it's the amnesia or maybe it's everything that's happened the last few days, but I really don't care all that much about..." I trailed off, gesturing to my head and face.

"I... keep forgetting you don't remember anything," Ron said sheepishly. "Sometimes you just seem so... YOU."

"Like when I'm biting Kim's head off for nothing," I said wryly, a tired smile spreading across my face.

"Well... yeah." There was a bit of a grin in his voice and even Kim chuckled a little. After that a more comfortable silence reigned for awhile until it was broken by the door opening to reveal the Director.

"Sorry for interrupting," she said matter-of-factly, "but your parents have just arrived." The change in Kim and Ron was immediate, switching from subdued to ecstatic in less than a second. The Director grinned as she stepped out of the way of their rush to the door, telling them that one of her agents would lead them down to the entrance. I remained in my seat even as their excited voices faded off down the hallway. When I finally did turn around I found the Director standing in the doorway watching me.

"Not going down with them?" she asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Nobody down there that I know, right?" She shook her head in answer to my question. "Might as well let them have some 'family time' then." I shrugged, finding myself unable to hold the woman's one-eyed stare.

"I suppose so," she sighed, walking over to stand beside my chair. I could feel her eye boring a hole in the top of my head as I kept my gaze fixed straight forward. "You must be pretty worn out after all you've been through," she continued. "After what they did to you; these new abilities of yours... I bet you're feeling rather overwhelmed."

"I'll be fine," I muttered without much conviction. The buzzing had started up in my head again and I could almost hear the Director's voice whispering in my skull. It was muted and I couldn't make out the words, but I didn't like the feeling I was getting from them.

"Don't be silly," she spoke calmly, laying a hand gently on my head in a comforting fashion. It only served to heighten my unease. "The things you can do now. It's scary if you think about it. And you with no home to go back to. No one waiting to help you get through the ramifications of your ordeal." Her hand began moving back across my head in a soft stroking movement, as though she were comforting a small child. "Would you like that? Having somewhere to stay with people who would understand your problems and help you with them?"

My mind had steadily been getting sluggish. The buzzing still brought the whispers of the Director's thoughts to me, but something in her voice and the soft way she was 'petting' my head, left my own thoughts mired in grogginess. My eyelids were half closed and it was all I could do not to immediately agree with whatever she said. The buzzing kept me from doing it though; the suspicious feelings I was picking up from her was enough to get me out of there.

"Is there a cafeteria around here," I asked suddenly, my voice almost breathless with my desperation to get away from the cycloptic woman.

"Yes. Take the elevator to 3 and it's the third set of doors on your left." If she had been surprised by my sudden change in subject, she didn't show it. Her hand slid off my scalp as I quickly stood up and nearly ran for the door. "Think about what I said, Bonnie," she called to me. "You're a smart girl. You know as well as I do, that you can never go back to the way it was. Even if you could remember it."

I paused only a second, not even turning to look at her. Then I was walking swiftly away from the office and toward the elevator. I waited impatiently for the doors to open, rushing in and jabbing the '3' button roughly once it arrived. As the doors slid shut, I backed into the corner of the small space. My arms wrapped tightly around my waist and I found I was shivering a little. After that conversation I was wondering if my troubles were as over as I thought they had been.

To be continued...

Okay, I heard a rumor that we weren't supposed to personally answer reviews in the stories anymore. Not sure if it's true or not, but better to be safe I suppose. So here's a general thank you to all the reviewers and if you have any questions you want answered, let me know and I'll send you an email. Till next time folks!