Unstoppable

A Kim Possible Fanfic by

Nate Grey (xman0123-at-aol-dot-com)

Chapter 3: The Weapon, Part 1

The funny thing about working for Global Justice was that it never really got any easier. The bad guys got smarter, and the rules that governed GJ were at times pretty silly, to the point where the best agents eventually learned how to bend them just enough not to get called on it. Dr. Betty Director had made a very successful career out of that, and on paper, at least, she answered to no one else in the organization. The reality was a bit different, but it was still a given that if she gave an order, it would take a great deal of influence and a damn good reason to stop it from being carried out.

Unfortunately, that was just what had happened, and much as she hated it, she had a job to do. Had been ordered to do, actually. Which was what gave such a satisfactory moment such a bitter aftertaste.

On the other side of her desk sat Team Possible, or as she liked to think of them, the best freelancers she had ever had the pleasure of working alongside. They were good, to be certain, but more importantly, she'd known them when they were just kids in her eyes, and so they still treated her like an authority figure even though she didn't really have any right to order them around. That suited her just fine, because she was one of the few people that could call in a favor and have Kim Possible sitting in her office within an hour. Kim had brought her whole team, with the obvious and expected exception of her tech genius. Dr. Director had never met Wade in person, and was starting to believe she never would with anything less than a Presidential order. Unfortunately, Kim had also seen fit to bring along her junior partner, which would only make this meeting harder.

"I want to thank you all for coming on such short notice," Dr. Director sighed. "It's my hope that this won't be a wasted trip, as I have what you will hopefully see as good news."

Ron Stoppable scratched his cheek absently. "Sounds like one of those good news, bad news deals. So what's the bad?"

Dr. Director nodded slightly. "I trust you're familiar with a little company called Hench Worldwide United?"

Kim frowned. "If you mean that massive corporation born out of HenchCo Industries and Worldwide Evil Empire merging, then yes. This is about them again?"

"I'm afraid it always is going to be about them from now on, Kim. Virtually every villain you tangled with more than once has joined up with them by now. They're growing with no signs of stopping, and as it is, I'm afraid to let you leave today without an escort."

"We appreciate the concern, Dr. Director, but we're not exactly rookies anymore. We can-"

"They took out Team Go," Dr. Director interrupted. "With a single squad of about ten, from what I understand. I understand you've done the same pretty much thing with fewer people, but there's one key difference: Team Go hasn't been seen since. You're good, Kim, but frankly, I fear for your and your team's safety. HWU has something that you don't: sheer numbers and Jack Hench's quality soldiers. They have all the big names: Hench, Drakken, Killigan, and Shego. Only Dementor has been too proud to join up, and I imagine if he doesn't soon, they'll take steps to eliminate him."

Kim's eyes narrowed. "Wait. You said Shego like she was separate from Drakken."

Dr. Director nodded. "I knew you'd notice. Shego is one of HWU's best commanders. That's how they draw the villains in, by the way. Each villain gets their own squad, to train however they see fit. Shego spilt from Drakken the moment they joined. She's the one that took down Team Go, if you hadn't guessed. It's looking very bad, Kim. Which brings me to my reason for inviting you here. Much as I hate to admit it, we here at GJ believe that HWU is onto something. In fact, we think your team may be the main reason for villains joining up with HWU. They figure even you can only beat so many henchmen at once, and I think they're right. It's not as safe as it once was to go globetrotting with a partner and a pet. Not when you could end up facing a hundred highly trained men out for your blood. You may not be an agent under my command, but I couldn't live with myself if I let you walk out of here today to face such odds without increased support."

Kim shook her head. "If this is about us joining GJ again, we've told you our reasons, and they haven't changed."

"I'm aware. But I'm taking it a step further this time." Dr. Director took a deep breath and released it. "We're desperate. To keep you safe, and to keep you fighting and winning. What I'm offering you is unprecedented, so I hope you can appreciate it for the honor that it is. You'd get your own squad of GJ agents, as many as you needed, to be trained in any way you saw fit. A full-time GJ hoverjet to take you wherever you're needed, whenever you're needed. Access to as many top-secret files as you needed, within reason. Not that I think you'd be needing it much with Wade in your corner. And finally, you would not be agents yourselves, so you would remain outside the chain of command. That means you don't take orders, you just give them to your squad. All the perks with as few of the restrictions as possible."

"That's... a very tempting offer," Kim admitted softly.

"Don't think of it as on offer from GJ. Think of it as a request from a friend. I'd like to think we are friends, Kim. If I've overstepped here, then-"

"You haven't, Dr. Director," Kim was quick to assure her. "We are friends, and I am seriously considering this. From the sounds of it, we may need the support. And to be honest, I have been thinking about a closer relationship with GJ for a while now. We could certainly use that full-time transport."

"You need time to think it over. I can understand that. But I hope you won't be offended if I insist on an escort home for you. We have reason to believe that HWU is going to be much more proactive where you're concerned. They are not going to wait for you to come to them. Even if you don't think you need the help, it will be there. Better than you have it and not need it."

She wasn't surprised that Kim appeared somewhat bothered, but Dr. Director was going to be firm on that point. If pressed, she would be forced to admit that HWU agents had been spotted far too close to the Possible and Stoppable homes in recent weeks. She might even have to reveal that a permanent, undercover GJ squad had been stationed in the neighborhood for years, posing as a moving company.

"Then you don't want Team Possible to join GJ?"

Dr. Director blinked and swung her gaze to the girl that had spoken. It was the first time she'd said anything all day, which was a little surprising. From the reports, Hana Stoppable had not seemed like the quiet type. It could only mean that she hadn't spoken up earlier for a reason. Dr. Director had no idea what that might be, but at the moment, she was more concerned that Hana was about to ruin everything. "I will admit that's always been a hope of mine."

"And if they did decide to join today," Hana went on, "would there be a place for me?"

Dr. Director noticed the changes in the others at once. Ron went totally stiff, and while Kim did not move, it was the fact that she didn't turn to look at Hana that told the older woman all she needed to know: Hana was clearly the one overstepping now. Apparently, there had been a conversation prior to walking into the office, and Hana was outright ignoring some rule, but Kim wasn't going to call her on it. Not yet, at least. Then and there, Dr. Director made a choice that she knew she might one day regret.

"The initial offer was intended only for the original members of Team Possible," she answered. "I will admit that the current offer could be modified to include additional members. But that would come with a very steep cost."

"It would?" Ron asked, clearly shocked. "Why?"

"Are you sure you want to know? It may not be easy to accept."

"Then it's not just because Hana isn't as experienced as we are," Kim said.

"That is part of it. GJ has been aware for some time now that Hana possesses superhuman abilities. Several of them, at last count. And that in itself is the problem. Her limits are unknown and untested in far too many areas. She is not just a liability, she is clearly dangerous. For criminals especially, but maybe not just for them. That's why GJ is not willing to extend too much trust to her, yet. So even if she did join, it would not be in any way she wanted to."

Kim frowned at her. "Which means what, exactly?"

"Around the clock surveillance and testing. She would virtually be a prisoner wearing a GJ uniform. I trust that isn't something anyone here would approve of."

"And you're telling us this, why?"

"Because we are friends," Dr. Director replied. "And I'm trying to help you. So my advice is the take the current offer, but to leave Hana out of it. Where she belongs, can do the most good, and would be allowed to grow into her abilities without any interference. So instead of being offended that the invitation wasn't extended, be glad that it wasn't."

It was at that point that Hana jumped up and ran out of the office, slamming the door open with such force that it dented the wall and then fell off of its hinges. While that wasn't entirely unexpected, Dr. Director couldn't help wondering what had set Hana off, if the idea of being a prisoner hadn't. It was also no surprise when Ron jumped up and ran after Hana.

"Would GJ really do that to Hana?" Kim asked after a moment. "Or were you just trying to scare her into not joining too soon?"

"I'm afraid both are true, Kim. I felt I had to warn you, if nothing else. But I hope you won't let what happened here impact your decision."

"You can stop worrying, I accept. If for no other reason than I don't plan to do this forever, and I'd feel better if someone, or several someones, could step in. I just hope your agents are up to the Kim Possible crash course. To date, only two people other than me have actually completed it."

Dr. Director was unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. "You mean Ronald?"

Kim shook her head. "Wrong Stoppable. She just ran out of here. And the only reason she didn't do it better than me is because her arms and legs are still too short."

"Are you telling me she's almost at your level already?"

"That isn't really a fair comparison. She can do so much more than I can even now, despite the fact that she isn't as good as me yet. But if you're asking if she's ready to do what I do full-time, the answer is no. Which is why I didn't want her joining GJ today, even before you told us all of this. The real trouble is getting her to realize that."

The trouble with throwing a tantrum in Dr. Director's office and then storming out was that there really was nowhere to go. Hana realized that a little too late. She had come in with Kim and Ron, and had only gotten a few flat looks from the various guards. But they weren't about to let her leave without Kim and Ron. And while Hana reasoned that she could probably force her way out, she was already in major trouble with at least Kim, and she didn't want to end up on Ron's bad list, too. It was easier to win his forgiveness, but he was always so much more disappointed in her, which hurt.

So instead of attacking the guards and causing an even bigger incident, Hana merely crawled into an air vent and waited. It wasn't long before Ron poked his head in with some difficulty.

"You always get the best hiding spots, Han," he chuckled.

She frowned at him. "Go away, Ronnie."

"Come on, you don't really mean that. I didn't even do anything to make you mad, did I?"

"No," Hana admitted reluctantly. "But I still want to be alone."

"Now, what kind of big brother would I be if I left my little sister alone? You better be glad I can't fit the rest of me in here."

"I'm twelve now!" Hana snapped. "I'm ready!"

Ron sighed. "Han, we agreed that was Kim's call, and she still says no."

"What do you say?"

"I say she's the expert, and we should listen to her. I'd never forgive myself if I let you do this too soon, and something went wrong. Neither would Kim."

Hana glared at him. It was always if something went wrong, and obviously never if she got hurt, which she didn't. She knew what they feared most was her being too excessive in dealing out justice again, but the problem was that since they so rarely let Hana deal out any justice, she felt the need to be excessive. Of course she knew right from wrong, and recognized why Kim had not approved of that first outing, but Hana was better trained now, both in what her body could do naturally, and what her power could do mystically. All she needed, in her mind, was for Kim and Ron to trust her, which clearly they didn't. Not enough to let her fight crime on her own, anyway. Sometimes it seemed as if they never would. But they would have to, eventually. Neither of them could do this forever, and while Ron had not said as much, Hana strongly suspected that he was waiting for Kim to retire before he proposed to her. This was not entirely senseless: Ron wanted kids, and Kim was so good with them that it was hard to imagine she would not want them. But raising or even having kids with Kim's usual schedule would be a nightmare for all involved. Worse, Hana was starting to fear that Kim was waiting for Ron to propose just so she would have an excuse to retire. And if that was the case, they would never get married.

But there were ways around everything, and Hana had become something of an expert at finding them, if only because of her power. Much as Kim and Ron talked, they clearly had not talked about marriage enough to know each other's thoughts. Hana was going to fix that. She scooted forward a little, then stretched out her arm and placed her hand on Ron's forehead. At once, his face went blank, and his thoughts spilled into Hana's mind in one large stream.

She found what she was looking for rather quickly. The only problem was that it was not at all what she'd been expecting to find.

All this time, Hana had thought that Ron and Kim hadn't communicated what they wanted to each other. She had never guessed that not only did they know exactly what they wanted, but that they had both hidden it from her. Because what they wanted, more than anything, was to make sure that Hana became the heroine that they firmly believed she one day would be. Even, it turned out, if that meant delaying their marriage plans to ensure this.

"It's my fault?" Hana whispered in horror, yanking her hand back.

Ron blinked slowly, groaned, and shook his head. "Han? What happened? My head is all fuzzy..."

Hana stared at him, her eyes tearing up as she realized what she had cost him, what she was still costing him. She leaned forward and gently kissed his forehead, then hugged him as best she could in the cramped space. "I'm so sorry, Ronnie," she murmured into his hair. "For everything."

"What are you talking about, Han?" he asked. Then his eyes widened as he noticed the red haze around her body. "Hey, hold on! You're not doing that mystical vanishing act on me again, are you? You promised you wouldn't!"

"I promised I'd be a good girl," Hana replied as she backed away from him. "Now I finally will be. I'm going away for a while, so don't try to find me. Tell Kim I love her, and... go ahead and marry her now. She's waited long enough. Don't worry, I still plan to be the flower girl." With that, she turned her back on Ron as her body dissolved into a red cloud, which then faded entirely from view.

Five minutes later, Ron burst back into Dr. Director's office, startling both her and Kim. "KP, we got big trouble!" he cried.

"Where is Hana?" Kim asked at once.

Ron flinched. "About that. I've got good news and bad news, so-"

"Bad news first."

"Hana knows! I don't know how she does, but she knows!"

Kim frowned at him. "She can't possibly know everything, Ron. Think very carefully. What did she say, exactly?"

Ron stared at her. "Um. Not much. It was more in how she looked. Sad and guilty, mostly. So if nothing else, she knows why we're not married yet."

In a most uncharacteristic display, Kim cursed under her breath. Or at least she meant to, but it was actually rather loud and forceful, which left Dr. Director with one very wide eye.

"Sorry," Kim sighed. "It's just... this is really bad news, Dr. Director." She turned back to Ron. "What's the good news, then?"

"Well, since Hana does know now, she wants us to get married right away," Ron replied. "And she still wants to be the flower girl."

"I guess we can work with that. But again, where is Hana?"

"Oh. She went off the grid again, right in front of me."

Kim scowled, barely resisting the urge to curse again. "But you can track her mystically, right? You told me you could do that."

Ron shook his head. "I could if she had just teleported to the room next door, or even one down the hall. There's a set range of how far I can track her, and she purposely went beyond it. She could be on the other side of the continent right now, or just a few miles away, and I wouldn't know the difference. Maybe Wade could-"

"No," Kim interrupted. "Wade can't track her. Not if she doesn't want to be found."

Ron blinked. "You're giving up pretty easily, aren't you?"

Kim began counting off on her fingers. "Microchips don't work. Placed in her clothes, they get disrupted when she alters them. Placed in her, they just get destroyed or ejected somehow. Facial recognition programs fail because she can alter her entire appearance, even if she doesn't like to. And I'm guessing that if we asked Master Sensei to track her, assuming he even could, she'd just find a way to block him, too. So it would make it even harder to find her the next time she runs off. I don't think we're in a life and death sitch just yet, so I don't want to call in that favor until I absolutely have to, because it'll only work once, if at all. You said she plans to come back for the wedding. So the sooner we do that, the sooner we see her again. Which shouldn't be too hard, since we now have a GJ transport, and a legion of loyal agents just waiting to help with wedding prep."

Dr. Director frowned. "I think that woud be a gross misappropriation of GJ manpower, Kim."

"Maybe. But you said I could train them however I want. This is just some light lifting and errand-running. If I really wanted to abuse them, I'd have them break down one of Drakken's old lairs piece by potentially explosive piece. I think we all know I'm the only one qualified to blow them up in one go. Besides, can you honestly say if I had made you my maid of honor, you wouldn't have had them running errands for you?"

"That would be different. I've been commanding them for years. You just signed on, barely, five minutes ago. We at least have to keep up appearances."

Kim rolled her eyes. "Fine. Then you order them to run errands for me. I have to let my family know that the wedding is finally on."

As had been her habit for decades, Theresa "Trim" Possible rose before the sun, prepared to meet a new day head-on. As had also become habit, she was greeted by the sight of her twelve year-old granddaughter Joss standing faithfully at her bedside, holding a tray containing breakfast, medicine, and the daily newspaper.

"Good morning, dear," Theresa said as Joss carefully placed the tray on the bed.

"Morning, Nana!" Joss replied brightly. "It's gonna be a spankin' day!"

"I'm sure you're right," Theresa agreed as she began eating her breakfast. Her gaze drifted back to Joss, who had fallen silent as she scanned the newspaper, save for the slight but constant whirring of her body's gears in motion. The actual Joss, in her early twenties now, had given Theresa the teen robot years ago, both as a personal assistant and a grand experiment. The theory was that Joss would eventually manufacture Joss-bots not just for all the other residents of Chez Leisure, but for retirement homes all over the world.

It was a nice thought, but one that Theresa suspected Joss would never actually get around to. Despite her dreams of going out into the world and making a name for herself, Joss had never gotten too far from the ranch in Montana where she'd grown up. In fact, she had become increasingly like Kim's reclusive friend Wade. Joss had tried college for a while, but eventually grew homesick. She had tried to drop out, but the Middleton Institute of Science and Technology, unwilling to lose a Possible well-versed in cybertronics, had sent a team of live-in tutors to her home with instructions not to return until Joss had her degree. Though Joss had graduated, the experience had shown her just how much she could accomplish in familiar surroundings, and she hadn't left home since. The main difference now between her and Wade was that while Joss would venture outside frequently, it was only to upgrade the ranch's machinery. She had not even delivered the Joss-bot in person, though it had been worth it to see the matching looks of shock on Kim and Ron's faces when they had unloaded the box instead. Ron had actually fainted, convinced that some villain had stuffed poor Joss, and then shipped her to her own grandmother.

The Joss-bot was no replacement for the real thing, but it was a decent companion otherwise. More importantly, Joss did constantly monitor the Joss-bot's data streams as they were transmitted back to her, so it was fairly accurate to assume that she heard everything the robot did, even if there was a delay here and there. The Joss-bot even had its own private phone line so that Joss could speak through it whenever she wanted, which, to Theresa's great relief, was at least a few times a day. Since she knew Joss wasn't interacting with anyone directly other than her father, it was good to know she was talking to someone else regularly. Joss usually timed her calls just after Theresa finished eating, which was fitting because Theresa so often had to remind Joss to eat something. She strongly suspected that part of the reason Joss no longer came to visit was because she was wasting away, or at least was far thinner than was healthy.

However, there would be no morning call from Joss this day.

Halfway through breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Before Theresa could send the Joss-bot to answer it, the door swung open, and Hana poked her head in. "Hi, Nana," Hana said, smiling at her. "Sorry I didn't call first, but I really wanted to see you."

Theresa sighed and waved her in. "You ran away again, Rosebud? You really should stop that. You're getting too big for this."

"I know," Hana murmured as she came in and shut the door. "But I just needed to get away for a while. Can I stay with you?"

"Yes, but you know my rule. I'll only lie to Kimberly Ann for you once per visit. After that, you either go home or find another place to hide."

Hana sighed in relief. "Thanks, Nana." She moved toward the bed, pausing to kiss the Joss-bot's cheek along the way.

"Joss hasn't called yet," Theresa noted as Hana kicked off her shoes and climbed onto the bed.

"Good," Hana replied, already half-asleep as she curled up with a spare pillow. "When she does, tell her I'm ready to start Operation: Flip the Bishop. Oh, and tell her to expect wedding invitations any day now. Pretty sure I did that part right, at least."

Theresa frowned, wanting to say that it was too early for Hana's plan, but Hana had already fallen asleep, and she wouldn't have suggested something so drastic without having given it plenty of thought. In which case, it was better not to wait for Joss to call in.

Theresa turned to the Joss-bot, who was staring at her. "Call Joss. Message is as follows: Rosebud in bloom, black queen in play."

The Joss-bot closed her eyes for a few moments, then opened them. "Message sent. Return message received. Message is as follows." There she trailed off, and her eyes took on a pale blue glow, which only happened when Joss spoke through her in real-time. "Black rook in play. But I hope you're right about this, Nana."

"So do I, dear."

"So the wedding is finally a go?" Wade asked as he leaned back in his chair. "That's great news, Kim. Well, not the part about Hana. The rest of it."

On his computer screen, Kim sighed. "Thanks, Wade. The sooner we do this, the sooner she comes home. And I hope Hana isn't the only one I'll see at the wedding."

Wade grinned at her. "Don't worry. Even if Ron hadn't bribed me by making me his best man, I'd be there bright and early. No holograms, no robot stand-ins, just me in the flesh."

"You better mean that, mister. Because as soon as I have my first dance as a married woman at the reception, I'm looking for you."

"You won't have to look far," Wade promised. "Speaking of looking, I'll keep my eyes open for Hana. Maybe we'll get lucky."

"Maybe, but she's always been very good at hiding. Just because we didn't teach her to hide from you, don't assume she doesn't know how."

"I know Hana is smart, Kim. I'll keep it in mind. Just focus on the wedding and leave the rest to me, okay?"

Kim nodded and managed a small smile. "You're the man, Wade. I don't know what we'd do without you."

Wade continued to stare at the screen long after he'd cut the connection. "I'm sorry, Kim," he murmured. "I'm only doing this because if you can't be there to watch her back, then at least one of us will be." He turned away from his computer and stood up, walking over to the holocube that composed the larger portion of his room. Currently, it was set to simulate a single row of a giant chessboard. Wade hesitated before stepping onto his square. "Black knight in play."

Immediately, glowing holograms of Hana and Joss appeared on their assigned squares.

"I'm glad you're finally on board, Wade," Joss admitted, giving him a nervous smile. "I feel a lot better about this with you involved."

Wade returned the smile, hoping she could not see that he had his doubts as well.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Hana said at once, spoiling the illusion. "What we're doing here is wrong, in the sense that Kim would never approve of it. If she finds out, she'll be mad."

"No." Wade narrowed his eyes. "When she finds out, she'll be hurt. And that's a whole lot worse than her being mad, trust me."

"Then why are you helping us?" Joss asked, clearly confused.

"Because he has to," Hana replied. "As much as he hates to go against Kim, he understands there is a need for what we're going to do. Just as I understand that there's no way I could do this without Wade knowing about it. So my only options were to bring him aboard, or to have him tell Kim our plans the instant we got underway. He chose to sign up. Eventually, that is. And it wasn't easy convincing him."

"You still haven't," Wade reminded her. "We have a deal. I get you what you need, and then I'm free to tell Kim as much or as little as I want."

Hana shook her head. "True. But I still don't think it's a good idea, Wade. Especially not before the wedding."

"That's the difference between us, Hana. I can look Kim in the eye and lie to her, but only when I absolutely have to. That ends once I hold up my end of the deal. Kim is going to be hurt no matter what, but she'll be hurt a lot less the sooner she gets the truth."

"She might never trust you again," Hana warned.

"Maybe not as her friend," Wade admitted, and Joss flinched at the genuine regret in his voice. "But she'll trust me to watch your back. Maybe that'll be enough. No, it'll have to be."

"We'll see." Hana cleared her throat. "Well, then. We might as well get started. Joss, I need that command program in the Joss-bot by tonight. Wade, get me Yamanouchi on the phone. And remember, people: this all has to be timed right. We do have a wedding to attend."

Continued in Chapter 4: The Weapon, Part 2

Hana is the flower girl in Kim's wedding. So she couldn't possibly be breaking into a prison at the same time, right? Wrong.