AN. First of all, I would like to apologize for this chapter being a good bit shorter. That and it taking much too long to write. But in addition to being busy with the holidays, I've also managed to catch a sinus infection and strep throat, at the same time!

Also, there is a reference to a movie in this chapter. For the record, this movie is also owned by Disney and not me.

By the way, I got to be of props to Shin Kaien! In addition to her excellent job with the cover art for my stories, I gave her permission to use a scene from "a gift" as well as C.J. In her story "Kid Possible" and I also gave her permission to use an original character that she helped me put the finishing touches on, and I plan to use him later in this story. So maybe if you read "Kid Possible" you just might get a peek at what is around the corner!

Enjoy!

Chapter four.

After looking at the picture for a moment, C.J. finally asked "Who is she?".

Hana looked over to her nephew and said "I think I remember my big brother telling me a story about her. Her name's See-go… or something like that."

Looking back at the photo, C.J. made the comment "This lady kinda looks like you Sarah. Do you know her? The two of you might be related." After taking about this for a moment, his goofy smile spread across his face as he said "That would be super cool if my mommy and daddy are friends with her! That would make us like, double best friends or something!"

Before Sarah could reply, Hana cut in. "They weren't friends C.J. See-go was a v-va-less. Uh, whatever you call a lady bad guy. She use to fight your mommy all the time. And my brother said she had this hot glowing green stuff that would shoot out of her hands." Hana said as she walked away with the folder towards the window for more light to look at the picture better.

That got the other two children's attention. The two friends looked at each other before Sarah turned back to Hana and asked hesitantly. "Wh-what if, if I had that stuff? W-would that mean I'm related…" here, she swallowed hard before finishing. "…t-to the bad lady?"

Thinking, Hana replied. "Probably, but since you don't and there's no way you're evil like her, there's no way you're related."

Seeing Sarah becoming more nervous, C.J. walked over to her and said gently, "It's okay, she's part of my family. And she knows about the monkey power, you can show her." When she didn't respond, he did something he'd seen his daddy do when mommy was scared or upset. Stepping right beside her, he put his arm around her shoulders then said, "It's alright." and kissed her cheek.

Watching them, Hana giggled and started singing. "C.J. and Sarah, sit'in in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G,"

"Han-a!" C.J. moaned, not amused with her antics, with his arm still around Sarah's shoulder.

Unfortunately for C.J., this only encouraged his aunt to keep singing. "First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes C.J. pushing a baby carriage!"

"Han…" C.J. growled, "I thought you said that me and Sarah are going to get married anyway! What's the big deal?" he said.

"That's when you two are grown-ups, silly!" Hana laughed.

"So?" C.J. Challenged.

"Cooties." The girl stated simply.

"Cooties?" C.J. asked in confusion.

"Yep." Hana nodded.

"Cooties aren't real." C.J. argued.

"Yes they are." Han said, matter of factually.

"No they're not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

While this exchange was going on, Sarah was slowly becoming frustrated. Not only were C.J. and Hana arguing again, she was also annoyed that a member of C.J's own family would pick on him like this. Granted, she wasn't sure how to respond to his kiss on her cheek, only her uncle did stuff like that. But it was obvious that he was trying to help her somehow and his aunt was making fun of him for it! Well, technically her too, but still. C.J. had tried to help her and he was being picked on because of it. Again!

While the two continued to argue, Sarah lit her hand without notice. Then the argument between Hana and C.J. reached its peak when C.J. shouted, "Han! Cooties aren't real! And even if they are, I don't care."

"What if they make you do silly, stupid stuff like your uncles Jim and Tim say?" Hana challenged.

"I don't care if they eat me!" C.J. stated, with his arm still around Sarah's shoulder and still not noticing her hand was glowing. "She's my best friend! And I'll do whatever I got to, to help her with anything! Forever and ever!"

Towards the end of his speech, C.J. was becoming worked up to the point that when he finished speaking, his eyes flashed with the monkey power for the briefest fraction of the second. After that several things happened very quickly. The plasma around Sarah's hand spread up her arm to her shoulder, where C.J. was holding her. And Hana finally noticed the glow around Sarah's arm.

Remembering his mother's warning, C.J. Quickly jerked his hand away. After the contact was broken, Sarah's plasma returned to her hand and burned normally.

Hana stared at Sarah with disbelieving wide eyes, and slowly looked down at the picture in her hands, then looked back up with sheer terror.

After getting a shell shocked Wesley back inside, Kim and Ron gently guided him back to his seat. While Ron went to make another hot beverage to calm their guest's nerves, Kim sat down opposite Wesley and slowly asked. "Wesley? What was that on the phone? What were you saying about Sarah's birth certificate?"

Looking at the young man, Kim could tell he was just starting to snap out of it. So she decided to be patient as she leaned back against her chair as her husband took a seat beside her, with a new cup of coffee for their friend.

Looking up and noticing the couple across from him for the first time, Wesley rubbed his temples and took several deep breaths to calm himself.

Although some of his color had had returned, he still looked extremely shaken as he answered. "Michael said that Hego had come by his office and slapped Sarah's birth certificate on his desk. Hego demanded to know where she was and almost beat the info out of Michael when he said that he'd didn't know anything about Shego ever popping out a kid. Michael warned me that when he asked Hego how he found his office, he said that after a last time Aviarius got arrested th turned over all his technology to him. Including the tractor he used to find us years ago, when he tried to steal all of our powers and we ran into you.

Michael said, that sense Hego had already questioned him and Walter is gone, he's probably already on his way here!"

Trying to ease their friend, Kim said. "Wesley, calm down. Do you know when Hego left Michael's office in Go city?"

"Why does it matter?" The young man moaned in despair. "I'm not some Hollywood super spy. Sarah and I just got here, I can't just move us again and cover our tracts at the drop of a hat." He ranted, on the verge of a panic attack.

Before Kim could answer, Ron got up, walked around the table and put his hand on the other man's shoulder. Speaking in a firm but calm voice, Ron said. "Dude. Calm. Down. When did Hego leave the office?"

Looking up and focusing on Ron for a moment, Wesley answered. "M-Michael said, that he called me as soon as Hego drove out of the parking lot. Um, s-so about thirty minutes ago…"

Having known each other for eight teen years, Kim and Ron were experts at nonverbal communication. And at that moment, as Ron looked at his wife they sheared an entire conversation. And a plan of action was laid out, all before Ron padded Wesley on the back, reassuringly and said. "Don't worry, I think Kim and I have got this covered. Hay, but if all else fails just look on the bright side. At least nothing else can go wrong!"

The moment those words left his mouth, two things happened at exactly the same time. One, his wife cringed and cursed to herself knowing her husband SHOULD NOT have said that. And Hana's terrified screech field the air, as she bolted down the stairs in record time.

"RONNIE!"

Everyone in the kitchen turned and watched as Hana blurred into the room, jumped and latched onto her big brother, burying her face into his shoulder.

Stunned and confused at seeing his normally calm and collected super ninja baby sister so terrified, he wrapped his arms around her and said "Hana? Shh, shh-shh, shh-shh… What's wrong sis?" trying to calm the frightened little girl.

Pointing behind her, still crying into Ron's chest, she made a hysterical and terrified mumbled string of sounds which barely sounded like words. But there were a few things Ron was able to catch. "Picture-Lady-C.J.-Friend!"

Looking at the direction Hana pointed, the adults noticed C.J. and Sarah now standing at the door into the kitchen. Sarah looked like she was fixing to cry and C.J. had a look between panic and anger on his face.

Glancing back toward Ron and Hana, Kim noticed that her sister-in-law's arm that was wrapped around Ron's neck, was also tightly clutching a file folder.

Stepping behind her husband, Kim gently took the folder without the girl's notice. She then opened it hoping for a clue as to what caused this hysterical episode. She was momentarily shocked at the contents and had to physically clamp her mouth shut to avoid cursing in front of the children.

Ron, still trying to calm down his sister said in a gentle tone. "Hana? Why are you so upset? And what was that about a picture?" Then Ron heard his wife's aggravated growl behind him.

"Ron, sweetie. The next time you want to ask the question you just asked a second ago, remember the answer is always YES! Something else can always go wrong! " Kim said as she shove the picture in Ron's face as he turned towards her.

"Aw man! You have got to be kidding me!" Was Ron's only response to seeing a picture of Sarah's mother.

Looking up at her brother, Hana pointed behind her and said "Ronnie! I think she's related to the bad lady you and Aunt Kim used to fight! She looks like her and her hands glow to! Please don't let her get me!" she cried hysterically.

Before Ron could respond, Sarah spoke up and asked "Wesley? Am, am I really related to th-that, mean lady?" with her bottom lip trembling.

Wesley, worriedly brushed his hand through his hair repeatedly. And his mouth opened and closed silently, as his mind struggled to comprehend the situation and form a response to the seemingly impossible question that had just been asked him.

"Well… Sarah, yeah kinda, I-I'm related to her too. I mean th-that's why your mom left you with me I-"

"Y–you said I was your birthday present…" Sarah mumbled with tears welling up in her eyes.

"What? Sort of, I guess" Wesley replied without thinking, his mind still struggling to process what was happening. "But, but I-"

"YOU DON'T WANT ME! I'M BAD LIKE MY MOMMY AND YOU HATE ME!" Sarah started bawling, falling to the floor and wrapping her arms around herself in a fetal position, while she continued to cry.

Wesley stood stock still, as he felt like he had just been shot in the chest. And was physically incapable of using his muscles or forming words. Seeing this, Kim decided to step in and decided to follow through on her earlier impulse to wrap Sarah in a bear hug. However, her thoughts were cut off when her son stepped in front of her, surprising her.

Thinking that his mother was about to harm Sarah, C.J. Got between them. And automatically took a monkey like defensive stance, crouching low and balancing on three limbs with one arm drawn back into a fist, ready strike. He also unknowingly tapped into his monkey power, causing his eyes to glow and his ghostly tail to appear and wrap around the still crying Sarah protectively.

Kim was taken aback, she remembered Ron using a similar stance when the two aliens had tried to jump him on graduation day. And while she would never be afraid of her son, she was startled by this display of power in front of her.

Ron, deciding it was time to step in, quickly handed off Hana to his wife before stepping up to their son and saying "WHOA WHOA WHOA! It's alright C.J. calm down. No one's going to do anything to Sarah. Your mom's just trying to help, alight?". After he said this, he put a calming hand on C.J.'s shoulder which also served to siphon off some of the boy's power.

"You don't think she's bad?" C.J. said hesitantly.

Ron smiled at his son and said, "Now why would you think that?" giving a reassuring goofy smile at the end.

"But…the picture, her mommy-?"

"Just because her mom use to fight us doesn't mean that she's bad or that we're going to hurt her." Ron gently interrupted his son and then his goofy grin returned to his face before saying, "I mean, you remember watching 'Star Wars' with us right? Just because Darth Vader was a thousand miles of bad road, that didn't mean Luke Skywalker was evil, did it?"

Watching the exchange from behind her husband while still holding a whimpering Hana, Kim couldn't help but roll her eyes as she thought to herself, leave it to Ron to step in and diffuse a serious situation and find a way to make a sci-fi reference.

As C.J. started to calm down, his stance relaxed, the glow in his eyes faded, and the tail wrapped around Sarah vanished into nothing. "You promise?" C.J. mumbled to his father standing up straight.

Ron made a show of crossing his heart before replying, "I promise, buddy. Believe me, hurting her is the last thing your mother and I want to do. Now why don't we get out of the way so Sarah's uncle can talk to her now alright?"

C.J. nodded before following his father to the other side of the room. Kim glanced back towards Wesley who was still shocked and rooted to the floor. Clearing her throat to get his attention, she silently nodded towards the crying child lying in the floor.

After seeing Kim's signal, Wesley nodded and slowly made his way into the living room. He knelt down and gently scooped up his niece. Holding her back a little to look at her face, he said in a gentle tone, "Sarah, sweetie, please look at me."

When she didn't respond, he gently took her chin and lifted her face up. "Sarah Go, I could never ever hate you. I don't care about the stuff your mom did. I don't care where you came from or how you got here. You're mine now, and I love you very, very much." He finished in a gentle whisper.

Sniffling Sarah mumbled into his chest, "I love you too, but…"

"But what, baby girl?" he asked her kissing the top of her head.

"But why did my mommy leave me? Was she that mean, and how was I your birthday present?"

Wesley sighed to himself. He didn't even know how to begin to explain that and still didn't want to think about the looming threat in front of them. He thought to himself dejectedly, it's going to be a long day…

TBC…