Boilerplate Disclaimer: Disney owns everything.
But You're Our Grandfather
The blond girl's dress was too warm for the weather. She grabbed James Possible's hand when he came to the door, her timidity driven out by fear. "You have to talk with my friends. You have to help us."
James Possible wondered what sort of muggers would use a little girl to lure him outside, and was too suspicious to accompany the girl more than a few feet outside his home. "You need to tell me what this is about."
"We're lost! You have to help us!"
"Where do you live? Can I call the police?"
"No. You have to…" The girl looked over towards the Anderson's house and shouted, "He doesn't want to come."
A red-haired girl wearing a green cap peered around the edge of the garage. His heart skipped a beat, the child looked like Kim when she was small. When she stepped out into the sun, however, he noticed the slight tinge of green to her skin he had been warned about. Interdimensional criminal? She certainly didn't look like a criminal, she looked like a North Pole elf in her green dress and red and white striped stockings.
"Help us," the red-haired girl asked.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Please, we need help."
"I'm not going to help you unless I know you are," he told her firmly.
"You have to help us - you're our grandpa!"
"YOU WEREN'T SUPPOSED TO TELL HIM THAT!" an accusatory voice shouted.
"All right, who is that? I want to see her too."
"That's my sister," Kasy told him, pulling a reluctant Sheki out from behind the garage.
"Are there any more of you?"
"Please, they said you can help us," the blond girl holding his hand told him.
"Are there any more of you?" he repeated.
"No," the redhead told him. "There are three of us. We got lost."
Kasy and Sheki moved over to join him.
James tried to remain calm. Three scared little girls stood before him. He had no idea who the two teens in his kitchen were - or why they had been so relieved to find Kim was on a mission and not home, but this trio seemed harmless.
"Where do you live?"
"In Middleton."
"Do you know your house number?"
"Yes…" the girl who appeared to have dark green hair told him. "But we don't live there yet."
"Is your family moving to Middleton? Did you get lost on a visit?"
"We haven't been born yet," the blond said.
"Of course you've been born. You're here now. Look, why don't I make a couple calls - see if I can find someone to help you."
Kasy threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly, "You've got to help us. You're our grandpa."
"You said that before… That's impossible, my children are too young."
"We're from the future," Sheki told him glumly. She was angry with Kasy for telling Grandpa James too much, but knew he had to be told. "And you always tell us anything is possible for a Possible."
"I tell you that?"
"You will," Kasy assured him.
"And you three are my grand-daughters?"
"Not me," Briana said quickly. "My Mommy and Daddy came to eat… will come to eat dinner… and we got lost."
"How did you get lost?"
Briana pointed an accusatory finger at Kasy, "She said they had a great basement. But when we came out of it the house wasn't the same."
James felt the need to sit down, and suddenly remembered the duo inside his house. He did not want these three to meet the two until he had a better sense of what was happening. "We need to talk. Can we go somewhere? I don't want to go in the house."
"Yeah, grandma Anne shouldn't see us… Or mommy," Kasy agreed.
Sheki punched her sister in the arm. "Don't say things. We might change something."
"But where to go," James mused aloud, "I don't suppose anyone wants ice cream?"
"Dairy Delight!" Kasy said excitedly. "You can get me a double-fudge sundae."
"No," Sheki hissed. "You always ask, and… says you can't have it."
"We don't have a Dairy Delight in Middleton."
"It isn't built yet?" Briana complained. "That's my favorite."
"There's a King Kone a couple blocks from here," he suggested.
The trio was a little footsore from their hike, but willing to go the extra distance for ice cream.
"Ice cream!" the red-haired teen exclaimed. "I'll bet grandpa James took them for ice cream!"
"Great," her partner complained, "and how many unhealth-food vendors does Middleton have now?"
"Dairy Delight - they used to go to Dairy Delight before they tore it down. I know where it was - let's go. Maybe we can even get some ice cream for ourselves. You got coin?"
"Why do you always think I carry coin?"
"Because you always do - and your dad's a gazillionaire. I want ice cream."
"Bad for you," he grumbled.
After getting their ice cream the four sat down in a booth. Kasy crowded in by her grandfather and Sheki sat opposite him. "I'm going to pretend for a minute you two are my grandkids, and that the three of you aren't cute little conmen holding me up for ice cream. How do you propose I help you?"
"You're our grandpa, you can do anything," Kasy told him confidently.
Sheki had a little more of an idea "Mommy said when she was in high school she and Dr. Renton did something for science fair. Dr. Renton made some time thing. Maybe she can help us."
"That wasn't Dr. Renton who was Kimmie's science fair partner, that was Justine Flanner she-"
"But aunt Justine-" Kasy interrupted, "Owww! Why'd you kick me?"
Sheki glared at her sister and put a finger to her lips. Then she looked at her grandfather, "I forgot. Can we see mommy's friend Justine?"
"I'm not sure if she's still in Middleton, or if she went out to MIT in Boston… And, if I remember correctly, her Continuum Disruptor wasn't very precise in terms of pin-pointing exact dates and locations it created a field of-"
"Please, grandpa," Kasy pleaded, "can you ask? I want to go home."
"I want to go home too," Briana added.
"We all want to go home," Sheki snapped in exasperation, "and Justine is our best hope."
"How about uncle Wade," Kasy suggested, "Or uncle Dre- Oww! Stop kicking me!"
"Stop saying things in front of Grandpa! He doesn't know things yet. And they aren't gonna work on a time machine until after we're born."
James Possible wasn't certain if he had ever felt so terribly conflicted. He wondered if the teenagers he had left at his home were working with this little trio, or somehow their enemies - but he couldn't believe these little girls were interdimensional criminals of any sort. The little redhead treated him as she had known him all her life, and he wondered if he really saw a great deal of Kim in her - or if he simply wanted to see a great deal of Kim in her. If they really were from the future there were a thousand questions he wanted to ask them, but he suspected the wise little sister sitting across from him was correct - he shouldn't know these things. There was too much chance knowledge of the future might even keep it from happening. He looked over at Sheki again. The green in the skin still confused him and he wondered if it had something to do with the costume. He peered closely at the girl; it didn't seem to be makeup.
"You came here from a Christmas party?"
"Solstice party," Kasy corrected him. Sheki let it pass, Grandpa needed some reason for their being dressed like this. "Lots of lawyers."
"My daddy's a lawyer," Briana chirped up.
"So Kim is going to be a lawyer." "Your mommy was feeling well when you left?"
"Mommy was fine."
"Oh good, how about your father?" James asked the girls as nonchalantly as he could manage.
There was a moment of silence. "Father?" Sheki asked nervously. The girls had been told to let the question pass. They'd also been raised to tell the truth when questioned by family.
"Ron is daddy," Kasy answered cheerfully.
"But he isn't really," Sheki added.
James frowned, "Ron isn't really your father?"
"No," Kasy admitted reluctantly. "But everyone thinks he is."
James closed his eyes, this sounded bad. It sounded very bad. "So, what happened to your father?"
"We don't have a father. We have Eemah."
"Eemah?"
"She's their other mommy," Briana explained.
"Other mommy?" He kept his mouth shut. He had already heard more than he should have, more than he wanted to. Were these two half sisters - sharing a dad who had deserted two women? And where did they get the odd skin color? He knew of only one person who had a green tinge to her skin, and she was one of Kim's most bitter enemies… James Possible suddenly felt ill. He pushed the plastic dish of ice cream away from him, unable to eat another bite.
"Are you okay, Grandpa?" Sheki asked.
"Not hungry any more."
"You always finish your ice cream," Kasy added in a worried voice.
"I'd eaten something in the house," he lied. "That's why I'm not hungry."
"Can I finish it then?"
"Sure." The redhead seized a spoon and went to work. He wondered if he should have added, "share with your sister." Before he could say anything, however, the blond girl spoke up.
"When can we see that person? We've been gone a long time. Mommy and Daddy will be worried and we'll get in trouble."
"Maybe she can send us back right after we leave," Sheki suggested.
"Maybe she can send us back before we leave - and then we won't have to be here at all!"
"But if we don't go how will we know to tell us we shouldn't go?"
The little girls were giving James Possible a headache.
The little girls were giving their pursuers a headache too.
"This isn't a Dairy Delight," he pointed out.
"Well, it will be," she snapped. "And he's going to take them here a lot."
"Maybe we should sit and wait," he suggested dryly, "we can eat doughnuts until they get here."
"You are truly unbecoming in sarcasm, how about a good idea from you for a change?"
"Sure. If nobody's looking I'll do a fast search."
She looked around, "Go ahead."
He tapped a device on his wrist and a small holographic image of a screen shimmered in the air over his arm, "Search: ice cream, Middleton."
The screen whirled and shimmered, then blinked 'Error'. "This unit is not configured for the data streams available," a feminine voice announced.
"Big Z," he said in frustration.
She grabbed his arm, "Library."
"Library? What's that?"
She shook her head sadly and pulled him along.
A young man came in and ordered a no-fat raspberry frozen yogurt. Something about the teen caught the attention of James Possible. He sounded like the dark-skinned youth at the house, and his clothes also didn't match current styles. "I'm getting paranoid with all this talk of criminals and time machines, he doesn't look anything like the guy back at the house."
The young man sat two booths away, but given the small size of King Kone and the fact five-year olds are born without volume controls it was sufficiently close enough to hear everything said at the booth with the adult and three children.
"This is a library," the redhead told him. "There is information here you can't get at home."
"Whoa, lots of dead trees…" he muttered, looking at the rows of books. "How do you find anything?"
"Jump far enough they have something called card catalogues-"
"What's a card catalogue?"
"Don't worry, it's on computer now." She headed for an open terminal.
"Where's the mike?" he asked staring at the equipment.
"Keyboard," she informed him and began to peck out a search request. "I'll find ice cream shops. Go ask for a phone book. Get the Flanners' address."
"Phone book?"
"Ask the reference librarian for help. Shaz, you really need to spend more time out of the lab and in the real world.
"This isn't our world."
"It was. Now zip and get address."
"Can you get the car," Kasy complained. "I'm tired."
James assumed that the duo had left his home, but was still not positive these three children were what they appeared to be and felt a little nervous about getting into a car with them. He also did not want to take them home in case the pair was still there waiting. And he didn't want to leave them alone if two of them were his grandkids and there were two strangers looking for them. "I think we need to walk, sorry."
The red head cocked her head to one side and gave him the puppy-dog pout, "Then can I get a piggy-back ride, pweeze?"
"Only for a block."
She smiled, "Great!"
As Team J left the library they saw themselves standing outside. They waved at each other, but didn't speak. Talking with yourself was considered bad luck under normal circumstances in the corps. The pair arrived at King Kone, but found no James Possible or his small wards
"Fleam," he grunted in disgust, "Now what?"
She nudged him with an elbow, "Is that you in the back booth wearing holo number two?"
The young man in the booth dropped the holo disguise and waved them back. They slid in opposite him.
"What's the word?" she asked.
The version who had been waiting in the booth spoke to his other self first, "Go back twenty, but stay here. You'll hear them head over to the Flanners."
"Shaz!" she swore.
"And alert us when we come in?" the young man who had arrived with the girl verified.
"Exactly," his counterpart assured him. "Wear number two. Oh, they've got a no-fat frozen yogurt with active culture and natural juice sweeteners. You'll order the raspberry."
The girl spoke to the young man who had been waiting for them, "You and I are twenty back to the library?"
"Yeah, much closer to the Flanners, we'll beat them easy."
Team J arrived back at the library in time to see themselves leave the building. They waved at each other, but didn't speak. Talking with yourself was considered bad luck under normal circumstances in the corps.
Reaching the Flanners had taken longer than James expected. After the redhead got her piggy-back ride the dark-haired girl asked for one. Her resemblance to one of Kim's enemies made James hesitate a second, but if she were his grandchild he shouldn't show favoritism and Sheki got carried for a block. And when James set her down at the end of the block Sheki generously offered Briana a ride on her grandfather's back. The little blond girl took advantage of the offer and got a ride also. Kasy asked for another turn and James begged off, "Grandpa is too tired."
Kasy continued to wheedle her grandfather, and a block and a half until the Flanners the little redhead was back up on his shoulders.
Their approach was observed by the teens waiting in ambush.
"It's them," he hissed.
"Give me something that looks threatening."
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm putting them under arrest. I need a weapon."
"I don't have a weapon!"
"I know that - but they don't. Give me something I can tell them is a weapon!"
"I don't have anything I can-"
"Shaz! You're impossible! You need something practical in your holos." She reached into the bag from the bakery, then stepped out - the objects in her hands aimed at the small children.
"Good job finding the criminals for us, Dr. Possible. Now, please step away from them and my partner and I will take them into custody."
James Possible could not be certain, but it looked like the teenager was threatening the children with a pair of chocolate-frosted, Bavarian-cream filled Bismarcks
