I do not own any Disney characters named herein and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only.
Kim Possible: Vamped
By LJ58
15
"Kimberly," Dr. Director nodded as the redhead reported to her office later that week.
"Dr. Director."
"We need to speak," the head of Global Justice told her.
"Gemini," she sighed, knowing no one had debriefed her as yet. Most were acting scared of her again, and she had a very good idea why, too. Not that she cared. She had been busy making sure Dana rested and healed the past few days.
"Let's face it. No one will miss him. Well, perhaps our mother but I can assure you that you only did what I've dreamed about for years," Betty admitted.
"You dreamed of tearing him apart in a fit of primal rage," Kim asked sardonically.
"I've dreamed of worse," Dr. Director admitted as Kim only then took a seat to stare at the woman across the desk.
"Oh."
"Yes. Now, we do have some unexpected fallout to attend. Least of all…."
She held up a paper from a nearby city, and the headline trumpeted, "Kim Possible Lives: As an Undead Monster!"
There was a photo from GJ files showing her in uniform but also showing her fangs as she leaped an obstacle in the training room with her red eyes obvious even in the brightly lit room.
"We did find the last mole but not in time to prevent him from leaking things still trying to flush you from our custody. As you now know."
"They didn't say anything of Dana," she said, scanning the article when Dr. Director handed her the paper.
"Apparently she was overlooked. Still, you are a very famous figure, obviously. And this is one cat definitely not going back into the proverbial bag. Now we have to manage it."
"Good thing mom knows. She just has to break it to dad if she hasn't already," Kim sighed.
"And your brothers," Betty remarked.
"Oh, man. The Tweebs," she groaned, shaking her head.
"I think another mad science cover as you suggested to Ms. Sanders is still suitable just now. Don't you?"
"It is credible….considering my past," she declared. "But, man, this is going to make some serious waves out there. We both know there are those on my new side of the fence that doesn't like the press. Any press," she reminded Betty.
"I think pushing the scientific mishap will appease them. Especially if you openly scoff at the preternatural yourself," Dr. Director pointed out.
"That might work. Just don't call Harry Hardhead…"
"Mr. Hardbed is likely your best angle for this gambit," Dr. Director informed her.
"The guy has always hated me. And the network he fronts is so full of idiots…."
"Exactly, so if he has the story people will be listening. We just let him push the angle we want and add a little mockery to help push the story in the direction we want. After all, if you were a real vampire would you not be allergic to certain items? Be missing a reflection. The usual tripe most wannabes out there are going to be looking for if they see you?"
"I get it," Kim sighed, looking resigned after a moment. "We mock the myth and push the science."
"Exactly. So, are you up for a press conference?"
"Day or night," she asked knowingly.
"I think the early evening is for the best. Just to show you aren't….a slavering beast," Betty suggested.
"Just keep Dana out of this….."
"We won't even mention her. Still, we are likely reassigning her. I think a support role is going to be more suitable for her contributions in the future, don't you," Betty asked.
Kim eyed her and then nodded.
"Thanks, Betty. That is the best. God, I was so worried…."
"We both know it was close. For both of you. That said, I need to know a little more about your….other side. What exactly did that Hagraat say of your….ancestor? You never quite explained that one very much."
"Krelandra," she asked. "He just said I was his bride. She got killed by hunters before she could rise and he intended to bring her back in me since….I had her spirit and genes somehow," Kim replied with a marked diffidence as she waved off the import of it.
"Which implies such preternaturals can be made and are not just born," Betty pointed out.
"Yeah," Kim said quietly. "I guess so."
"Still, there is obviously an unappreciated bond between you and Dana. Now, this…Krelandra, do you know anything about her in particular?"
"Ah, well, from what I heard, and gathered," she demurred, saying nothing of those dream memories that were growing far clearer and detailed she still had now and again and which she downplayed as occasional flashes of memory, "She was a butt-kicking warrior woman who bowed to no one. She had her own personal empire going when Hagraat came along to join the band. Part of me suspects she likely didn't really appreciate him playing alpha male in her playground. Just a feeling. Then the hunters came, put them both down, or her, at least. They ran him off. End of the empire."
"I see. And you don't sense her trying to….take over?"
"No. This is still me," Kim smiled blandly.
"Even when you….manifested fully and leveled most of WEE," Betty demanded now.
"That was definitely all me," Kim admitted. "I was so worried about Dana I quit holding back and just…let everything out."
"When you say everything."
"Everything. Rage. Resentment. Fear," she added. "I really thought she was dead in that instant and….nothing mattered. Nothing but…"
"Vengeance?"
"Nothing so simple," Kim murmured quietly now, looking away from the woman she still respected to a degree. "All I remember thinking was that I was going to wipe every trace of WEE from the world."
"You pretty much did. We have lackeys across the globe surrendering even now as word spreads. Henchco recruiting is at an all-time low, and Jack is scraping the barrel looking for new help as what is left of WEE self-destructs."
"Glad I could help," Kim sighed bitterly.
"So, anything else you wish to discuss?"
"Nothing comes to mind. Maybe…. Maybe you'd better bring in the fam, though. Just to cover our bases. Before the press goes after them before we can talk," Kim finally suggested.
"I called for them earlier. I just thought I'd speak to you before they arrived."
"Okay. So, Dana…."
"We are going to continue to assess her today, and see where she will best fit in. I think promotion and change of duty will be easier on her than just declaring she's benched for your mutual safety," Dr. Director told her pointedly.
"That's good," Kim nodded.
"I think we can all see she's not really meant for field ops."
"Not everyone is," Kim agreed absently now.
"Which leaves you without a partner."
"You're not putting me with Will," she groaned as she eyed him, knowing GJ operated in teams.
"No. I'm thinking of calling in another operative."
"Who…."
"I won't say anything until I hear. Meanwhile, we need to prep you for the press conference this evening. Need I say, keep your temper under control?"
"I'm not that…."
"Who kicked Will across the cafeteria again yesterday because he insulted you?"
"Man," she actually whined more like a child herself just then. "He irks me. Okay? He just…irks me."
"Indeed," Betty said, resisting the urge to smile at her juvenile manner. She was just glad Kim could still be that human.
~KP~
Kim smiled at the crowd as she purposely came out after the press had assembled to stand before Dr. Director who had already given a short statement. Many of the reporters, most of who knew her, gaped at her appearance and yet no one made a sound. They all waited for her to speak.
"Yeah, I know I look creepy but I can assure you I'm not a fugitive from Shadowz," she smiled, naming a certain vampire film popular of late. "For one, I do still enjoy the sun and I don't mind silver. I even have silver earrings," she smiled and taped the glittering jewelry. "Oh, and look," she said, pointing at a window close to the podium set up just for that seemingly incidental purpose. "I still have a reflection."
"What about crosses and holy water," someone shouted and the very stocky man held up a cross as a flask of water was simultaneously flung at her. Kim only smirked as a streak of damp cloth betrayed the water splashing her as some of the other reporters gasped and muttered around the man.
"Uh, I get wet," Kim remarked, eyeing the nothing if not predictable Harry Hardbed, aka Hardhead to her mind. "As to crosses, well, I was never that superstitious myself but to each their own," she said, staring right at the cross with a sly smile. "Me, I'll stick to science. Which I'm hoping will get me back to normal again sooner or later," she smiled. "Honestly, some people should stick to creative writing rather than using mad science to bring their silly fantasies to life," she teased making more of the press laugh again.
"What about the fact you have half of Henchco terrified of your rampages now! That you are draining blood from your enemies…."
"Well, I haven't visited you, have I," Kim asked blandly. "Still, you might consider the fact I know twenty-three forms of martial arts as far more dangerous than my currently overgrown incisors, Harry. Or are you looking to satisfy a kink we don't know about?"
Again the laughter and Harry flushed more in indignation than real shame as Dr. Director rolled her eyes now.
"You cannot deny that you look like a creature of the night!"
"Wow, and yet these very people swore to uphold the law and protect the public are still here with me, standing beside me and helping me recover from my mishap. Could it be…? Hmm, a cosmetic effect of bad science, rather than, I don't know, a medieval curse? Honestly, Harry. Don't they teach logic in journalism any longer?"
Again the laughter and the man finally made a curt gesture and sent his own team back to their van as Kim eyed the press with a genuine smile.
"Now that that amateur hour is over, are there any serious questions," she asked as Harry's van drove off without waiting for anyone else.
The rest of the conference was unremarkably subdued and even respectful as Kim downplayed the apparent mission that was classified which covered her long absence before she reappeared as a victim of another mad scientist's folly.
Kim knew it didn't hurt that her own family was behind her, standing with her and not looking to flee or damn her. She pointedly didn't dwell on the boys' offers to help test her new genetics. That was the last thing anyone needed, and she told them so.
~KP~
"They still trust you," Dana remarked later as she joined the blonde in their still shared quarters and saw the speculation still on the news channels of Kim's value as a heroine in a modern world.
Her family had already gone home but she couldn't help but be relieved this time since the Tweebs were not left to make another mess around her.
"Well, I've been doing this a long time," she told Dana who was studying some manuals she had been given for GJ operations.
"Yeah, but except for that one guy who is still hinting at conspiracies and hidden agendas they all act like you're still normal. Like it's just another day in your life," Dana remarked as if surprised by how normal it all sounded.
"To me, it is. Seriously, Dana, I faced some real loons out there in my time and had some real mishaps. You weren't there the time I almost disappeared. Then there was the time I turned into a monkey. Or the time…."
"So, that was real? All those stories I heard weren't just….?"
"I have had some crazy misadventures," she smiled. "And Wade got me through all of them."
"You know, I just realized that if Wade hadn't given us that serum that crazy guy might have killed us both that day," Dana said. "He definitely would have killed me," she shuddered.
"But he didn't," Kim assured her, giving her a brief hug, "And you don't have to worry about him again."
"I heard. I mean, wow. I really do wish you were my mom, Kim. I mean, you're not that old, I know but…. My mom….. She always….seemed to hate me. Even before I came out to her."
"Then she's a real idiot. Because you're a great kid, Dana. You're smart, brave and you are so loyal and loving that anyone that overlooks you for any reason is a genuine idiot," she said and hugged her again.
"Thanks. Man, I should write to Amy after this, too. I mean, she has to have seen some of this and will be wondering…."
"No doubt. No more issues with communications lately," Kim asked.
"No, that new computer link Dr. Director gave us is great. And we don't have to worry about Amy's dad nosing in on us."
"No doubt. Some parents can be nosy."
"And yours?"
"Are just as nosy but they respect me and trust me to do the right thing."
"I'm glad you could see them again. I can guess it hurt to lose someone so great."
"Well, yeah. We were always close. I just wasn't sure how to…explain."
"You mean tell them you were a nightwalker," Dana said with a smile, flashing her own fangs.
"Right. Mom was surprisingly calm from the start. Dad is still scratching his head," she admitted, smiling at the memory of him asking, 'You mean those things are real? Well, that is certainly a surprise!'
"I can see that."
"I just hope my brothers don't get crazy. They can take things to the extreme sometimes."
"So, did they tell you they promoted me," Dana only then told her. "I got this assessment to measure my skills they finished this afternoon and it seems I have a flair for code work. They're going to be training me for covert communications now. That's okay, isn't it," Dana finally asked, not knowing Kim already knew all about it.
"That's great, Dana. I couldn't be prouder. Trust me, it's not going to be any easier but you'll have a great career and most communications officers don't have to risk fieldwork. They like to keep the brains safe," she winked.
"Oh, so you're not the brainy sort," Dana teased.
"Hey!"
Dana collapsed into giggles and Kim could only laugh at her silliness. It was as if the ugliness of that attack had never happened.
Only Kim couldn't forget it. She didn't think she could ever forget it.
Still, she smiled at the blonde and laughed with her.
To Be Continued….