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
48
"You were right," Dana told Kim when she came in early that morning after her shift. "Yori was all over me asking questions after I let slip you had a girlfriend staying over lately."
"Looks like we get to practice your mask with the one person most likely to see through it," Kim told Monique. "You have your holo-emitter?"
Monique patted her slack's waistband hidden behind the ornate belt.
"As you said, I'm making it a habit lately. You really think they'll be showing up tonight?"
"Early morning," Shego told them, roused when she overheard the three having a conference in the living room after Dana came in sounding troubled. "That's when I'd do it. They'd figure you'd be tired, ready to stretch out, and more likely to be off-balance," she added.
"And Ron's still not getting I can change in day or night. He still thinks I'm ruled by the sun," Kim remarked, rolling her eyes.
"But doesn't he know…."
"He knows, he just doesn't know," Kim told Dana. "Yori is the one to watch. She is a lot sharper than most realize. So, Moni, think you can manage to stay up this morning?"
"Guess I better try," she told them.
"Why not give her a little extra refreshment," Shego asked quietly. "Just in case. That way she won't weaken at the wrong time," she added.
"That's probably not a bad idea," Dana nodded. "I know I really drag in daylight sometimes if I don't…get enough. Or, you know, it's been a while since our last…dose."
"We'll all drink now. By the time they get here, we should be ready to face them. I don't discount Ron's instincts, but Yori is the one to watch. She has the same instincts, but she's more practiced than Ron in spite of his mystical monkey power."
"That still astonishes me," Monique admitted as Dana came back from the kitchen with three packets of the blood substitute.
"Breakfast of champions," the blonde declared as she tossed Kim and Monique a packet before sinking her fangs into her own.
"So, you just…."
"Instinct, Monique. Just bite."
Monique did and sighed in audible contentment as she sucked the blood out of the packet in swift fashion as Kim and Dana finished their own.
"It's weird how natural this seems, "Monique declared, and handed Dana the empty packet.
"It's our new necessity," Kim told her.
"Beats robbing blood banks," Dana told her.
"I still can't believe you had to live like that," Monique sighed. "Only I kind of understand a lot better now," she said as Dana came back from disposing of their packets.
"Mom, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to blab…"
"Sweetie, things happen. I don't blame you. We still have some paranoid loons out there, and if they knew half the truth even now, they'd probably be worse."
"Kimmie's right, squirt. Sooner or later, someone was going to use some excuse to come down on you guys."
"But…they're supposed to be friends," Dana frowned.
"They are," Kim sighed and eyed her unlikely daughter. "They are, but they're also people charged with keeping the world safe from things that most don't even think about."
"Like us," Dana sighed herself.
"Like us. Let's face it, you saw enough on some of those missions to know not all our kind play well with others," Kim said and eyed Shego without saying more.
"Plus, you have to consider business as usual," Shego pointed out.
"Huh," Dana frowned.
"Let's face it, squirt, sometimes it is easier to blame someone you already think might be doing bad stuff anyway. Got an unsolved crime? It must be….whoever is on your naughty list. After all, they're bad. Right? Like me and Doc. You know, before we went straight, more or less," she grinned at Kim. "If we did everything they said we did, I'd never have had time for a vacation."
"And she loves vacations," Kim told Dana now with a smile, seeing what Shego was doing. "Sometimes, it just isn't your fault, Dana. It's someone else being lazy, and deciding if you must be trouble, well, anything that happens must be your fault."
"Even I saw that one," Monique told them.
"You," Dana asked. "But you were never a bad girl," she exclaimed. "Were you?"
Monique laughed now.
"Depends on who you asked. Only back when I first started my Blossom line I had some folks claiming I stole their designs. That no way some small-town girl fresh from college could possibly be creating the looks I did. I had no backers, no background, and a degree with the ink still wet on it. A lot of bad gossips almost put me out of business before I could even get started," Monique frowned, her eyes flaring with crimson now as she betrayed her own feelings.
"What did you do," Dana asked incredulously.
Monique grinned and eyed Kim.
"I scrapped my whole line, went back to my muse, and created an entirely different line that proved to be even more successful. No one said a word after that one since their own designs at the time kind of faltered once word got around. Now that I think about it, too, I owe a lot to Bon-Bon, too. She was one of those that stood by me, and declared my work the best she had ever seen."
"I didn't know that," Kim remarked.
"Well, at the time you were off….doing something with the Pentagon," Monique said with a faint grimace.
"Oh, right. Those were the idiots that blacklisted my quantum projector because they felt it might be a super-weapon."
"Little did they know," Shego smirked.
Kim shot her a glare, and said, "Anyway, I ended up arguing for weeks with those idiots that you couldn't use it as they thought. So I just walked away."
"Just walked away," Shego asked skeptically.
"Well, after I surrendered my blueprints that might have been….suitably altered for idiots," Kim smiled smugly.
Shego chortled over that one.
"I can just see some clown out there pouring over your blueprints, and wasting time and money trying to build something that can't be built," Shego tittered.
"And wondering why they can't make it work," Dana agreed with a grin.
"Well, why should I make it easy for idiots who don't listen anyway," Kim shrugged.
Monique just shook their head at them.
"Anyway, what I was saying about Bonnie," Monique told her. "Go ahead and sell the shops. All of them."
"Moni, are you sure," Kim asked her.
"Well, let's face it. That life is over. I have a lot to get used to, and trying to run my old business like I was still….me…. That just isn't going to work. Besides," she smiled, "I can always hire on later, and wow the boss if I feel creative," she smiled.
Kim reached over and squeezed one of her friend and now lover's hands.
"I'll call her later. Just know, whatever you need, you're not alone."
"You're part of our family now," Dana nodded. "And you already know mom is the best."
"Well, I don't think I'll be calling her mom," Monique teased.
"I don't know. That could be a little kinky," Shego grinned at them.
"Shego," Kim glared. "That's not funny."
Shego still smirked.
"Oy," Kim shook her head. "Forgot who I was talking to here."
"Really? How?"
Kim fixed her gaze on Dana now as Monique declared, "Well, she's got your number."
Kim sputtered and started to reply just as someone knocked.
"Showtime," Dana said, eyeing Monique.
"I'll go start the coffee. That should make our being up credible."
"Just remember the script," Kim nodded.
"I should tell you that," Monique declared as she headed for the kitchen.
"I have to say someone is being rude," Shego said loudly as Kim eyed the security panel. The fact someone was on the porch suggested it was a friend, as anyone not logged as friend or family wouldn't have been able to reach the door. A quick glance had her nodding, and she eyed Dana and winked.
"It's only Ron and Yori," she said loudly. "I guess we better see what's bothering them," she said and opened the door to eye the couple looking grim as ever.
"Hope we didn't get you guys up," Ron said as he spied Shego and Dana on the couch.
"No. We had a few things we were working on lately, so we were trying to hash things out before we got to bed," Kim said, and suddenly yawned. "Come on in. Mari is making coffee if you guys want some."
"Mari," Yori asked.
"Maribelle Saunders. A friend from overseas I met while I attended Honk Kong U," Kim smiled. "She sure surprised me showing up out of the blue, but since I do know her, I told her she could stay with us till she gets settled."
"Someone call my name," Maribelle/Monique came out of the kitchen just then. "Oh, more friends? Let me guess. You have to be Stoppable and… Don't tell me," she said as the two ninjas entered the house, and looked around. "Oh, right, Zita?"
"Yori," Ron told her as Yori didn't bat an eye. "This is Yori. I haven't seen Zita in years."
"No one has. Her family moved after that alien sitch," Kim told Monique as if she didn't know.
"Really? I can't believe anyone would move from here. It sounded like you guys were always having fun from all your stories," the apparent stranger declared earnestly as she sat on the arm of the divan near Kim. "Oh, and the coffee should be ready soon, guys."
"So, you are another of Possible-San's friends," Yori asked.
"Well, kind of like that. We were pretty close that last year in Uni, but she had to go running off. You know Kimberly," Monique declared in a bubbly fashion. "I was afraid I was never going to see her again, but wow, I ran into her my first day in town."
"So, what brought you to Middleton," Ron asked blandly now, neither he nor Yori taking a seat.
Maribelle, as Monique pretended to be just then, just looked to Kim, and gave a heartfelt sigh.
"Well, that's a story. I was trying to get into fashion design. You know how it is, the new girl on the block, and all. Only when I finally got a shot at becoming a fulltime designer with Blossom Boutiques, I arrive to find out Ms. Robinson…."
"It's okay, Mari. You couldn't know," Kim said, patting her hand.
"She sounded so nice on the phone. It's hard to imagine she's gone," Maribelle said, and then looked around. "I guess I'll go check that coffee," she said.
"So what is it, Ron," Kim said now, glancing back at Monique as she left, and then looking back to him. "I'll tell you now if you want me on some mission I really am out. I'm not sure if I want to go back either. So tell Dr. Director…."
"You must understand, Possible-San, we still have to check on you for everyone's sake," Yori told her. "Regrettably, while you are a champion and trusted friend, you are also…something more. Something that must be…watched. That is our job."
"Right. Do yourself a favor, Yori. Get a new job," Kim shot.
"KP. You know she doesn't mean it like that."
"No," she asked Ron.
"So, uh, does your friend know….?"
"She knows we're mourning Monique, and we have a few personal decisions to make since Monique left me her shops," Kim told him curtly. "Or has that nosy harpy already told you that, too," she demanded?
Ron tensed but said nothing as he shook his head.
"We were not aware of her giving you anything," Yori told her. "We just needed to check off the bases for our regular visit. We shall assure Dr. Director that all remains well."
"Coffee's ready," Monique came back, sipping from a steaming mug. "Uh, am I interrupting something?"
"No. You heard how I bailed on Global Justice, and they're kind of cranky about people leaving them. Especially people like me," Kim said blandly, "Who knows a lot of super classified stuff. They were just making sure I wasn't writing tell-all books or something."
"There's an idea," Shego snapped her fingers.
Which made Dana chortle.
"Well, I'd buy a copy," the disguised Monique grinned. "If you did a biography or something, it would have to be cool. I mean, from the stories you told us in college back then you had a lot of adventures some people can only dream about."
Kim eyed Monique and grinned saying, "Now that is an idea! I wonder how you write a book," she murmured, scratching her head.
"Well, if it's like term papers, you have to research everything, and drink lots of coffee," Monique teased.
Kim burst into laughter as Shego added, "Because she needs the extra energy," with a roll of her eyes.
"Well, we can tell Dr. Director you're….cool," Ron declared. "We just wanted to stop by since we'll both be busy all day, and didn't want to….bother you later. You know, if you're….busy. Since you're not, I mean now, we'll go, and…."
"Oy," Dana declared. "C'mon, Stoppable, at least stay and have coffee," the blonde teased him. "You sound like you need it."
"No, no. Lots to do. And, uh, stuff like that. Later, KP. Nice to meet you, Maribelle. I hope things work out."
The four women watched the two ninja leave, and then Monique declared, "Hasn't changed a bit, has he?"
"Oh, he can fool you," Kim said. "But he really is dangerous when he wants to be. Or needs to be."
"I'll say," Shego agreed. "I still haven't forgotten him slamming those two aliens like they were kids on a playground."
"Right. That," Kim murmured. "I think we covered you for now," she turned to Monique. "We'll just have to all be careful, and remember her cover from now on."
"Right. So, after we sell, think Bonnie would let me work for her," Monique grinned.
"We'll call her. After you're comfortable with trying to stay up depending on how you want to work. Just take care of yourself, Monique, and don't take chances. Trust me, there are more than just Ron or GJ hunting preternaturals out there, and some don't care if you're innocent or not."
"I guess I still have a lot to learn," Monique told Kim. "Still, since we are already up, I think I'll see how long I really can stay up now that I…. Well, maybe not used to this, but getting there," the woman said with a smile.
"Don't worry. It's going to be okay, and it does get easier. At least you don't have anyone looking to kidnap you," Dana declared.
"They kidnapped you," Monique asked Kim.
"No. Her," Kim told her as she nodded at Dana.
"What about GJ at the start. Wasn't that like a kidnapping?"
"Now that you mention it," Kim scowled at Dana.
"Don't get her started," Shego complained. "C'mon, if we're all staying up, let's go make breakfast. Except you," Shego pointed at Kim. "You can set the table. We'll handle the food."
Kim glowered, but then smirked, and said, "All yours. Say, I wonder…."
"What," Shego asked.
"Well, if you're staying here at the official behest of Global Justice," Kim grinned. "Shouldn't they be paying you? And providing room and board expenses to cover your stay? And…."
"And I thought I was supposed to be the mercenary one," Shego said as they all moved toward the kitchen.
"Ah, but if you got ready to bail, you'd be giving them an excuse not to care. Because you know how Betty is about pinching pennies when it comes to her budget. And we should see about Dana's raise she's due. Oh, and I should be compensated for all that free work. Maybe if we keep pestering her long enough she'll leave us alone just to make us go away."
"You couldn't be that lucky," Shego told her. "Trust me. She is as obsessive as her loony brother."
Which made Kim and Dana both frown.
"Well, I think mom cured him of that," Dana finally declared.
"Oh, right," Shego said, and then eyed Kim with a smirk and said, "So, think you might need to cure Bets, too?"
Kim smiled slyly now, and said, "I'm working on it."
Shego didn't reply to that one.
To Be Continued…..