Author's Note: For those who have read the series on AO3, I have rewritten a few scenes in order to tie this part in with future continuity-you'll know the scenes when you get to them :) I hope everyone's enjoying the AU take on the Possible verse.
A very naked and relaxed Tara stretched out languorously as she caressed the cheek of the equally naked dark haired, lean, and muscular man lying in bed next to her. Glancing at the alarm clock on the bedstead next to her, she let out a yelp. "Damn!"
"Huh?" The man startled into wakefulness sat bolt upright as soon as he heard Tara's voice.
"It's okay, luv." Tara soothed the man next to her whom she could see was on a hair-trigger. "I've just gotta go and get ready for school." She cooed in a sing-song voice. "Be a darling, David and fix the coffee while I grab a quick shower and get changed." Moving slowly and deliberately, she leaned over and gave the trained killer a kiss on his cheek.
"We could always shower together." David, easing down from his alert posture, flirted as he gave the blonde next to him a quick kiss.
"Tempting, sweetie." Tara leered, "But if we do, then I'm gonna be late and I really don't want to get detention on my first day. Now go on and be a dear and get the coffee ready. I'll be out in a jiff."
"All right." The Israeli-born agent replied as Tara made her way to the bathroom. "How do you like your coffee?"
"Cream, no sugar." Tara answered back as she turned on the water and stepped into the shower. "And feel free to help yourself to anything in the fridge." A short time later, the lovely blonde British adventuress emerged from her room wearing a cream top and low-cut jeans and toting a book bag. "Oh…that smells divine!" She exclaimed as she smelt the aroma of fresh brewed coffee. Spying a cup already poured for her with a cheese Danish next to it, she smiled, "Keep this up, David, and you might end up becoming a regular guest here."
"We aim to please." The handsome spy replied as he took a stool next to the one where Tara sat. "Hell of a cover you've got." He chuckled, gesturing at the book bag as he sipped his coffee.
"It's not so bad." Tara chuckled before taking a nibble of her pastry and then washing it down with a swallow of coffee. "I've had worse covers and I made the cheerleading squad."
"Really?" David chuckled as he raised his eyebrows suggestively, "I'll bet you look delicious in that uniform."
"Be a good boy and come back in one piece from your assignment and I'll email you a picture of me in my outfit." Tara tempted with a smirk as she lit her morning cigarette and took a drag.
"Why don't you email it before I go?" David teased. "So that I have incentive…"
"I'll think about it." Tara bantered back as she finished her coffee. Glancing down at her watch she exhaled a stream of smoke, "Afraid we gotta go soon, luv."
"I know." The dark haired spy replied with a frown. "I've got to get back to my hotel and check out. My flight for Vienna leaves at noon."
Putting out her cigarette and picking up her book bag she pleaded, "Can I get you to drop me off at the school? If you do, I'll email that picture for you this afternoon after practice."
"You talked me into it." David leered as the pair headed out the door. "Hurry up…" He teased as he got into the car, "Or I'll have to spank you."
"Promises…promises." Tara laughed as she got in the passenger's side of her sometime lover's Porsche. Arriving a few minutes later at the school, the blonde, spying the teacher and her classmates watching gave the man next to her a smile and a kiss goodbye, "There's more when you get back…"
"Can't wait." David chuckled, "We'll make up for lost time next time I find myself in Middleton."
"Count on it." Tara replied as she closed the door and her lover put the car in gear and drove away.
"Who was that hunk who dropped you off?" Hope asked with a giggle as she joined her friend.
"Oh? David?" Tara replied nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders, "He's a boyfriend. Goes to university. He's heading out of town today and gave me a lift to school on his way to the airport."
"Girl…" Hope leered, "If all the boys at that university look like him, then I know where I'm going after I graduate." As the two girls walked down the hall to their lockers, saying hello to their fellow students as they passed them by, Hope grabbed her friend by the arm, pointing at a tanned slender teenage boy who had brown hair with frosted tips. "So what do you think?" The olive-skinned cheerleader teased, "Kissable, fuckable, marriageable, or toss him?"
"Eh…he's all right I guess." The blonde adventuress shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe kissable and worth a date or two. But that's about it."
"Okay…Okay…" Hope chuckled as the girls waved hello to Big Mike who waved back. "He can't compete with that beefcake who dropped you off but when you compare him to most of the other boys who go here, he's not that bad."
"I guess so." Tara replied with a laugh as she pointed at a certain redhead, "Looks like someone likes what she sees. Wanna have some fun with her?"
"Yeah." Hope laughed, "Let's go."
Approaching Kim with smiles on their faces, the two girls took station on either side of the redhead. "Kim?" Tara smirked as she held her hand up before the teen hero and waved, "Earth to Kimmie…anyone home?"
"Duh…" Kim stammered as her eyes followed the new boy as he walked to his locker.
"See anything interesting?" Hope teased.
"Ummmm…bbbbbbbbb….waawawawawawawwa…" Kim stuttered, unable to form coherent words as the boy stood before his locker talking to his friends.
"Who's the boy that's turned Kim catatonic?" Tara asked with a laugh.
"His name's Josh Mankey." Ron growled; his lips turned down in a frown as he opened his locker. "He just transferred here from Upperton High and Kim hasn't been able to string two words together since she saw him."
"Can she even form syllables?" Tara quipped as she again waved her hand in front of the redheaded cheerleader, "Hey Kim! You alive in there?"
As the focus of her immobility disappeared into a classroom, Kim slowly regained composure as she heard Hope's teasing voice, "Hey, Tara! I saw something moving in there!"
"You're right, Hope." Tara bantered back as Kim's face turned bright red. "I actually saw a light bulb switch on."
"I hope you two are having fun." Kim grumbled as she opened her locker, "I'll just be in my locker…hiding…"
Shaking her head, Tara let out a breath of air, "Kim! He's just a boy. After next period when we're changing classes just go over to him and say hi."
"Yeah, Kim." Hope interjected with a laugh, "Just go up to him. He's not going to bite you."
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Hope." Tara chuckled, "I've been out with a few boys who like to bite and Josh looks like a nibbler to me. Of course I've been known to take a little nibble myself every now and again."
"TMI!" Ron cried out as his redheaded friend's face took on an even deeper shade of crimson. "Way too much TMI!"
"Girl! You are seven different kinds of kinky!" Hope chuckled as she gave Tara a playful punch on the shoulder, "You and me are gonna do some serious gossiping later."
"You're on." Tara grinned and then, spotting Ron walking away with his shoulders slumped over, the blonde cheerleader leaned over towards her new best friend and whispered as she gestured with her eyes at the retreating boy, "Hey Hope, looks like someone could use some cheering up. Come on."
"What about Bonnie?" Hope asked with a note of worry in her voice as the brown-haired cheerleader, apparently smelling blood in the water, approached with Marcella on one side of her and Liz on the other.
"Don't worry about the queen and her court." Tara whispered back, "She's gonna be so busy giving Kim a hard time that she won't even notice Stoppable, and Kimmie can handle Bonnie just fine without us. But he could use some cheering up. Come on…" The blonde urged with a smile on her face, "Think of it as our good deed for the day."
"All right." Hope sighed, "But you owe me one."
"Okay." Tara grinned, "What say I buy you a blueberry smoothie at the Tasty Freeze after practice."
"You're on." Hope chuckled as the two girls walked quickly towards Ron. Catching up to him the pair walked on either side of him as they made their way down the hall to their next class.
"You know he's not that cute." Seeing the confused looks on both Ron and Rufus's faces, Tara clarified, "Mankey—I mean. He's not all that."
"Yah!" Rufus nodded his head in agreement, flashing smiles of gratitude to the two girls.
"Yeah." Hope agreed, "He's really kinda meh if you ask me."
"I can't believe he actually frosts his hair." Tara giggled, "It makes him look even stupider than he already looks with that outfit he wears."
"And that hair cut!" Hope laughed. "It's like someone went crazy with the clippers or something."
"Tell me about it!' Tara joked, then seeing that their jokes had the intended effect as they entered their first period English class, the blonde turned to her dark-haired companion as Stoppable took his seat at his desk, "Our work here is done."
"Your work hasn't begun yet, Ms. King." Mr. Barkin growled, "Any time you and Ms. Rossi are ready, you can take your seats unless you want to join your pal Big Mike in detention after school."
"Sir, yes Sir." Both Tara and Hope promptly replied, playfully saluting, ignoring the burly teacher's low growl as they sat down and took their English books out of their book bags just as the bell rang.
Cafeteria
Scowling as the lunch lady ladled out a portion of…something…on her plate, Tara remarked, "Prisoners get better food than this shite." As she observed what the seniors were eating, her mouth watered, "Is that chicken cordon bleu? It's been ages since I've had that!"
"Yeah." Hope nodded her head, "They get their food catered in while we're stuck eating this slop."
Watching Bonnie and Brick Flagg sitting down at the senior table, the blonde Englishwoman growled, "So why does Her Nibs get to sit her bum down at that table while we get stuck playing the food poisoning lottery?"
"She's there because she's dating Brick and sucks up to Amelia." Hope explained as the pair sat down next to two of their fellow cheerleaders—Crystal and Jessica.
"Hey Tara…Hope…Maybe you can tell us what's been going on with Kim today?"
"Yeah." Jessica interjected, "She's been spazzing out all morning."
Gesturing with her thumb at the boy who had just walked into the cafeteria, Tara quipped, "He's the reason."
"Josh Mankey?" Crystal exclaimed with a giggle, "Don't tell me Kim's got a crush on him."
"Oh yes." Hope laughed, "Whenever she sees him, it's like the lights are on, but no one's home."
"And Ron's looking none too pleased by it." Tara remarked, further inquiring, "You don't think Stoppable has a crush on Kim—do you?"
"You know…" Jessica pondered the question for a moment before answering, "I can't really say. Believe it or not…" the freckle-faced blonde confessed, "…even though I've known Kim and Ron since elementary school, we've never been what you would call close friends—or even casual friends for that matter. I guess the phrase that describes us best would be school friends."
"Same here." Crystal chimed in, echoing her fellow cheerleader, "Kim doesn't hang out with any of us all that much outside of school."
"Yeah." Jessica agreed as she took a sip of milk, "We say hi to each other when we meet in town and the squad has the occasional get-togethers like when you joined the team, but I wouldn't describe any of us as being really close to Kim."
"Does she have any friends outside of cheerleading?" Tara asked.
"No." Jessica quickly responded as Crystal nodded her head in agreement. "I've never seen her with anyone other than Ron."
"And Ron doesn't have any other friends…"
"Didn't he hang out some with that boy in elementary school?" Jessica interrupted, "You know…the boy who got hurt in that automobile accident…"
"Felix." Crystal nodded her head, "Yeah. He and Ron were pretty tight until his folks moved out of town. But…" The tawny-skinned cheerleader shook her head, "Ever since Felix left, Ron doesn't hang out with anyone other than Kim because…well…" Crystal interjected, letting out a breath.
"What Crys is trying not to say…" The usually blunt Jessica declared, "Is that Ron has a habit of pissing people off."
"Yeah." Crystal nodded her head, "I can't figure out if he's doing it deliberately or if he's just clueless. Like with him and Bonnie." Lowering her voice so that she could not be overheard, the tawny-skinned cheerleader hesitatingly whispered, "A lot of times, it's Bonnie's fault. But sometimes, it seems to me like Ron's intentionally trying to push her buttons."
"It can't be easy being Miss Perfect's best friend and being number one with a bullet on Bonnie's hit list." Tara noted, further commenting, "Kim and Bonnie are the same in one very important way—they both suck all the air out of the room. Stoppable and us have one thing in common—we're the ones stuck in the middle while the two of them have their little pissing contests. Now you throw Mankey in the mix…it's a wonder the poor boy doesn't live in a constant state of spazz out."
"T's right." Hope agreed. "It just took me a little time to figure it out."
"But what if one day we end up having to choose sides between Bonnie and Kim." Jessica asked.
In response, Tara firmly replied, "We've gotta work together to make sure that doesn't happen—right?"
"Right!"
Kitty-Kat Club Later that Night
Tara, now wearing a red evening gown with a pearl necklace entered the nightclub, immediately making for the bar where Max, the bartender, was waiting with her gin and tonic already made for her. After sitting down on the stool in front of her drink, she fixed a Sobranie Black Russian cigarette on to her cigarette holder, lighting the cigarette with the silver lighter her Uncle John had given her, along with her cigarette case given to her by her Aunt Emma, as a birthday present. Taking a drag and exhaling, she sipped her drink as she turned her attention to the bartender.
"Anything on that job, Max?" She asked.
"Yeah." The bartender replied. "It's a B&E into one of Professor Dementor's lairs, so there is some risk involved."
"I'm assuming the reward is well worth the risk." Tara commented as she sipped her gin and tonic.
"It is." The bartender answered back. "Mother and Global Justice want that microchip and will pay top dollar for it. Dementor is also keeping the Ruritanian crown jewels in that lair. Both the current government of Ruritania and the royal family living in exile will pay a very hefty finder's fee for their return—no questions asked."
"I have a feeling the finder's fee is quite a bit more than I'd get from a fence." Tara remarked with a smirk on her face.
"Much higher." Max confirmed. "So…assuming you take the job and make it out of there with the microchip and the jewels, who do you want me to contact as regards the finder's fee?"
"Hmmm…" The lovely blonde weighed her options, "The current government's democratic and pretty stable and is doing what it can to fix Prince Casimir's cockups while he and his family have been busy wallowing in the money and gold they stole from the country's treasury before they got found out and scarpered off. Set it up where the current government gets the jewels and cut 'em a discount while you're at it." Seeing the look on the bartender's face, Tara laughed, "Don't worry, Max. The discount will come out of my cut."
"You bet that sweet ass of yours it will." Max responded with a gruff snort, then refilling the blonde's drink, he said, his lips turning up in a slight smile, "This one's on the house."
"Thanks, Max." Tara purred as she put out her cigarette and, opening her cigarette case, took out a fresh cigarette. "Now…give me what you've got on Dementor's lair."
Somewhere in the Tri-City Area near Middleton: Dementor's Lair
Tara, now kitted out in her black catsuit with full face mask and carry bag, remarked as she cased the supervillain's bunker using her night vision goggles and binoculars. "Titanium and vanadium reinforced steel front door—probably electrified with enough current running through it to light up the west coast. Mines and motion sensors. Kill zones and firing slits in the walls. No wonder GJ hasn't tried to take this place out—it'd be a massacre for anyone who attempted to storm it. She then spotted a Dino's Pizza delivery car approaching. "No…" She smirked as she shook her head. "No way…It'd never work." Then, she peered at the roof's defenses through her binoculars, at once spotting the automatic turrets. "No other way if I want in. Looks like I'm about to become a Dino Dasher." Slipping from her hiding place, she stripped off her catsuit and slipped on a pair of shorts and a tank top that she had in her car and took off down the road to intercept the pizza boy.
Catching the pizza car on the road well out of eyesight of the lair, she flagged down the driver and approached with her most brilliant smile. "Hi."
"Ummm…hello…" The delivery boy, a high school student apparently from Lowton as Tara didn't recognize him as attending Middleton, replied as he rolled down the car window. "Your car in trouble or something?"
"Uhhh…" Tara gave the young man a coy grin as she bent over to offer him a brief view of her cleavage, "…I'm in kind of a bind. You see…I'm trying to get into a club at school and part of the initiation is that I've got to get inside that scary building over there…" She pointed at Dementor's lair. If you let me deliver the pizzas for you, I'll pay you a hundred dollars."
"Cash?" The Dino's Dasher demanded, his eyes lighting up as he saw the one hundred dollar bill in the blonde's hand.
"Cash." Tara nodded her head, holding the bill just out of the driver's reach. "So…we got a deal?"
"Deal." The driver grinned as the two switched places with Tara donning the driver's smock before getting in his car and driving away.
Following the delivery driver's directions, Tara stopped the car fifty yards before the lair's entrance and flashed her lights three times. Once she got the acknowledging response of three flashing lights from the top of the door, she picked up the pizza boxes, making sure the special super supreme pizza that she had added a very special ingredient to was at the top. Approaching the door in a straight line deviating neither to the right or the left. Tara paused at the door as a camera scanned her from head to foot. A panel then slid open to reveal a keypad. Punching in the code that the driver had given her, the blonde thief was rewarded by a green light as she heard the door's locking mechanism disengage. Moments later, the door slid open to reveal a corridor that lit up as she entered. Again, walking straight ahead, making sure to remain in the middle of two red lines, Tara finally reached her destination—the bunker's security station. Following instructions, she pressed a button next to the door and patiently waited.
The blonde adventuress didn't have to wait long as the door opened to reveal a tall, well-built henchman wearing a grey uniform and helmet and with a pistol at his hip. "Dino Dasher. Two super supremes, one double pepperoni, one veggie, and one cheese. That'll be fifty dollars, please."
"Wait a minute and I'll get your money." The henchman replied as he took the pizzas in and the door began to automatically close behind him.
Moving quickly, she slipped a slender piece of clear plastic in between the door and its latch, preventing it from closing completely. A few seconds later, the thief smirked as she heard a hissing sound, then men choking, then thuds on the floor, and finally silence. Slipping on a filtered breather, she entered the security room, smiling triumphantly as she observed the unconscious bodies slumped on the floor or in their chairs. Rifling through the pockets and wallets of the henchmen, she sneered derisively as she recovered twenty dollars and change. "I knew it! You bastards were gonna stiff me. Serves you wankers right." Glancing at the gun rack filled with automatic rifles and even a grenade launcher and at the lockers with plenty of ammo stored in them as she deactivated the lair's security systems, Tara muttered in a low voice, "I hope you're ready, Possible, because you're about to move up to the next tier."
"Time to move. Gas will wear off in fifteen minutes and there are more goons up ahead not to mention any mechanical traps not electronically controlled. Grabbing one of the guard's pistols and a couple of extra magazines, she remarked, "Hope I don't have to use this. It's been several months since I've had to kill someone and I'd prefer to keep the streak going if I can."
Moving swiftly and silently down the hall, Tara stopped just before coming up on an intersection where two of Dementor's henchmen stood standing guard wearing combat armor and carrying assault rifles. Spying an access cover beside her, she pried it open, sighing in relief as she saw that the ventilation shaft was large enough for her to enter and move around in. Slipping past the guards, she continued along the shaft, disabling one of the mad scientist's mechanical traps—this one involving flame jets that would have been activated by a pressure plate. Moving on, she reached another access panel and after being sure that there was no one there, she kicked it open and exited into a corridor.
Reaching the end of the corridor, Tara spotted a door with a sign saying 'Inner Sanctum' in German. Taking a deep breath, she carefully checked the door for traps or alarms. Then, after finding that all was clear shook her head as she muttered to herself, "No…it can't be that simple…can it?" Putting her handle on the door knob, she turned it, opening the door into the villain's inner lair. "Why not?" She said to herself as she entered. "The place is bristling with armed guards, alarms, and traps. Why wouldn't he assume that no one could get this far without his knowing it and letting it happen? Well, Professor…you're about to find out what happens when you 'ass-u-me'. Examining the villain's desk, the lovely blonde's lips turned up in a wicked grin as she spotted his 'To-Do' list. Let's see…acquire iridium as catalyst; steal focusing crystal from the X-48 satellite about to be launched from the Middleton Space Center, complete Hypertronic Death Ray using microchip, iridium, and focusing crystal before Drakken can carry out his scheme for world domination, conquer the world with said Hypertronic Death Ray, call mother. Grabbing a pen, Tara added to the Professor's note, Tell Mummy to spank me because I've been a bad boy.
Glancing down at her watch, she let out a breath of air, "Two minutes. Gotta move." Spotting first the crown jewels, she scooped them up into a velvet bag she was carrying and then, her lips turning up in a grin, she spied the microchip under a glass cover next to a big red button. "Of course…gotta be the self-destruct." She muttered to herself as she examined the other buttons, translating the German words under the buttons. "This one pops open the seal to the microchip." She said as she pressed the button, opening the glass case and setting off a loud alarm. And this one preps the escape capsule." She said as she pressed the button, causing a capsule that had room for only one occupant to appear in a tube, its door opening to permit access. Glancing down at her watch, she murmured as the alarm blared and she heard footsteps rushing towards the door, "Thirty seconds…twenty…ten…and…NOW!" Punching the big red button, she dashed towards the escape capsule, reaching it and closing it just as the guards rushed into the chamber, now bathed in a glowing red light as the power core began its countdown to overheat.
"Twenty seconds until implosion."
Tara activated the escape pod just as the guards, realizing what was happening quickly turned back the way they came
"Ten seconds." The escape capsule shot through the tube as Tara held on for dear life, rocketing out of the lair as the countdown reached zero and the lair began to slowly implode. Looking down, the young blonde sighed in relief as she noticed the henchmen scurrying out. Letting out a breath of air, Tara braced herself as the parachute opened and the pod floated gently back to the earth.
Opening the door upon landing, Tara picked herself up and, after dusting herself off, began the walk back to her Alfa-Romeo. Finally reaching her car and claiming the driver's seat, she buckled her safety belt, turned on the ignition, and then, after clipping the end off, lit up one of her Davidoff cigars. After taking in a moment to drink in the rich tobacco flavor on her palate, she put the car in gear, leaving behind her a cloud of dust and a pizza delivery boy holding a one hundred dollar bill and standing beside his car looking in bemusement at the giant hole in the ground.
Middleton Kitty-Kat Club
Going straight to the bar, Tara gave the bartender a big grin as she approached. Lighting up a cigarette, she gratefully took a sip of the gin and tonic already prepared for her.
"I heard someone's lair got turned into a giant hole in the ground." Max said with a grunt, "Wonder if anyone found anything in there…like maybe a microchip and some rocks."
"Could be." Tara grinned as she took the velvet bag out of her purse and handed it to the bartender.
Opening the bag, a smile appeared on the bartender's lips as he nodded his head in appreciation. Taking an electronic tablet out from under the counter, Max typed on it and pressed enter. Moments later, he again nodded his head as he typed in another sequence. Shortly after, Tara heard her smartphone beep to indicate a priority email had just come in. Opening the email, the blonde's lips turned up on a broad grin as she saw the amount of money that had just been transferred to her offshore account.
"Pleasure doing business with you Max." The adventuress said as she took a drag from her cigarette and exhaled, "Do be a dear and let me know if something else comes up in the future."
"You're on the top of my list, Doll." Max replied as he poured champagne into a flute and handed it to the blonde, "Drinks tonight are on the house."
Drakken's Secret Lair in the Caribbean
"Did you hear the news, Shego?" Dr. Drakken rushed into where his assistant was lounging on a lounge chair reading a magazine while sipping a tropical sunrise.
"What news, Dr. D?" Shego replied, irritated at having her quiet time interrupted.
"Someone broke into Professor Dementor's secret lair!" The blue-skinned mad scientist exclaimed with glee.
"Which secret lair?" Shego demanded as she set down her magazine and began filing her nails, "He's got at least a dozen—not counting the time-share he has with you."
"The one near Middleton." Drakken replied.
"What did they get away with?" Shego, her curiosity now aroused, inquired as she took a sip from her drink.
"Whoever it was stole a microchip he was going to use that I was going to have you steal from him…"
"Then I owe that thief a drink." Shego grinned, "Whoever it was saved me a lot of work. Did anything else get taken?"
"Uhhh…give me a second." Drakken looked down at the paper in his hand, "Oh yes…the Ruritanian crown jewels."
On hearing that, the green-skinned supervillainess's lips turned up in a grin that was part anticipatory and part lascivious as she purred, "If that thief is who I think she is, oh…we're gonna have such fun."
Possible House
"Whenever I see him I just freeze up!" Kim moaned to her mother as she nervously paced the floor.
"Who, darling?" Ann Possible, her lips turning up in a slight smile of amusement inquired as she remembered her first crush years ago.
"Josh Mankey!" Kim cried out in seeming anguish.
"Who's this Josh Mankey?" A suddenly alarmed Mr. Doctor Possible exclaimed entering the room, "And what has he done to my little Kimmie-cub? If he's harmed a hair on your head, I swear I'll stick him in a deep space probe and launch him on a one-way trip down a black hole!"
"It's all right, James." Ann intervened in a successful effort to soothe her husband, "Josh Mankey's just a boy that Kim has a crush on."
"It's not a crush!" Kim protested with a pout. "He's cute and funny and sensitive and…" Seeing the expression on her mother's face, the redheaded teen sighed, "I'm sooooo crushing on him and Tara and Hope keep making fun of me because of it."
"How are they making fun of you?" Ann asked as she guided her daughter to the couch.
"They keep making these stupid jokes." Kim pouted. "They don't understand how hard this is for me!"
"What sort of jokes?" James asked.
As her daughter related some of the quips and wise-cracks that the other girls had sent her way, the barest traces of a smile crossed her face. "Sounds to me like they're just trying to lighten things up." Anne said, "Yeah, some of their little jokes might be a bit sarcastic, but I don't think they mean anything bad or mean by them."
"Of course not." James agreed as he placed a paternal arm around his daughter's shoulders.
"Yeah." Kim nodded her head as her Kimmunicator beeped, "I guess you're right. Maybe I'm just being oversensitive." Answering the still beeping device, Kim smiled as Wade appeared on the screen. "What's the sitch?"
"Someone broke into one of Professor Dementor's secret lairs." The dark-skinned young techie reported, "No one got seriously hurt, although there's a hole in the ground where the lair used to be."
"Do they know who broke in?" Kim, for the moment forgetting about her crush on Josh, asked as her parents listened intently.
"No." Wade answered back with a shake of his head. "But whoever did it doesn't appear to be a bad guy because the Ruritanian government just reported that someone had found and recovered their crown jewels and that they were on their way back to the Ruritanian capital."
"Can you do me a favor, Wade?" Kim asked, "See if you can find out who our mysterious thief is. I don't know about you, but I'm more than a little curious."
"Will do." Wade replied, "Have a good night, Kim."
"You too, Wade."
Turning to her parents, Kim tilted her head to the left, "That's the second big jewel theft in the past few months."
"Whoever's doing the thefts doesn't sound like a villain though." James noted, "Rather, it seems they're stealing from the bad guys."
"I know." Kim nodded in agreement, "I'd just like to know who they are."
Tara's House
"Thanks for taking those pictures for me, Hope." Tara said as she talked to the teenage girl who had quickly become her best friend on her cell phone.
"Don't mention it, girl." Hope replied with a chuckle, "Hope he enjoys them." She then sounded a cautionary note, "Just be sure Kimmy, Bonnie, the coach, or Mr. Barkin don't find out about them—especially that last photo. They find out what we did, we're both up shit creek."
"My lips are sealed." Tara promised as both girls laughed. "I think I'm gonna go to bed now, it's been a long night. See you at school tomorrow." The blonde said as she said goodbye to her friend. Smirking as she uploaded the pictures of her in her cheerleading uniform, including one which revealed a brief glimpse of her bare bottom underneath her skirt, the blonde adventuress typed in a brief text message to David and then pressed send. Moments later, David Bruckner, currently an agent of Mother's, lounging in his Vienna flat, on hearing a chime from his cell phone, smirked as he saw the name of the sender of the picture files he had just received. Opening them, his smile grew wider, especially when he saw the final picture—a bare bottomed Tara looking over her shoulder sucking a lollypop with the text message, Enjoy.
Chuckling, David held up his brandy snifter in a toast, "Ra-Boom-De-Ay."