A/N: Another long hiatus that I didn't plan, but thanks for being patient.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. It belongs to Disney and its creators. If it was in the show, I don't own it. Any songs mentioned are the property of their respective owners and artists. I am not doing this for compensation, simply for enjoyment and practice.

Claimer: Krista Ruthie Stoppable is my OC. If you want to use her, please ask. Krysta-L (aka Krystal) was created by StormChaser90 and used with permission. If you want to use her, please contact him for permission.

TRIGGER WARNING: This chapter contains themes and vague descriptions of abuse.

After All This Time: Revenge

Chapter 15

Cellar of the Moore Home for Children

Krista turned quickly in a circle, searching desperately for the girl who had taken her here. Ruthie was nowhere to be found. As far as she could tell, she was alone in the cold space. She tried to steady her breathing and focus her thoughts on figuring out how to escape this nightmare. She walked towards the creaky staircase leading to the main floor. She had one foot on the first step when the door flew open, a wild-eyed Thomas Moore stumbling down the steps in a drunken rampage. Krista quickly backed away from the man, silently praying that he didn't see her.

No such luck.

Her former guardian's glassy eyes locked onto his target, and he charged towards her, belt in hand.

"You! You despicable brat!" he spat at her, swinging the belt at her with a surprisingly steady hand. Krista barely managed to roll out of the way of the blow, the tail end of the belt grazing her upper arm. Thomas stumbled forward, unsteady on his feet. He had been totally unprepared for her to roll away. He caught himself, slamming his fist into the stone wall, the force causing the masonry to crack. The fissure grew, spidering out in several directions. Chunks of stone and dust began to rain down. Krista covered her head and ran, but didn't get far before a strong hand grabbed her by the wrist and threw her back down on the floor.

Thomas's eyes were on fire as he stared down at her. "You. Ruined. Everything." He raised his arm for another swing, Krista preparing herself for the blow, when they heard two more sets of feet running down the stairs into the crumbling basement.

"Don't you dare touch our daughter!" Krista raised her head to see her parents storming towards Thomas Moore. Her mother leapt towards the man, but just as she made contact, their figures evaporated into smoke. The room spun, a portal sucking in everything in the cellar and morphing into a horrid scene. Bright lights illuminated the room. An unforgiving metal exam table stood sentry in the middle, machines and evil-looking instruments and tools surrounding it.

"My dear Krista, the time has come." The voice sent ice up her spine. She slowly turned around, and found herself facing Dr. Drakken, Dr. Whitman, and Shego, blocking her only escape out of the room.

Her parents had evaporated from sight, and Krystal and Ruthie were nowhere to be seen.

She was alone.

XXXXXXXXXX

Intensive Care Unit, Middleton General Hospital

3:07am

Kim sat in the chair in an oversized sweatshirt, her legs curled up to her chest, silently keeping watch over her daughter. The steady wheeze of the ventilator and beeping of the heart monitor were the only sounds to keep her company.

"My girl," Kim whispered. "Come back to us." Kim searched for signs that Krista had heard her – a twitch, an eye flutter, anything – but, as she had been all the other times, she was disappointed.

The door to the room quietly creaked open. Kim turned to see Ron entering with her mother.

"How's she doing?" Ron asked as he approached.

"The same," Kim sighed, turning back to look at Krista.

Anne Possible hung back a moment, taking in the scene, before placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Kimmie, you should go home and get some rest. I'll cover for you here."

Kim vehemently shook her head. "No."

Anne and Ron shared a glance. "KP, you've been here for days. You're exhausted. Let your mom take watch and let's—"

"No!" Kim snapped turning to look at her husband and mother with a fire in her eyes. "I'm not leaving her side! I left her alone once, and look what happened! I won't make the same mistake again!" She turned back towards Krista, her shoulders shaking.

"I… I can't lose her again."

Ron knew it was futile to argue with her. He pulled up another chair close to Kim's, wrapping his arms around his wife. "Then we stay. We'll stay."

A soft knock sounded behind them, and the trio turned to see Wade standing uncomfortably in the doorway. "Sorry to bother you guys, but I've got an update." Kim and Ron stood to fully face the super-genius, clinging hopefully to each other.

"Well, first things first, I think you guys should know that Krista inherited more than just your good looks," Wade began.

"What do you mean?" Kim asked, ignoring the light attempt at a joke.

"I mean that my scans have found traces of Mystical Monkey Power in Krista's DNA."

A stunned silence filled the room. After several long seconds, Ron spoke. "But… how… how is that possible? It's not supposed to be genetic."

Wade shrugged. "I have no clue. I've contacted Sensei for some insight, but he doesn't have an answer either. As far as I can tell, it was dormant until late last year. Global Justice was able to scrounge up some security footage from Drakken's base, and…" Wade hesitated, unsure how to proceed.

"And what?" Kim prompted anxiously.

"And… it looks like… Drakken was using Krista… to essentially 'power' Krystal."

Kim didn't know what that meant, but her stomach did a flip all the same. "What?"

"How?" Ron asked, his voice low, his own stomach churning, and a quiet anger growing behind his eyes.

"Based on what we could make out from the footage, we think they were transferring energy from the MMP-infused cells in Krista to Krystal, essentially weakening one and strengthening the other."

Kim and Ron glanced back at their daughter, lying unconscious in the hospital bed.

"Our poor baby," Kim whispered.

"There's more," Wade interrupted.

The crimefighters returned their focus to Wade, steeling themselves for whatever news he had next.

"I was able to sequence the substance Drakken injected into Krista with the help of GJ's scientists. According to them, it's a bioweapon, a kind of slow-acting poison meant to shut her organs down one by one."

Kim fought back a sob. "H-how has she been able to stay alive?"

"I think the traces of MMP in her cells have been helping to sustain her, but it won't be able to forever. She's running out of time."

"So what do we do? How do we stop it?" Ron asked.

"I…I haven't figured that out yet."

Something snapped inside Ron. A fire burned in his eyes as he lashed out at his friend. "What do you mean you haven't figured it out yet?! Do something!"

"I am, Ron! Sensei, GJ, and I are doing our best to find a solution!" Wade countered.

Ron looked as if he was going to say something else, then deflated. "Sorry, man. I just… we just…"

"I know," Wade answered. "We'll get her back."

XXXXXXXXXX

Remote Arctic Lair

Krista slowly backed away from the villains. "S-stay away!"

"You managed to escape once, but you certainly won't a second time," Drakken sneered. He snapped his fingers, and Shego began advancing towards her. Krista scrambled backwards, tripping over a cord on the floor and falling to the ground. Shego had nearly reached her.

"No! I- I said… STAY. AWAY!" Krista screamed, a blast of blue energy rocketing from her body. The villains stumbled back.

"Wh-what?! How is that possible?!" Drakken stuttered. Krista looked down at herself. She was surrounded by a soft blue glow, similar to the one that appeared when she had done the energy transfer with Krystal. But instead of getting weaker, she felt strong. Strong and confident.

Still unsure of this new power, however, Krista stood, slowly making her way around the metal table and away from the villains.

The shock finally wore off of the blue mad scientist. "Shego! Get her!" The villainess leapt forward with a snarl, but Krista adeptly evaded her, causing Shego to face plant into the floor. With a raging growl, Shego jumped to her feet, igniting her lethal claws, and rushed towards the blonde. Krista indignantly stomped her foot, and a shield of blue light formed in front of her. Shego didn't have time to stop and bounced off the forcefield.

Krista spied an opening and, as the villains recovered from their amazement, made a run for the exit.

"After her!" she heard Drakken shout behind her. Her heart pounding with adrenaline and fear, Krista turned the corner, finding herself facing a maze of branching hallways. She could hear the villains gaining on her. Just as she made a decision to run down the rightmost corridor, two figures appeared at the end of the hallway in front of her.

"Krista!" her parents shouted, running full speed towards her.

"Mom! Dad!" Krista yelled back, relief washing over her. The young blonde began sprinting towards her rescue team.

"Baby, we're coming!"

The parties had nearly met in the middle, when suddenly the glow around Krista faded, and the ground began to crumble. Krista stopped, anxiously looking at the floor that was falling out from under her into a black void.

"Krista! Don't go! Come back to us!"

"Mommy! Daddy! Help me!"

Just as her mother was about to grab her hand, the last piece of crumbling corridor gave way, and Krista fell into the void. Sounds and lights began to spin around her, disorienting her, before she fell through another bright white portal and into a dimly lit hospital room. Her parents were clinging to each other with tears in their eyes as a doctor spoke to them.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. and Mrs. Stoppable. We did everything we could. But your daughter is dead."

A/N: Again, thank you for your patience between updates. Also, the 15th Annual Fannie Awards have kicked off, and I wanted to thank everyone who has read, reviewed, helped, and supported me throughout this series. It does not go unnoticed, so thank you.