I do not own any characters named herein from Disney, and am only using them for a tale meant for entertainment purposes only.
Kim Possible: Possibly Strange
By LJ59
4
"Are you mad," the Elder hissed at her.
"She's already got a solid lead on Deacon. She was the one that found…."
"I know. I know more than you realize," the old man swore when Shego finally appeared at his summons. "Just as I know you've been talking to her again. What did I say? What….?"
"My own contacts learned Deacon is targeting her. Not another politician, or CEO. Her. If she died, especially at his hands, how long do you think it would take before every intelligence agency in the world would be investigating?"
The man scowled at her even more intently.
"You are certain?"
"You're the one that knows all, sees all," Shego scowled. "You tell me."
"You are insolent," the man complained not for the first time.
"I'm told it's part of my charm," she huffed.
"Still, you told her of us. More than you should…."
"She was already onto us. I told you she was smart. Too smart. And if we want to keep her alive, we need to trust her. I do."
"You would trust a Norm," the man behind the Elder spat as he only then spoke up.
"This one, yes," Shego shot back. "She's not like others. She doesn't see….freaks. She sees…."
"Yes," the Elder asked.
"Injustice. And she wants to help. Me. Us. She seems to have no other motive."
The Elder sighed, and shook his head.
"Bring her to me. Now."
"Here," Shego blinked.
"Yes. Now."
"You won't try to…..?"
"I will assess her myself. If, as you say, she is trustworthy, I shall consider her status. If, however, I deem her a threat….."
"You won't hurt her," Shego scowled.
"You would defy the Elder," the man behind him hissed.
"Shut up, toady," Shego growled. "Honestly, some dogs shouldn't bark unless called. And I didn't call you," she growled, flashing her own fangs.
The Elder only stared at her.
"Call your…..friend," he said, making a curt gesture of dismissal. "I wish only to speak to her. To assess her. You may assure her that she has…..safe passage. This time."
Shego nodded, knowing the Elder's word was literally law.
"Good. I'll hold you to that."
"She gets more willful every day," the man behind the Elder swore after Shego left.
"I deem her interesting, my son. I also wish to meet this Kim Possible, who has managed to make Shego remember she is still alive. For in all this time, have you ever heard her champion another?"
The other fumed.
"True, still her manner smacks of disrespect, father."
"Yes. She's much like my daughter, isn't she? Must be why I enjoy her company," the ageless Elder smiled.
The other only groaned.
KP
"So, they're going to just let me walk in?"
"No toys," Shego advised, eyeing her Kimmunicator, as the redhead called it. Which, to her, sounded more than a little silly. "You gotta leave your tech outside. No radios. Scanners. Nothing. But you have his word you're safe."
"This time," Kim added suggestively.
"This time," Shego nodded reluctantly.
"He must have some network himself if he already knew about our meetings, and that we were staking each other out. Ah, you know, figuratively," she said with a blush at the entendre.
"Get over yourself. You're not even funny. Jeez, no fashion. No brains. No sense of humor. No wonder you can't get a date," Shego sneered.
"Haven't found the right woman. Yet," Kim told her, giving her a suggestive smile.
"Woman," Shego stopped just as she about to get out of the car after Kim parked in front of the old Brownstone Shego had directed her to after meeting her again.
"Thought you knew. I like women," Kim smiled.
Shego stared.
"Well, don't look at me," she sputtered.
"Too late," Kim quipped, and climbed out of the car as Shego now jumped up, and out of the car before Kim locked it, and headed for the front door.
"Look. Just….stay cool. Be polite, and don't…..get smart."
"So, don't act like you?"
Shego glared at her now.
"What'd I say? Don't get smart. No, you have to push. What is it with you…..?"
"A lament you often earn yourself, Lady Shego," a lean, gaunt man with a distinct pallor drawled as he opened the door to eye them. "How curious that your companion should bring out that very complaint from you."
"Zip it, Henry," she huffed. "Just let us see the old man."
"The Elder expects you, but asks you wait in the parlor. He is….seeing another unexpected guest just now."
"Whatever. If I'm waiting, though, how about some refreshments? It's been a long night."
"For you, or both of you," the man asked dryly as he eyed Kim.
"I'm fine," Kim told him. "Just get Shego whatever she wants. She's been unusually cranky this evening."
"However could you tell, Miss," the man in perfectly tailored livery quipped.
Shego glared as she led Kim to the parlor in the private Brownstone, and turned to eye her after the man left them in the room.
"Seriously, Princess. Could you please tone it down? These guys are very old-fashioned, and very…."
"Are you really that worried about me?"
Shego through up her hands as Kim smiled at her.
"I give up. You really are an idiot."
Kim only smiled the more.
Henry returned a few minutes later, carrying a covered tray. Kim said nothing when Shego uncovered a small glass filled with blood. The green-skinned woman downed the glass, put it back on the tray, and sighed.
"Thanks, Henry. I needed that."
"Indeed. Anything else, ladies," he asked them.
"We're fine," Shego said when Kim only shook her head.
"You okay," she asked. "I didn't….freak you out with that," Shego asked Kim as Henry left.
"No. No. It's just…. I cannot imagine what it must be like for you to have to live like that. You know, drinking blood all the time."
"It's an addiction you learn to live with," she said blandly. "Beats the alternative."
"Bad?"
"Worse than bad," Shego admitted. "The old stories about ghouls, and zombies?"
"Let me guess. They went….without too long?"
"Bingo. We can, and do die, obviously. But it's a long, and painful thing. Not something you want to experience."
Kim eyed her.
"I'll take your word on it. Meanwhile, Wade is still working on deciphering…."
"Just drop it, Princess," she sighed, shaking her head. "I've learned to accept what I am. Just now, I'm not the one you should be worrying about."
Kim scowled at that.
"I'm serious," Shego growled. "Don't you ever stop to worry about yourself?"
"No," Kim stated bluntly. "Not since….that day back in school. I hesitated then, and people died. People I cared about. I promised I'd never hesitate again after that."
Shego just shook her head.
"You…..are strange."
"Pot, and kettle," Kim smirked at her.
"So, which are you," Shego retorted.
"Ahem. The Elder will see you now, Miss Possible. I suppose you might as well come along, too, Lady Shego," the man drawled.
"He doesn't seem to like you much."
"Don't let him kid you. He adores me," Shego stage-whispered.
"Indeed," he said, and paused before the door with the two, massive sentries.
"Yo. We're expected. Kimmie, the Bookends. Bookends. This is Kimmie. Come on, Princess. I'm already getting bored here."
Kim eyed the pair, and considered them as adversaries.
They'd be tough, she had to admit. But she was still sure she could take them. For one, they were human. Or Norm, as Shego put it. She could tell after meeting Shego, and now Henry, who was not Norm.
"Ah, Miss Possible," the man in the chair, cloaked in shadow murmured. "Do come closer. I've heard much of you, young lady. Much of it admirable."
"Thanks," she said, and walked right up to him. "I haven't heard much about you. Obviously."
"Indeed, and so it should be. I am told you are intelligent enough to realize how exposing our enclave's existence could endanger a great many lives. On both sides."
"I'm not here for trouble. I just want to understand, and stop a madman."
"Hardly a madman," the younger man behind the Elder huffed.
"No, he's a madman. He may play at being an assassin, but he's twisted. I saw him kill. I saw his eyes. They told me all I needed to know. This guy is sick," Kim told them.
The gaunt man scowled, but the Elder only stared at her.
"Are you sure your own prejudices aren't tainting your judgment," The Elder asked. "Perhaps you label him because you know…..?"
"No, I figured he was sick long before I realized he was….one of you. I've met his kind before. Not the whole blood-drinking bit, of course. Not that I know of," she added with a shrug. "But sick, and twisted? That I've seen far too many times to mistake. He's both."
The Elder still said nothing to that as he simply eyed her.
"Wait," Kim murmured. "You know him, too? You know, and you still…..protect this freak?"
"Catching him would have….repercussions we cannot allow," the Elder told her. "Or would you favor a return to witch hunts, and Church zealots staking people for the crime of being different?"
"Of course not," Kim huffed.
"Then answer me one thing, Miss Possible," she was addressed. "If, and I stress if you could catch this…..assassin, how would you…..manage him?"
Kim looked him right in the face, and said, "I'd lock him up somewhere for a very, very, very long time. Maybe not jail, because of the obvious…..issues, but I'd find a place. And I'd lose the key," she shot.
"Yeah, she's got issues," Shego drawled when the Elder looked her way.
"Indeed. I cannot sanction a…..hunt. Still, we will not interfere…."
"Elder," the other man protested.
"That said, whatever happens, will happen, and be on your head. I will watch you, Miss Possible. If necessary, I will…clean up afterward, too. I trust I am understood? My people cannot be exposed. Lives rest on my decisions, and I will not trade theirs for yours."
"And I'd never ask it," Kim told him. "Just don't get between us, because this guy is going down."
"You truly think you can stop one of the Blood-Clan," the other man mocked her now.
"She held me off for over three minutes," Shego told him with a smirk.
"You jest," the man retorted.
"She's good. Maybe…. Maybe just good enough. But she won't be alone."
"You cannot…..!"
"Don't ever tell me what I can, or can't do," Shego spat at the man.
The man scowled bleakly, but said nothing else.
"If you stand with her, you may fall with her," the Elder said when everyone looked his way.
"You know, maybe Kimmie is right. Maybe it's Deacon that will fall this time. Maybe he's due," Shego smirked.
"We shall see. I will watch, and for now, trust you, Miss Possible. Just know, I will not allow my Clan to be endangered. That means you cannot tell your employer anything about us. Anything," he stressed.
"I respect your privacy, sir," he nodded to her. "And if Shego told you anything, it's that I really do only want to help. As well as bring down the real threat to all of us," she added.
The other man snorted, and Kim glared his way this time.
"Of course, anyone getting between us might just be considered fair game."
"You dare," the man hissed at Kim.
Shego just smirked, and glanced at the Elder.
"I have given her safe passage, Edward. You will not touch her."
"He can jump, if he wants. Frankly, I don't think he's in Shego's class. Which means, I doubt he's much of a threat," Kim grinned, carelessly flexing her fists.
"Enough," the man hissed, and lunged for her with both hands.
And got slammed into the side of the hearth when Kim's kick caught him in the jaw, and propelled him back hard enough to shake the wall beyond the brick hearth.
The Elder chortled.
"Like she said. No class," Shego drawled with a faint snigger.
The Elder sighed as the younger man rose, dusting himself off as he stared at her in confusion.
"How…..?"
Kim smirked.
"Don't worry about it. I've been fighting a while. You obviously haven't."
The man sputtered, and watched the woman walk out.
"Satisfied, my son?"
"She cannot be a mere Norm."
"And yet she is. Let us watch her," he told Edward. "I have the feeling this may not end as anyone expects. Not this time."
"You knew. You already knew," his son exclaimed even as the women left.
"I gave my word to the Council not to interfere with the Dravens. I did not say I would act on their behalf. If Miss Possible does face Deacon, I suspect there is a better than even chance he may well fail."
"You planned this," he realized.
"Now, come, Edward. You know an Elder cannot be partial. He upholds the security and sanctity of all in the Clans. Am I at fault if Shego, an unclaimed, and notably willful clan-less female who holds allegiance to none draws in someone else that might…..interfere?"
"You are crafty, father," Edward smiled now. "I will not say you planned this all along. Still….."
"Sometimes, it's just a matter of letting things…..develop naturally," the Elder told his son. "A lesson you should learn before jumping again. I knew you couldn't take Miss Possible the moment I saw her."
"But….?"
"Shego was right, Edward. This woman has a warrior's heart. You, my son, do not. I've not see such a gleam in any eye since...the last century."
"I still don't think that woman is natural."
"A complaint I wager many of her rivals oft use," the old man chuckled now.
KP
"So, that beanpole….?"
"The old man's son, and heir. You don't know how long I've wanted to punch that smug little poser, too."
"So, why didn't you?"
"Rules," she sighed. "I'm on the outside looking in, even in the Clans, so I do have a few rules even I have to follow. One is respect the area Elder, and his clones. It's that, or a dark hole somewhere where maybe they'll remember to feed me. Not wanting to end up one of the zombies, I try to follow the rules. Usually," she shrugged.
Kim started her car, and pulled out onto the street, glancing back.
"They're going to move the minute we leave, aren't they?"
"No need. I challenge you to try to find the place again after you leave. The old man has serious mental chops. He mind-zapped you the minute he locked eyes with you, Kimmie," Shego told her.
"Hmmmm."
"Okay, so we have a clear shot at the freak. Or he has one at us. And the only provision is I can't call for backup, or tell anyone," Kim concluded.
"Since when did you use backup," Shego asked snidely.
Kim sighed.
"I have. Uh, sometimes," she admitted a little sheepishly.
"Pull the other one. I've been reading up on you, Princess. It's a miracle you're still alive. Let alone in one piece. You take way too many….."
"Go, Wade," Kim cut her off when the dash chirped.
Shego was surprised at how fast she had gotten that cracked panel fixed. They had only been out three days now, but the very next night the monitor had been repaired, and there was no evidence she had ever damaged it.
"No word on the assassin," Wade told her. "But I found some telling indicators in Shego's scans."
"What's that mean," Shego scowled.
"Well, obviously you have a severe genetic defect that creates an artificial anemia in your body's natural blood supply. You literally cannot make your own red blood cells, allowing the white to overwhelm your system, and render you….. Well, less than viable."
"You mean zombified," Shego huffed.
"Crassly, if simplistically stated," Wade countered. "The point is, I think I've found the viral indicators that created the imbalance, and if I'm right, I can also create an anti-serum for it," Wade told her.
Shego stared at him hard now.
"Are you saying you have a cure? A real cure?"
"Not a panacea," Wade told her. "No. But, I do believe I can cure your anemia, and end your thirst for blood. It would be particular to your metabolism, but I couldn't be certain if it work on others like you unless I could scan, and examine them, first."
"How sure…..? Are you certain you can stop the thirst," Shego asked, trying not to sound desperate.
"Very positive," Wade told her. "What I'm not sure about is the UV sensitivity you exhibit. It's a side issue, but I may be able to ease your problems, there, too."
"Sensitivity," Kim frowned.
"Come on, Princess. Have you ever seen me in daylight? There's a reason some people call us vamps. We pretty much fit the traditional mold."
"She's right. But if I can adjust the blood deficiency, and restore your normal plasma production," Wade told her, "I think it may also address your UV sensitivity, too. We'll have to…. Well, try it, and see."
"When," Shego asked.
"I'll have the serum ready by midnight," he told her. "And dropped off at Kim's house. Don't worry. It'll be in the usual place," Wade told Kim who suddenly looked concerned.
"Just don't tip my brothers. God help us if they get involved."
"Point taken," Wade agreed.
"Thanks, Wade. And keep working on that cure. When we catch this freak Deacon, we may need to neutralize him so neither side suffers his unveiling."
"Got it."
"Thanks, Wade. And you definitely still rock," she said before shutting off the channel.
"So, what if he jumps you before your Nerdlinger gets something ready," Shego asked her quietly.
"Then I'll just hold him until we can dose him. Or go with plan B."
"Which is?"
"A dark pit with no doors," Kim said quietly. And earnestly.
"Keep many of those ready, do you," Shego snipped.
"You'd be surprised," Kim smirked now. "How about you?"
Shego just shook her head as they kept driving.
To Be Continued…