The Possible Home—breakfast the next morning

"This could be bad, Kimmie-cub." Dr. James Possible shook his head as his daughter relayed the news to him that Dr. Drakken had made off with the device that controlled the Nakasume Corp. automated factory. "Given the right resources and facilities…"

"Which Drakken probably has." Kim sighed dejectedly, interrupting her father.

"He most likely does." James agreed. "If nothing else, Drew was always good at scrounging. Anyway…as I was saying…that device, along with the right materials and facilities, could allow him to manufacture almost anything. Advanced weapons…battlesuits…you name it…that chip can make it."

Shaking her head, Kim groaned, "And I…"

"We." Ron quickly interjected, "I was there too."

"We…" Kim amended, "Let him get away."

"Nothing you could do about that, dear." Dr. Ann Possible declared as she sat down at the breakfast table. "From what I was hearing you did the best you could. And don't forget—you got those hostages out safe and sound. That counts for something—doesn't it, honey?"

"Yeah." Kim nodded her head as a slight smile appeared on her face, "I guess it does."

"Well…" Ann commanded in her best Mom voice, "You two better hurry up and finish breakfast or you'll be late for school."

Middleton High

"Tara! Hope!" Kim called out as she and Ron rushed to where their two friends were standing by their lockers. Drawing near to her friends, the young redhead announced, lowering her voice where only the four of them could hear, "Wade filled me in on what you found at Mr. Rockwaller's office. You don't really think he has anything to do with that drug, do you?"

"We're not sure, luv." Tara honestly replied. "All we have right now are bits and pieces. He might or might not be having an affair, someone might or might not be blackmailing him…"

"His accountant might be embezzling from him. And then there's this mysterious Benton Group no one knows anything about." Hope interjected.

"And a whole bunch of files that are so heavily encrypted that not even Wadesy could crack them." Tara declared, concluding on a somber note, "I hope…for Bonnie's sake…that he's not involved in any of this shite."

"Me too.' Kim agreed, "I might not like Bonnie as a person, but I don't want anything bad to happen to her either."

Nodding his head in agreement, Ron echoed, "Yeah. She's not EVIL—evil like Drakken. She's more…"

"High school evil." Kim interjected. "Pain in the ass—yeah. But not someone I want to see hurt."

"So…" Tara asked the tiny group made their way down the hallway to class. "Drakken and Sheila slipped away with that automated factory device."

"Wade must have told you." Kim concluded with a frown. "Yeah…they slipped away. I guess the ball's in their court now." Changing the subject as the foursome filed into Mr. Barkin's English class, Kim inquired, "So…you girls gonna be there to help decorate for the dance?"

"Of course." Hope replied with a laugh. "Is Josh's band performing/"

"Yeah." Kim nodded her head. "He says they've been working on a new set they want to try out."

"Can't wait to hear it." Tara remarked as she tapped Ron on the shoulder. "Better go to your girl, Ronnie."

Blushing, the blond youth replied, "Good idea." Walking over and taking the vacant seat next to his girlfriend, Ron, seeing that Mr. Barkin was still outside in the hallway, leaned over and gave her a quick kiss. "Mornin'."

"Morning yourself, lover." Zita responded as she returned her boyfriend's kiss, breaking the lip lock just as the bell rang and Mr. Barkin entered the room.

"Clear your desks, everyone—that includes you, Stoppable!" The substitute ordered as he handed out sheets of paper to the students, "We're going to start the class off with a pop quiz."

"Looking good, Josh…Tara!" Kim called out as her boyfriend and fellow cheerleader, both standing on ladders, strung up the Spirit Dance banner in the gym where the team was getting ready to begin practice. "Better get down, T.! We're getting ready to begin!"

"On my way, luv!" Tara called back as she and Josh climbed down their respective ladders.

"Where's our mascot?" Jessica inquired as Ron dashed into the room in his Mad Dog costume.

"Here and ready to howl Arr…Arrr…Arrrr…ARRRRRHOOOO!"

Laughing, Kim gently chided, "Amp it down, Ron. Save it for Friday morning."

"Yeah, Ron." Hope chuckled, "We don't want our Mad Dog turning into a Droopy Dog before the big pep rally."

"Okay, girls…Ron!" Kim called out, "Let's get started with a chorus line and then move on to Mad Dog Mayhem and finish out with a doghouse pyramid!" The practice went well, with only a minor hiccup when Bonnie threw a fit over the Mad Dog accidently shaking cream foam on her face, much to the amusement of most of the cheerleaders watching. Just as the team captain was about to call for her cheerleaders to form a doghouse pyramid, her Kimmunicator beeped. "Is it important, Wade?" Kim asked, "We're in the middle of practice now."

"Afraid so, Kim." The Team Possible computer genius extraordinaire replied with a rueful grin. "I got a lead on the Nakasume heist from Interpol. Drakken and Shego have been tracked to a lair on the Swiss side of the German-Swiss border. GJ can't send a strike team to back you up because of Swiss neutrality, but they can get you and Ron to the border. From there, you'll have to find your own way."

"Hmmm…Is there anyone in the area who might be able to help?"

"Let me check." Wade responded as he typed on his keyboard. Moments later, he announced with a big smile on his face, "You're all set. Heinrich will meet you at the border once you clear customs."

"Thanks, Wade." Kim acknowledged as she turned to her partner who had taken off his Mad Dog head. "Better get out of that suit and put on your mission clothes, Ron. We got a lead on Drakken."

"Cool." The blond youth replied with a big smile on his face. "Maybe we can wrap this up quick enough so that I can meet Zita at Edna's for some late night after mission snackage."

"We can hope." Kim laughed before asking, "Would you two mind if I joined you and asked Josh if he wanted to come along?"

"Of course not, KP." Ron answered back, giving his best friend an even bigger grin in response. "The more the merrier."

"Spankin'" Kim exclaimed as she called out first to Josh and then to Hope and Tara to come over. After getting Josh's enthusiastic consent to her and Ron's after mission snackage plans, she turned to her two best female friends, "Tara…Hope…you two find out anything on that other matter we talked about earlier?"

"Still waiting on Wadesy." Tara replied, "But when we do find out anything solid, we'll let you know."

"Thanks." Kim responded as she and Ron waved their goodbyes. "See ya later!"

Waving back, Tara and Hope both called out to their departing friends, "Good hunting!"

The German-Swiss border near Drakken's lair

"Rufus!" Ron chuckled as he gently chided his shivering pet, "Didn't I tell you to bring a jacket with you? Naked mole-rats and snow don't really go together."

"Brrrr…" The little rodent vocalized as his teeth chattered from the cold.

"We're here!" Heinrich, the driver of the snow-cat called out to his riders.

"Thanks for the ride, Heinrich." Kim exclaimed with a big grin.

"Don't mention it." The Swiss forester responded, "It's the least I could do after you saved our village from that avalanche last year."

"No big." Kim replied modestly. Turning to her partner, she pointed to the probable location of their foes, "Ready to go, Ron?"

"Whenever you are, KP!"

Tara and Hope's House

"How long are you gonna be in there, T?" Hope called out to her housemate who was at that moment laying out luxuriously in her bubble bath sipping a mimosa as she listened to a smooth jazz recording. "Dinner's gonna get cold."

"Out in a few, luv!" The blonde Englishwoman responded.

"Hurry up!" The raven-haired cheerleader hollered back as she set the table. "We're having Orange salad, my grandmother's recipe for pesto alla trapanese, and cannoli for desert."

"Be out as soon as I finish my mimosa, dry off, and get dressed!" Tara replied as she suddenly felt very peckish after hearing the menu.

"Okay! But don't take too long. You don't want it to get cold!"

Inhaling the intoxicating aromas emanating from the kitchen, Tara's mouth watered as she emerged fully dressed from the bathroom. "Damn! You outdid yourself, Hope luv."

"I wanted to do something special to celebrate our six month anniversary living in polygamous sin." Hope joked.

The lovely blonde smiled back, "That's right! Today does mark the six month anniversary of when we decided to make Sergei a keeper. So…when's our studmuffin supposed to get here?"

Grinning as the door opened and their mutual boyfriend entered the house carrying a satchel and bearing a bottle of wine that he had managed to acquire. "Good evening lyubovniki! Besides the wine…" The handsome Russian grinned as he opened his satchel and took out a pair of giftwrapped boxes, "I brought you these. Happy six months anniversary!"

Displaying a sheer black lace 60s vintage negligee with a matching short robe, Hope squealed in delight as she hugged and showered the slender Russian with kisses, "I didn't think you remembered!"

"Ooooohhhh…" Tara teased as she held her box to her ear and shook it, "I wonder what's in here." As she opened it, a squeal of joy as loud as her housemate's escaped her lips as she showed off a white lace 60s vintage negligee and robe. Many kisses and a long hug later, The lovely blonde asked, "Where did you find these, lover?"

"I was walking downtown after meeting Crystal and Zoe at the bookstore and spotted a shop that sold vintage clothes." Sergei explained. "I knew our six month anniversary was coming up and was looking for something special for my lyubovniki but couldn't find anything. So…I figured, why not, went in and looked around. I saw them and knew at once what to get. I guess it sounds a little nesmyshlenysh—silly—doesn't it?

"Not at all, loverboy." Hope smiled tenderly as she gave her shared boyfriend a gentle kiss. "I think it was sweet."

Planting a loving kiss on Sergei's lips, Tara sighed, "It's a wonderful gift."

"Yeah." Hope winked coyly, "We're going to wear them to bed tonight. Guess who gets to take them off."

Tara's grin growing wider, she presented two small gift wrapped boxes, "Go ahead, luvs. Open them."

Slipping the gold diamond and black obsidian studded bracelet on her arm, Hope hugged her best friend close, giving her an affectionate kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, bestie! This is so…wow…it's beautiful."

"Go ahead, Sergei." Tara grinned self-consciously, "Open yours."

"Bozhe moi!" The young Russian gasped as he held up the Rolex watch. "This is…samyy khorohiy…the best…the nicest…thank you." He gasped as he slipped the watch on his wrist and kissed his blonde lover. "I will think of you always when I see this."

"Now open my gifts." Hope urged with a big smile on her face.

Opening her gift, Tara's lips turned up in wide smile as she lovingly hefted the hand forged and crafted Achelous dagger with its delicately hand carved bas relief guard and the agate gemstone hilt. "This is beautiful, Hope." Giving gasped as she gave hugged her best friend, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Opening his present, Sergei's eyes widened as he saw the title of the rare book embossed in gold on the box that safely protected it. "Philidor's Celebrated Analysis of the Game of Chess." Hugging and kissing both of his girlfriends, the young Russian gamely, yet in vain, tried to keep the tears of joy from his eyes. "You have both made me very happy, lyubovniki. I am very fortunate."

"We're lucky too, luv." Tara responded as she wiped away her own tears.

"What my bestie said." Hope chimed in as tears of joy ran down her cheeks. Wiping away the tears, the lovely dark-haired cheerleader announced with a broad smile, "I don't know about you two, but I didn't spend most of the afternoon since we got back from school slaving in that kitchen for the food to get cold. Uncork that vino, Sergei and let's eat!"

"I'll second that." Tara grinned. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I've had pesto alla trapanese? I think it was the last time I was in Naples…two? No…three years ago."

After seating his girlfriends at the table, Sergei popped the cork of the wine bottle and poured the red Barolo into their glasses before sitting down. Smiling broadly at the feast set out before him, the slender Russian held up his glass in a toast. "To my lyubovniki…and to a wonderful six months."

"And to many more." Both Hope and Tara responded as their glasses clinked.

Drakken's Lair

"Okay, Wade. We're in." Kim whispered into her Kimmunicator as they entered the mad scientist's lair through a conveniently unlocked and unguarded rear access to an underground tunnel.

"The good news is that I've hacked into Drakken's security system." The child genius reported, "The bad news is that he's upped his security since last time. I can't shut down the sensor beams, but I can make them visible so that you can see them."

"Please and thank you." Kim replied, gritting her teeth as a crisscross of narrow red laser beams appeared in the corridor. Turning to her partner, the young redhead cautioned, "We're gonna have to take this slow and easy, Ron. We touch those beams and…"

"Alarms go off." The blond youth finished as he looked down at his naked mole-rat companion. "You got that Rufus? No slip ups."

"Got it!"

Taking a deep breath and exhaling, Kim commanded in a low whisper, "All right…let's go."

Creeping slowly through the tunnels, both teenagers had to—at times—contort their bodies in strange and almost anatomically impossible ways to avoid touching one of the red beams until, near the end, the two teens' initial feelings of relief suddenly turned into frustration. Carefully eyeing their situation, Kim cautioned her partner, "We're gonna have to crouch up, but not too far—we'll touch that beam above us if we raise up too much. And whatever you do, don't stumble backwards. Ready?"

Taking a deep breath, Ron nodded his head, "Ready."

"Okay…we clear this one…all we have to do is snake under the next and then walk over the last one. Easy…" The teen hero grinned, "Right?"

"Easy as pie." Ron smiled back at his friend as the two teens cleared the first beam, and diving to the floor, successfully snaked under the second beam until they were practically nose-to-nose with the third. At that moment, Rufus took the opportunity to escape from his hiding place in Ron's pocket. Disoriented because of the activities of his human, the little naked mole-rat stumbled and fell, unfortunately, crossing the beam in the process.

"Uh Oh!" The little rodent chittered as the alarms went off with a loud clamor.

"Shit." Kim swore under her breath as the two teens were swarmed by Drakken's henchmen, "There goes our surprise attack."

Shaking her head as the thugs, more than a few of whom were sporting black eyes and bruises, marched her and Ron to where Drakken and Shego stood, Kim remarked flippantly, "This is so embarrassing. I don't think I've ever been captured that fast before."

"First time for everything, Princess." Shego grinned.

An evil grin on his face, Dr. Drakken cackled, "Ah, my most hated foe and her buffoon. You're just in time to witness your worst nightmare…"

"I knew it!" Ron joked, "He's trying to steal Christmas! You owe me a Grande Platter, KP!"

"What are you blathering about, idiot?" Drakken shouted as Shego tried in vain to suppress a snicker. Activating the stolen chip, the blue-skinned maniac crowed, "Watch as this automated factory becomes the ultimate robotic killing machine!"

"Told you it was a take over the world thing." Kim quipped back to her friend, "Now who owes who a Grande Platter?"

"Kill them, my robot-warrior!" Drakken commanded as his laughter turned hysterical.

"Konnichiwa!" The killer robot replied as it slammed its giant metal hand down, barely missing the two dodging teens who quickly took off running.

"Smash them, my metallic monster! Don't let them escape, Shego!"

"Yeah…yeah…I'm on it…I'm on it." The green-skinned supervillainess replied as she motioned for the mad scientist's henchmen to join her.

"Wade!" Kim shouted into her Kimmunicator as she barely evaded the giant hand trying to smash her. "We've got a giant robot killing machine trying to squish us here!"

Seeing his partner about to get stomped by a large metal foot, Ron cried out, "Kim! Dodge. Now!"

Instinctively obeying her best friend's warning shout, the redheaded hero dodged just in time, falling to the floor because of the concussion waves sent out by the giant foot's impact on the floor. "Thanks, Ron!"

"I'll distract—you talk to Wade!" Ron called out as he cupped his lips and shouted at the metal monstrosity, "Hey…Voltron! Distraction over here!"

"Konnichiwa." The robot's cheery voice responded as it shifted its attention to the shouting teenage boy who quickly turned tail and ran as the machine gave chase.

"Still have to deal with me, Princess." Shego grinned as she palmed a plasma ball. "Nothing personal." Raising an eyebrow as the young redhead took out her lip gloss, the supervillainess quipped, "Helluva time to touch up your makeup, Kimmie." As her rival pointed the canister at her and twisted the end, Shego cursed as the tiny canister let out a cloud of foul smelling green gas. "Damn, Kimmie, did you just shit your pants?"

"You know what they say, Shego!" Kim jibed as she quickly slipped a filter mask over her mouth and nose and dove into the henchmen. "Who smelt it dealt it!" After quickly knocking out or evading the remaining henchmen, the teen hero, diving for cover behind a large box, easily made her escape as her rival, running the other way, escaped the stink cloud.

Watching as Drakken cackled with glee when the giant killing machine almost caught the slender blond youth in its giant hand, Shego shook her head. "Drakken could actually pull this off. Stoppable's tiring and Nerdlinger's not going to be able to figure out the password to access the override in time even if he does have the schematics and there's no way Kimmie's gonna beat that thing without activating that code."

Letting out a breath of air, Shego grumbled in a low voice, "I blame you, Cutie. You infected me with that nasty streak of morality of yours. I could just go back and watch the show with Drakken, let him take over the world, and then just kick back and relax. But NOOOOO…I gotta go and do something stupid—and it's all because of you." Shaking her head as her lips turned up in a crooked grin, the villainess made her decision as she took out her cell phone, texting a single sequence of letters and numbers on it and then pressed send. "I'm outta here." The raven-haired beauty snorted, "You're on your own Dr. D."

"My robot will turn you and your buffoonish companion into pancakes, Kim Possible!" Drakken cackled evilly, "Right, Shego?" Turning his head and not seeing his sidekick standing in her usual position next to him, he repeated in a lower tone of voice, "Shego?"

"Okay, Wade, I'm back. But we gotta hurry." Kim worriedly yelped. "Ron's almost out of gas."

"Right, Kim." The computer guru replied through the Kimmunicator, "I've called up the schematics, and according to them, Nakasume installed an override."

"Spankin'!" Kim smiled as she leaped into action with a shout, "Hold on, Ron!"

"I'm holding! I'm holding!" Ron yelled back as he dodged a foot stomp.

"Konnichiwa."

"Don't worry, Ron!" Kim shouted as she landed on the robot's head, "I'm on top of it!"

"Ha…Ha…KP!" Ron jibed as he dived for cover behind a low wall. "From now on leave the jokes to me, okay?" Dodging another attack from the monster, the young man screamed, "Tell me you and Wade figured out how to stop this overgrown Transformer!"

"We have." Kim hollered back as she ducked just in time to avoid being grappled by one of the robot's hands. "I hope." She muttered under her breath as she spoke to her computer expert through her communicator, "Okay, Wade. I've found the override switch, but it's asking for a password."

"I'm trying everything I can think of to crack it, but I can't break through." Wade replied as he typed furiously on his keyboard. "Drakken's upped his game again. It's gonna take me at least five…maybe ten minutes to crack it."

"Don't have that long!" Kim shouted as she avoided yet another grapple attempt. "Neither does Ron."

"Wait!" Wade exclaimed as he opened the text message he just received. "It can't be."

"What can't be, Wade?"

"I just got a text from an unknown sender." Wade explained, "I think it's the password, but I can't be sure."

"Try it!" Kim ordered, "NOW!"

"Entering the code now." The computer genius acknowledged as he transmitted the code sequence to the override. "Did it work? Kim? Ron?"

Sighing in relief as the giant robot ceased moving, Kim took a deep breath and exhaled. "It worked, Wade." Looking down, she waved to her best friend, "You okay, Ron?"

"I'm fine." Kim's partner responded with a smile and wave. Then, seeing their foe make his getaway, Ron hollered, "Looks like Drakken got away again."

"Shego too." Kim replied as she clambered down from the top of the giant frozen robot and joined her partner.

"I've notified the local authorities." Wade reported, "They should be at your location shortly to begin clean up. I've also booked you a ride back. You both should make it home in plenty of time to grab a few hours' sleep before school tomorrow."

"Thanks, Wade." Kim answered back as she repressed a yawn. Turning to her partner, she smiled, "Welp…another Drakken plot foiled. Gonna get home too late for that snackage date at Edna's we had planned though. Bueno Nachos tomorrow instead?"

"Sounds like a plan."

Middleton High—the next day

"I see two girls who have that 'well-fucked' look." Jessica Sundstrom teased as she approached her fellow cheerleaders. "So…dish…"

"Last night the three of us had our six month anniversary." Hope replied with a lecherous grin, "And yes, Sergei made sure to bring his A game with him when he came."

"Ouch!" Jessica winced, "That was bad—even by my standards!"

"Standards? What standards, luv?" Tara joked back, "You're the one who pushed for naked races as our next fundraiser."

"And I still think it's a good idea." The freckle-faced blonde laughed. "You and Bonnie got the boob concession all locked up, Hope and I bring over the ass part of the T & A combo. Crystal's got the smooth skin and lithe body, and Liz and Kim are natural redheads—if you know what I mean. The boys and not a few girls would be lining up to donate."

"I bet they would. Now all you have to do is get the other girls on the squad—including Kim and Bonnie—to agree to do it."

Sighing, Jessica reluctantly conceded, "Yeah…good luck with that. How many times have we seen Kim and Bonnie agree on anything?"

"Right." Tara smirked as she brought the discussion to the original subject, "Anyway…back to topic, you might say that Sergei gave us everything he had—and then some. So…" The statuesque blonde Englishwoman leered, "How's Steve's batting average?"

"He's been hitting pretty solid." Jessica giggled as a blush came to her cheeks. "He almost scored a home run last night."

"So…what happened?" Hope asked in a low, now more serious and concerned tone of voice.

"We didn't want any errors. You know, the kind that you find out about a few months later and then about seven months after that, a new member joins the team." Jessica, also now speaking in a low and thoughtful tone responded. "He didn't have any protection with him and I've just started on the pill. Anyway…" The freckle-faced blonde rambled, "We decided to give it some more time before taking it to the next level—just to be safe. Besides…" she smiled shyly, "…I want it to be on a special occasion like our anniversary."

"That's sweet." Tara sincerely replied as hers and Hope's Kimmunicators chimed. Picking up her Kimmunicator, Tara looked apologetically at the other blonde. "Sorry…"

"Duty calls." Jessica smiled back, "Watch yourselves if you two are going off on some dangerous mission and I'll catch up with you later!"

"Got something for us, Wadesy?" Tara asked as she spoke in a low voice into the Kimmunicator.

"Maybe." The tech genius replied, "Mother managed to decrypt some of those files. The Benton Group is indeed a holding company. It's owned by a Mr. Augustus Templeton who, besides his many other investments, is in turn sole owner of…get this…Barrington Pharmaceuticals. It seems he bought out all of Barrington's shares in a proxy fight a year ago."

"And a few months after that, we get the first cases of that date rape drug appearing." Hope grimaced. "Looks like we found our head honcho."

"Maybe…" Tara cautioned, "Maybe not. All this says is that he owns the company. That doesn't necessarily mean he's calling the shots." Turning her attention back to the computer genius, she inquired, "Did you find anything else?"

"Yeah." Wade replied, "We got into some of Mr. Rockwaller's files, "He is keeping a mistress—a woman by the name of Dyane Plummer who lives in Go City. It appears that he's paying the rent on an upscale apartment for her. He's also keeping a private off-shore bank account with several deposits and withdrawals dating back two years."

"Looks like Bonnie's father's engaging in a little embezzlement to help pay for his side action." Hope caustically remarked.

"Right." Wade agreed, "But other than that, so far, we haven't been able to come up with anything else illegal—at least not from him."

"I'd say that the accountant's our inside man." Tara concluded, "He's the one who's been dealing with this Benton Group."

"Time to pay him a visit?" Hope asked.

Shaking her head, Tara replied, "Not quite yet, luv. But…cheerleader practice lets out a little before our bookkeeper gets off work. It might not be a bad idea for us to shadow him—let's see if he leads us to anything interesting. Then we can pay him a visit."

"Want me to bring in Kim and Ron?" Wade inquired.

"No." Tara shook her head, "This is just gonna be a simple tail. No need to drag them in right now. Besides, they just finished a long mission. Let's give them time to rest and recover from that first."

"Sounds good." The young techie agreed, "I'll talk to you later. Have a good day."

"You too!"

Cheerleading practice that afternoon

"Looking good!" Kim exclaimed, praising her squad. "I think we're ready for the Spirit Rally on Friday. Let's hit the showers." As the cheerleaders began to make their way to the locker room, Kim called out to her two best female friends, waving them over, "Tara! Hope! Over here."

"What is it, Kim?" Hope asked as the Dirty Pair trotted over to where their friend stood.

"Ron and I were wondering if you wanted to join us and Josh and Zita over at Bueno Nachos—kind of a celebration dinner for beating Drakken."

"Thank, Kimmie." Tara answered back with a smile, "But I'm afraid we'll have to take a rain check. We made other plans for the evening. You two have fun with your SOs."

"Okay." Kim smiled back, "I gotta admit…" she confessed, lowering her voice so that only the three of them could hear each other talk, "I'm kinda relieved you said no. Not that you wouldn't have been welcome!" She quickly amended, "But I'm hoping Josh and I can do some more double dating with Ron and Zita. I'm glad Ron's found someone he likes as much as I do Josh. Don't get me wrong. It's just that I don't want the two of us to drift too far apart—you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, Kim." Hope answered back as Tara nodded her head in agreement, "We understand. And…I think that Josh and Zita do too."

"Right." Tara interjected, "So…you four go out and have a good time and don't worry about us. We're gonna find plenty to keep us occupied."

"I'm sure you will." Kim laughed. Then, taking a whiff, she grimaced, "I don't know about you two, but I stink. Let's hit the showers."

"Sounds like a plan, mate!"

"Lead on, captain!"

Hope and Tara on stakeout

"And it's quitting time." Tara grinned as she took a sip of her cola through a straw.

"He's getting in his car." Hope remarked, waiting until the accountant had pulled out of his parking place and entered the street before starting her car and following. "Five'll get you ten he's off to the bar for happy hour."

"Good guess." Tara remarked as they followed their mark at a safe distance until he came to a stop in front of a bar. "You tagged it." The blonde agent grinned, "That means you get inside tail. Got your id?"

"Yep." Hope responded as she took out the driver's license that GJ had acquired for her that identified her as being twenty one. "You realize almost every student in school would kill for one of these."

"Tell me about it." Tara smirked as their mark entered the bar. "There's your que."

"Right. Seeya in a few."

Entering the lounge, Hope noticed that the accountant they were following had taken a seat at the bar. Sitting down at the opposite side, the lovely brunette ordered a rum and coke.

"Let's see some ID first, Missy." The bartender ordered as Hope took her license out of her purse and handed it to him. Carefully perusing the id, the bartender, raising an eyebrow as he shrugged his shoulders, handed it back to the lovely dark-haired young woman as he made her drink. "Here you go."

"First time I've seen you here."

Still keeping watch on her subject, Hope saw an attractive dark-haired man with a trim beard.

"Gordon. Gordon Stewart. I'm a stocks analyst for Franks and Weyburn and you are…"

"Not available, sweetie." Hope replied with a frown. "I've got a boyfriend…he's about six foot-four with big muscles and is on leave from the Marines."

"Oh." The young man replied, taking the not-so-subtle hint. Eyeing an attractive chestnut-haired woman who had just entered the bar, Gordon flashed a slight grin, "I guess I'll be going then."

"Bye, sweetie." Hope smiled back as the accountant, having finished his drink and paid his tab, got up to leave. Finishing her drink as well, the lovely cheerleader paid her bill, adding a tip. Waiting until the mark had safely left the lounge, Hope made her exit, returning to her car where her best friend was waiting munching on a cheeseburger. "So where do you think he's off to next?"

"Only one way to find out, luv." Tara grinned as the girls once again resumed their tail, this time leading them to the Middleton Mall. "Perfect place for a meet." The blonde adventuress commented, "Lots of people…easy to shake tails. We're gonna have to be on our game."

Following the accountant, the girls tensed up momentarily as they spotted Monique at the Club Banana store, then relaxed as the chocolate skinned assistant manager went into the back office, apparently unaware of their presence. "Looks like he's headed for Victoria's Circuits." Hope noted as they spotted the accountant making their way into the store.

"There's a new chess program I've been dying to check out." Tara commented as the two girls followed, "Maybe they have it there." Entering the store, the two girls pretended to browse the shelves as they kept watch on the accountant who emerged from the men's room carrying a satchel. "Now, I didn't see him carrying a bag into the restroom…did you luv?" Tara murmured in a low voice.

"Nope." Hope whispered back. "Dead drop?"

"Good bet." Tara responded, "Let's see if it's for him or he's acting as a courier."

"Let's go." Hope agreed as the pair followed their man out of the mall and back to his car. On the road once again, the duo stayed behind their mark as he made his way through Middleton until he reached Middleton Park. Getting out of their car a little after their target had exited his, the pair followed him through the park until he came to a bench near the fountain, watching him from the shadows as he sat patiently at the bench until a dark-haired woman walked by him. Rising to his feet, the accountant joined the woman and walked with her as the two girls continued to shadow him.

"They're making the hand off." Tara whispered as the man handed the satchel he was carrying to the woman, receiving in return an envelope. The man and woman then split up, each going in opposite directions.

"Split up, T? You follow the woman while I follow our guy?"

"Yeah." Tara nodded her head. "Keep in touch."

"Right." Hope replied as she followed the accountant while her blonde friend tailed the strange woman.

Still watching the woman, Tara watched as she dropped the satchel into a garbage bin. "Dead drop." She whispered in a low voice to her companion through her Kimmunicator. "I'm gonna keep watch and see who comes by to pick it up."

"Right." Hope responded, "Our man's making for his car. He just took out his cell phone and is talking. Now he's getting in his car."

"Go ahead and tail him, luv. It could be a while before whoever is supposed to pick up this package gets here."

"Okay." Hope answered back as she got in her car. "Seeya soon." After several minutes on the road, the accountant's trail ended at a small suburban home where he parked the car into a garage. Calling up her partner on her communicator, Hope announced in a low voice, "Our man's back home. I've got his address."

"Good." Tara replied, "Still no one showing here. Meet me and we'll call it a night. They're not gonna empty the garbage until the morning, so whoever's supposed to pick the package up could come any time before then. I'll have Wadesy set up electronic surveillance and we'll catch 'em when he does show." Smirking, she quipped, "You get that Wadesy?"

"Understood, Tara." Wade answered back, I've already sent a drone to set up surveillance and I'll let you know if it picks anything up."

"Thanks, darling." Tara replied before returning to her housemate, "See you soon, luv."

A few hours later, as the two girls were watching tv dressed in their usual nightwear—t-shirts and panties, an image of Wade appeared on the tv monitor, replacing the movie they had been watching. "Better be important, Wade." Hope growled as she threw popcorn at the child genius's image, "The movie was getting good."

"Don't worry." Wade replied with a grin, "I've paused it for you so you won't miss anything. I just wanted to let you know that you got a nibble at the park. I'll stream the surveillance footage for you."

"Good work, Wadesy." Tara praised as she and her partner watched the video stream. A male, approximately thirty years old, walked up to the garbage bin, scanned the area, and then, removing the top of the bin, reached down and retrieved the satchel. Replacing the bin, the man walked away.

"The drone followed him to an abandoned warehouse by the river." Wade reported. "That's where the man got out of his car and met another man who was riding in a limo." The video footage zoomed in on the other man, a middle aged man wearing a suit and tie. The pair shook hands as the first man handed the satchel to the well-dressed man. The men then went back to their vehicles and drove off in different directions. "I ran a check on both men. This man…" the computer guru reported as a mug shot of the first man appeared on the screen, "…goes by the street name of Johnny Velvet. He's got a lengthy record…smuggling…extortion…fraud."

"What about the other bloke?" Tara inquired.

"Anton Mahler. Rodegan national." Wade replied, "No arrests or charges on his record, but GJ and Mother both suspect that he has ties to the Knights of Rodegan through his past association with Conrad van Rodegan, but nothing concrete. I detailed the drone to follow Mahler's limo to the Markham Hotel in Upperton. Mahler exited the limo at the front and entered the hotel while his driver parked the car. I had to terminate the surveillance then."

"Thanks, Wade." Hope said as she turned to her best friend, "So…whatever we've got going here seems to involve the Knights of Rodegan and that means…"

"It probably involves MALUS." Tara finished as Wade nodded his head in agreement.

"So…what do we do, bestie?"

Her lips turning up in a wicked grin, Tara queried their young techie. "Wade? Can you keep a constant eye on our accountant friend?"

"No problem." The child genius replied, "I can easily set up twenty-four hour audio and visual surveillance.

"Good." Tara acknowledged, "Keep an eye on him. Now…for my next favor, Wadesy…can you cobble up one of your little friends that can give us a look into that satchel in Mahler's room without having to open it or him finding out?"

"The drone is easy." Wade replied as he considered the task. "Making it where Mahler won't detect it…that could be more difficult. It'll have to be either so small that he won't notice it or…" the techie's lips turned up in a wide grin, "… disguise it as something completely ordinary so that it escapes his attention entirely. I've got it. I should have it ready by tomorrow morning."

"Smashing." Tara exclaimed. Lighting a cigarette, the blonde adventuress inhaled and then exhaled a stream of smoke "All we can do now is wait until we find out what Wadesy's friend turns up."

Kim and Josh

"I had fun tonight." Josh said as Kim snuggled up next to him on the living room couch of her home.

"I did too." Kim smiled as she looked up at her boyfriend and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Thank you."

"For what?" Josh replied with a slight chuckle.

"For being such a great boyfriend. You're cool with me having to suddenly cancel dates or leave in the middle of them, you don't mind me spending time with Ron. Most boys wouldn't put up with all that."

"Like I said a while back." Josh replied with a smile, "It's the biggest reason why I'm so into you. Do you know what you were doing the first time I saw you…back at the beginning of school?"

"No." Kim shook her head.

"You were busy with some of the other cheerleaders. I think you might have been going over a new routine or something because you were showing them a bunch of moves and correcting them as they tried to imitate you. Well…there was this student…a freshman, I think…who looked hopelessly lost. When you saw him, you immediately dropped what you were doing and rushed over to him. You then drew a map for him and walked him to his class. I mean…it's not exactly saving the world or anything like that, but you made that boy's day a little better. That's when I knew you were something special—someone I wanted to get to know."

Blushing, Kim stammered out an embarrassed reply, "I wish I could say that the first time I saw you was when you were painting or playing your guitar and that my first thoughts were 'Wow what a great artist', or 'His music has so much soul', but I gotta confess, when I saw you for the first time, the thought that instantly popped in my mind was, 'Damn! He's a hottie!' Guess that goes to show how shallow I can be."

"Not shallow, Kim." Josh answered back, giving his girlfriend a gentle kiss, "A human being." A wicked grin appearing on his face, the young artist quipped, "By the way…for the record. The next thought that popped into my head after I decided I wanted to get to know you was 'Wow! She's hot!' So…I guess we're both a little shallow at times."

"No…" Kim smiled back at her boy, "Like you said, human. And…for the record…we're both smoking hot."

"I can live with that." Josh chuckled as he again kissed Kim, the kiss this time longer and deeper. As the pair kissed, the young musician felt his girlfriend's hands guide him under her shirt. Raising an eyebrow, he cautioned, "What about your parents or the Tweebs?"

"The Tweebs are at the babysitters…" Kim whispered back as her hands wandered, "They and Mom and Dad aren't gonna be home for a couple of hours yet. Oh…by the way…" she murmured tantalizingly in his ear, "…I'm not wearing a bra."

Drakken's Lair

"Where were you, Shego?" Drakken demanded after the pair had successfully made their escape back to his lair from the mad scientist's last failed attempt to conquer the world. "I was on the verge of triumph over my most hated foe and when I looked for you—you were gone! What happened?"

"That stink cloud Kimmie let loose made me sick." Shego lied, "I think Nerdlinger put a choke and puke agent in it because I was puking my guts out. Then I saw the choppers coming in and figured that things must have gone tits up—as they always do…" she added sarcastically, "…and assumed that you'd already bailed, so I decided to get the hell outta Dodge too."

"I guess that's an acceptable excuse." Drakken replied, seemingly accepting his subordinate's explanation. "You can go now, Shego. I'll send for you when I need you."

"Okay, Dr. D." Shego replied. Walking away, alarm bells began to ring in the lovely supervillainess's head. "That was too easy." She muttered under her breath as she walked back to her quarters. "What's your game, Dr. D and why do I have a feeling that I should be worried about it?"

Once the door to his lab had slid shut and he had ensured that his often unruly subordinate had in fact returned to her quarters, Dr. Drakken pressed a button on his console. "Phase II is a go. Once you have acquired the items, contact me at this frequency and we will meet at the planned rendezvous coordinates. There we will make the trade—the neuro-compliance chip for the multiwavelength nullifier that you are seeking. Are we in agreement?"

"We are." A female voice answered through the speaker. "I will contact you once I've completed the job."

Nodding his head in satisfaction, Drakken turned his attention to a second monitor, this one showing the closed door of his second-in-command's quarters. "You have brought this on yourself, Shego. If I cannot trust you to follow me of your own volition, then I shall bend you to my will in the same manner I that I shall use to subjugate Kim Possible. Soon…you both shall be my obedient slaves."

An Undisclosed Location

After she terminated the transmission, a blonde haired woman, approximately thirty-something, with blue eyes and an angular, yet still attractive, face grinned in satisfaction. "A good day's work. The device that Drakken will be giving me should permit me to get by the alarms guarding my next target. Now…all I have to do is get into that research facility and swipe that neuro-whatever chip that Blue wants." Shapeshifting into the form of a male U.S. Army corporal, a sly grin appeared on the villain's face as she looked down at the unconscious form of the man lying at her feet. "Somehow I don't think that's going to be much of a problem."

A/N: As you've seen, the events leading up to "Crush" are not the same in the Double Entendre Universe. The tensions between Kim and Ron over Josh are gone now that Kim and Ron are both involved in relationships. This relaxation of tensions has had the effect of actually strengthening their friendship which had been fraying earlier. However, as you've also seen here and that has been developing for some time, another relationship is beginning to collapse. We'll see the ramifications of that in the next part of the story. Suffice it to say that stuff is about to happen.