Your standard legal disclaimer thing: I don't own Kim Possible. I will remove this story off the net if they give me shit. Blah blah blah, yada yada yada. You all know the drill by now.
Small Surprises, Big Consequences
Chapter 9: Discomfort
(Possible Residence: Now)
Kim watched as a moment of uncomfortable silence passed between the two green-skinned individuals, as the youngest of the pair digested what she had just been told. Agni looked back at Kim with her expression a perfect example of perplexity, focusing on Kim's over-night bag inquisitively before looking back up at Shego with a look of course indignation.
"Kim's coming too? What? Why?" She asked As though she were interrogating the older woman.
Not in the mood to deal with her young daughter's abrasive attitude, Shego just gave her best "stern parent" expression immediately cowing the preteen before saying in a tone that brooked no argument; "Get in the car and we'll explain, so hurry it up."
The whole affair was clearly stressing the thief beyond her already miniscule patience and it showed in her every word. Knowing when not to push her luck, Agni nodded obediently. She had brought nothing more than her pockets could hold so she didn't need to grab anything. Always the one to set the pace, Agni left the house first leaving Kim and Shego alone in the family room.
Kim smirked and looked over in Shego's direction. "Seeing you act like a mom still throws me."
Still more than a little irritated, Shego didn't bother to come up with something witty to throw back into the redhead's face, merely settling on the ever reliable, "Bite me, Possible."
Kim wasn't sure if it going back to Go that was putting the sable-haired woman into such a foul mood or if it was the stress brought back into her life by the resurfacing of her daughter. As far as Kim could tell, it was likely both in equal portions, and it showed all over the older woman's usually smirking face.
Maybe I should tread lightly, at least for now. This is the still the same woman who constantly does her level best to flambé me alive. I can't forget that, we aren't friends.
Kim and Shego walked side-by-side, as the made their way around the corner towards a very aggressive looking black sports car with green flames streaking across the sides. It didn't resemble any model Kim had ever seen, and honestly looked like it was just barely coasting the line of "street legal". Agni was leaning against the passenger door with her arms crossed and a look of open impatience marring her youthful features.
"Took yah long enough." She stated looking over at Kim as though it were the heroine's fault. Kim sighed and shook her head.
Shego walked over to the driver's side and pulled off her black glove, pressing her pale bare thumb over a metal plate in the place of the keyhole. Suddenly all the doors unlocked and the car roared to life, actually roar was an understatement, erupted was much more appropriate. The asphalt shook with the sudden cacophonous dissonance startling both Kim and Agni, the latter stumbling away from her place against the door tightly covering her ears. Thankfully, the engine settled down into a more acceptable rumble a moment later. Both Kim and Agni shot Shego a look of undisguised displeasure, which only served to solicit a smirk from the criminal.
"Blame Eddie, he built the damn thing." She said with arrogant decisiveness. She opened the door and easily slid into the driver's side. Agni pushed past Kim and got in the middle seat in the back, crossing her arms. As Kim slid in across from Shego, she reflected how unusual it was that Agni conceded the passenger side to the redhead without a fight.She probably just wanted her eyes on both of us at once. I doubt it was for any other reason.
Agni for her part looked back and forth between the two of them waiting for one or the other to say something as Shego pulled her monster-car away from the curb and started off towards Middleton's main street. After only a minute (ten if one were to ask her), Agni finally snapped out towards the two; "Okay, we're in the car so what's goin on?" the preteen demanded.
Both Kim and Shego exchanged an apprehensive look before Kim turned her olive eyes towards the pale girl. Were Shego not driving, she would have done the same. "Well… listen Agni, how much would you say that you hate that preppy school in Go?" Kim asked cautiously having decided to gauge from Agni's reaction how she would voice her following question.
In response the sable-haired preteen retreated inward, saying nothing, her expression was circumspect.
"Agni?" Kim asked after a minute, not sure how to take the twelve-year-old girl's silence.
In response, Agni looked up at her in annoyance and stated; "Gimme a sec, okay? I'm trying to find the right word to show just how much I hate it." She said in frustration. "Loathe, despise, and nauseate just don't seem to cover it."
Shego smirked from over in the driver's seat, in response to the young girl's attitude. "I'll take that as a lot." She said in amusement. Kim rolled her eyes at her rival's response before shifting the conversation back on topic.
"You see, Agni," she said levelly, "Shego and I were both talking and we came up with an idea of sorts."
The green girls' brow furrowed apprehensively before looking between Kim and Shego, "Kay, what idea?"
"Well…" Kim began trying to find the words before Shego cut her off completely.
"What if I could enroll you in a public school around here?" She asked point blank, causing Kim to glare in annoyance at her complete lack of tact. Agni though couldn't help but squeak out in excitement.
"What! Really? You serious, Mom? Thanks, thank you!" She stated quickly in excitement.
"Hold up, there's a catch." Shego said quickly briefly looking over her shoulder at the young girl and effectively dulling Agni's sudden elation.
The sable-haired girl's bright smile faded back towards apprehension and she asked with her voice filled with caution; "What kind of catch?"
Shego sighed and decided to drop the big bomb, loathing the fallout that would accompany it. "You'd have to stay with Kim," Shego finally said and then braced herself for the inevitable outburst.
Regarding said outburst Agni did not disappoint. First she stared blankly at the both of them before trying to figure what she might have heard instead of Shego's statement in case she had misinterpreted the older woman's words. Eventually she realized that she had heard correctly and that her mom wasn't joking either. That was when the dam finally burst.
"…WHAT! Why? Are you kidding? This has to be some kind of joke!"
"It's not a joke," Kim said calmly, "it's all we could think of on such short notice."
Agni turned her large emerald eyes in her mother's direction with a pleading look on her face. "But, why can't I just stay with you? I mean, what's the problem?"
Shego sighed and shook her head, wondering if it would be more appropriate to pull over the car while they have this talk. "I don't live anywhere near Middleton for one thing," she said evenly, "but there are other issues. It's just…" She trailed off, in no mood to go into the other complications in her life. They were between her and her mother and she planned to keep them there.
Agni frowned and looked down at her interlocked fingers before her eyes widened and she looked up suddenly. "Hey, wait a second! Isn't… I mean… You two hate each other, right?" She looked at Shego completely perplexed. "Isn't this idea crazy? She's always trying to put you in prison, and you're always trying to break her face, but it's still okay for me to stay with her? I don't get it."
Shego smirked humorlessly. "I actually don't really get it either, but what's between Kim and me hasn't got anything to do with you." And I know you'll be safe with her, she thought.
Kim nodded, "Right now, you're the one were thinking about, consider the stuff between me and Shego on hold. I told you before, it doesn't matter to me who your parents are, and helping people is what I do."
Shego wanted to gag when she heard that but suppressed the urge. Whenever Kim put on the goody-goody routine it made her skin crawl.
Ignoring the disgusted look on Shego's face Kim added, "We have a guest room no one ever uses, and I doubt my parents would complain."
Still reeling from what she had just heard, Agni stared up at Kim blankly before slowly blinking. When she finally spoke her voice was quiet and subdued, "You're serious? You'd go that far for a complete stranger? Are you insane?"
"Well there are some conditions." Kim said with an impish smile.
"Like?" Agni asked wondering what kind of horrible things were about to come out of the redhead's mouth.
"No fighting, no skipping school, and especially no running off into the night all by yourself." Kim said in all seriousness. Agni nearly choked on her spit from surprise. That's it? That's all she wants?
"It's really up to you, Kid." Shego said, wondering what her young daughter would choose, but if she knew her as well as she thought she did the pale thief had a pretty good idea.
"…Even if I say yes," Agni finally said, "why are we heading back to Go then?"
"Because technically your Grandma is your legal guardian so we'd need her permission." Shego practically spat the word as though it tasted like canola oil. "Kimmie insists we keep this legal for some reason." She added annoyed.
Kim was about to say something in her defense back at Shego, but the jade preteen in the backseat cut her off.
"W-what if Gram says no?" She asked, her voice stuttering slightly despite her best efforts.
"Oh she won't." Shego said threateningly as she glared out at the open road, the tires squealed as she abruptly cut another car off. Kim grimaced and tried to shrug off the indignant honking in the background.
"I think if I just talk to her I could get her to agree." Kim said optimistically. Honestly, how hard could it be, she was sure that she could get Agni's grandparents to see reason. I wonder why they only seem worried about the grandmother? It's almost as though the grandfather has no say in the matter. Well, we'll see I guess.
"As if." Both Agni and Shego scoffed in perfect unison. Their expressions were so similar that Kim shuddered unconsciously. It was like two Shegos. Just having one around was already hard enough to deal with.
"So," Shego finally asked, briefly looking back over her shoulder. "Do you want to?" She smiled when she turned her head back towards the road. She knew the girl's answer already, and although the circumstances were far from ideal, they were still a step up and that was all that mattered.
In Agni's head, she carefully weighed her options as she figured them to be. On the one hand, she could simply go back to that prison of a home where no one trusted her, and that awful preppy school hell-bent on breaking her spirit. That option almost made her want to laugh out loud. If she stayed there eventually she'd end up burning that academy to the ground. Another option was her original second plan to simply run off into the night so she'd be free to fend for herself. However, that plan left her with feelings of uncertainty. Honestly anything could just happen to her in that situation. Nothing was guaranteed.
And then there was this, she'd be going to a normal school outside of that awful city, no uncles, no grandparents, and she might even get to see her mother regularly. The downside of course would be living with Kim Possible, her parents, and those Tweebs. Well, Jim seemed sort of okay, and as bad as Tim was he wasn't anywhere near as annoying as Uncle Hego. Really, what other options were there?
Agni nervously looked up into Kim's two olive eyes and slowly nodded, afterwards she quickly broke the eye contact. "Y-yeah… um… I'd like to try…" Her cheeks steadily took on a much darker green complexion as she said words that she was largely unfamiliar with, "T- thanks, this is… uh…" She trailed off embarrassed by the teen's charity.
"No big." Kim said dismissively, before grinning. It was fun to see the girl look uncomfortable. Also seeing her actually blushing was it's own reward.
"No," Agni said looking back up at Kim, still dark-green in the face "it's big."
"Aww, how cute," Shego teased from over in the driver's side, causing Agni to look away suddenly. The pale girl then pulled her hood almost completely over her face before snapping, "Shut up, Mom!" causing both the thief and the heroine to burst into open mirth. Agni just snorted irritably and put on her headphones to drown out the noise of being teased from the altered-human's ears.
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Once the laughter died down an uncomfortable silence steadily fell over the car like a thick fog. With Agni retreating to whatever the hell she was always listening to, Kim and Shego were now left virtually alone with one another. Neither woman was sure what to say that wouldn't lead up towards some kind of huge argument, and as far as things went, outside of arguing what did they have to say to one another? Both unconsciously reclined back in their seats and looked forward towards the moving traffic, neither willing to break the stifling silence.
Shego played with the notion of turning on the radio but quickly abandoned the idea; she wasn't in the mood to have Kim get on her case about the music. Kim for her part, grit her teeth and summoned up all of her will power before turning towards Shego and finally saying,
"Well, at least Agni accepted, I was worried there for a bit."
Shego scoffed, "Of course she did, I know her better than I know myself. I wouldn't have even brought it up if it weren't a sure thing. I never do anything half-assed."
"That's for sure," Kim said darkly eliciting a curious look from Shego.
"Something on your mind?"
Kim turned her full attention towards Shego, "You never told me why you couldn't take care of her, what's the big secret?"
Shego frowned and applied more pressure to the gas pedal. "It's not a big secret; just use your imagination, that's probably more interesting than the truth."
Kim crossed her arms indignantly, "Well the truth is what I want."
"Than it sucks to be you."
"Dammit Shego! I'm going out on a limb for your kid, doesn't that mean you owe me this?" She snapped.
The green thief hissed, and narrowed her eyes at the cheerleader. "Back at your house you told me you didn't want anything in return, even when I offered to pay you."
"Well, I lied. You know all about that right?"
"I've never lied to you, I've never needed to. You're so gullible it's painful to watch sometimes!"
"Gullible? I am not gullible!"
"Were Eric the Syntho-Drone still functioning I bet he'd say otherwise." She snapped back at Kim, smiling her usual evil smirk.
Kim just stared agape, before gritting her teeth and boiling in her own fury. "I cannot believe you just said- Wait!" Suddenly her anger drained away and she smiled back at Shego causing the older woman to wince. "Oh, you are good. You changed the subject away from my question so seamlessly it's like you scripted it."
Shego sighed defeated. "So I guess you're not that gullible."
Kim scratched the back of her head before looking back over at Shego sheepishly. "Shego, I get that it's personal, but it's not like I would ever use it against you or anything, you know that."
"Fine, here's the deal," Shego said shaking her head, "If you can actually manage to convince my black hearted mother to let you enroll Agni at Middleton, than I'll tell you whatever the hell you want, OK?"
Kim just nodded, "Fine, but how do I know you'll keep up with your end?" Kim asked offhandedly.
"You don't." Shego stated with simple directness.
"Do you really think I'm naive enough to accept a deal with you without some collateral?" Kim exclaimed, insulted by the green woman's implications.
"Yes, yes I do." Shego said trying to hide her smile for a greater impact.
"Gargh, you're so frustrating!" Kim exclaimed in exasperation. "Whatever, convincing your Mom will be a breeze anyway so it's in the bag." She stated with confidence.
"Ha!"
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Both women basked in the blessed silence as they made their way across the busy freeway. Shego's overly aggressive driving had effectively cut at least three hours off their long trip (even if it meant out running several perusing police interceptors much to Kim's outspoken dismay). Even doing something as normal as driving, Shego still found ways to break the law. At least Motor Ed knew how to put together a well-built car though, a lesser model wouldn't have survived such abuse. This time, however, neither woman was willing to hazard breaking the silence that had built up between them. Agni sat quietly in the back seat, idly staring out the window inside her head. Occasionally Kim would turn to look back at the young girl, herself considering the immediate future.
The redhead had no doubt that her parents wouldn't give Agni a second thought; in fact she actually doubted her father would notice the pale girl at first. The man was brilliant and an attentive father in most cases, however, certain seemingly obvious things just seemed to pass right beyond his notice, regardless. Her mother might have some reservations, but honestly, she'd probably understand when the situation was explained to her. As for the Tweebs… well, who honestly knew? They'd probably just ignore the pale girl. Kim had never even seen the twins hang out with any kids from their school outside of soccer practice, those two were simply an island unto themselves, so Agni probably would be noticed and then promptly ignored once the novelty wore off. There was simply something to be said about a family that let Kim get away with such dangerous hobbies without protest.
There was also the fact that she was finally about to see Shego's home, and her parents on top of that! What kind of family could produce people like Shego and her siblings? It honestly boggled the mind. She ran several theories as to what she might expect through her mind but none of them seemed appropriate. Kim couldn't even imagine, but the mother was obviously some piece of work if what the redhead had heard from Shego and Agni wasn't exaggerated. However, any account from children regarding their parents were always somewhat over-the-top, at least in Kim's experience, so she doubted that it would be near as difficult a conversation as Shego implied. At least she hoped it wouldn't be.
Her thoughts were soon cut off when Shego spoke up out of nowhere.
"Hey, Kimmie?" She asked; her expression was neutral as she continued to watch the open road. Had Kim not known better, she would have believed she had imagined it. She blinked in surprise at Shego's sudden communication.
"Yes?" She asked puzzled.
Shego inclined her head slightly in the redhead's direction. Her expression made telling what the jade-hued woman was thinking impossible. There was an awkward pause as Shego seemed to retreat inward, but when she finally spoke, Kim couldn't have prepared herself for the pale thief's next words.
"Thanks, for all this. I mean it." She then turned back away from Kim and looked out towards the highway.
Kim stared blankly for a moment completely shaken, before remembering herself and finally replying, "Y-your welcome, I said it was no big."
Shego's lips tugged up at the corners ever so slightly. "No, it's big."
Chapter 9: End.
Sorry for the long wait, Midterms, y'know? Also, once again, PM me any ideas you might have for some much needed excessive plot points. Thanks.