Chapter fifteen: The plans

Airport just outside of Moscow…

Shego and Kim stepped off the small plane and into the blustering wind. Kim shivered and hugged her jacket closer around her body. Shego seemed unaffected by the cold as they made their way toward the airport.

"I hate Russia, it's always so cold." Kim said huddling against the wind.

"Yeah? I didn't notice. Plasma running through the vanes seems have that effect on me." Shego said with a devilish smirk. Kim glowered at the green skinned woman and walked ahead of her.

"You think you're so funny!" Kim called over her shoulder. Shego jogged to catch up with her.

"So where do we go from here?" Shego asked falling into step with Kim. Kim pointed a shivering finger to a man standing just a few yards ahead of them.

"Kim Possible! Long time no see." The man said with a wide grin as they approached. Kim smiled at the man pleasantly. Shego grunted in greeting and eyed him cautiously.

"Good to see you again James." Kim said letting the man envelop her, she couldn't bring herself to return his embrace out of fear of the cold overtaking her. They parted but the man kept hold of Kim's shoulders.

"Oh it's been many a year since I seen you girly. You still palin' around with that Anastasia Lardo?" He asked with slight concern.

"You mean Eve. She and I have parted ways on…on a sort of sour note." Kim replied.

"I don't care what fake name she puts up. She's still no good to me, now what happened with you two?"

Shego jumped in. "Maybe we should discuss this somewhere…warm. Kimmie looks like she turning blue here." The man dropped his hands and motioned toward a nearby building. They began their short walk. As they walked Shego draped her arm around Kim's shoulders and pulled her into her own warmth.

The man led them into a small office in the control tower. Kim and Shego took a seat on the questionable couch near the corner. The man pulled up a chair in front of the woman and smiled widely.

"So Kim what happened with you and Anastasia?"

"She left me for dead after she tripped an alarm at our last job. She steal my share and something very valuable."

"I knew she'd screw ya kid! Didn't I tell ya? I told you to go solo before you get screwed."

Shego raised a brow at the man's words. Kim gave an uncomfortable squirm in her seat. "I know James." She said looking at the floor. She looked like a scolded child.

"And I know you, Shego. Never thought I'd meet you let alone see you partnered up with Kim Possible. Either the world has gone mad or I've missed a whole lot hangin' around here."

Shego jumped on the defensive. "I'm just helping go solo and then I'm outta here. Nothing more nothing less." The tone in her voice was forced and final. The man nodded in approval and turned his attention back to Kim.

"I like her! Now what brings you to Russia Kim?"

"Cat's cradle."

The man went pale, and clutched his stomach. "Oh don't say that project, my insides still ach at the memory. What could you possibly want with that weapon of evil?"

"Well I happen to know that Eve is planning to steal it as we speak…I'm going to beat her too it and get back the money she stole from me. Then I'm going to leave her in the same boat she left me in." Shego smiled to herself with pride at Kim's words but quickly covered it. The man nodded happily and leaned back in his chair.

"Well Kim you know me I'm happy to help after you all those times you saved my sorry hide. So what do you need?"

Kim brightened. "I'm going to need your expertise; she needs to stay in this airport as long as possible. Can you do that?"

The man stood and grinned at Kim. Kim and Shego stood as well, he nodded and shook Kim's hand. "It would be my pleasure."

888

Middleton…

Ron sulked on his bed staring out the window, after his failed search for Kim he and wade came back to Middleton to unwind and begin their search all over again. He had come home and locked himself away in his room. A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts, he didn't bother to answer or pay any attention to whoever was coming in.

"Big brother? Big brother when are you going to play with me like you promised?" Hannah asked as she stood at the foot of her brother's bed. Ron gave no response but moved over to the other side of the bed. Hannah took this as a cue to climb on her brother's bed and rest her head on Ron's chest.

"Big brother you have been gone for so long. I never get to see you. Don't you like me big brother?" Hannah asked hugging her brother tight. Ron felt a twinge of guilt.

"That's not true. I love you Hannah, I've just been looking for my friend. She's been gone a long time and I want her to come home."

"But why would you look for someone who doesn't want to come home?"

Ron looked down at his little sister. "How do you know Kim doesn't want to come home?"

Hannah smiled up at him happy to finally talk about her activities. "She sends me letters and calls me sometimes. She said she doesn't want to come home, but she'll come to visit me again after she finishes up some business in Russia."

Ron's eyes widened. "When did she tell you that?"

"The last time she called me. She said she had to go to Moscow to be a bad woman at cat's cradle. She asked about you too, I told her you were looking for her and you wanted to bring her home. Like you said."

Ron wanted to smack himself; his little sister had been the one to tip Kim off about his search for her. But she had also given him a fresh lead. He took his little sister into his arms and kissed her forehead. "Hannah you are so sweet. Let me make a quick call and I'll spend the day with you how does that sound?"



Hannah brightened and leapt off the bed. She happily skipped out of the room leaving Ron to his call. Ron waited for the door to close before he pulled out his Kimmunicator. Wade's picture came up on the screen.

"Hey Ron."

"Wade I need you to look up everything you can about a cat's cradle in Moscow."

Wade nodded and began to furiously type a moment later looked back to Ron. "Well, there is some classified information on some Russian military weapon…yeah it's code named Cat's Cradle. You think it has anything to do with where we can find Kim?"

"It has everything to do with it. You work on getting all the information you can about this weapon and get us a ride to Moscow tonight."

Wade nodded and ended the call. Ron rolled off his bed and left the room. "Hey Hannah let's go out for some ice cream!" He called out as he made his way down stairs. Hannah let out a squeal of delight and leapt over the banister landing gracefully in front of Ron as he made his way to the front door. Ron shook his head and took the girl's hand as they made their way out.

888

A plane leaving London…

"Miss would you like a glass of champagne or a hot towel?" The flight attendant asked. Eve set down her book to give the woman her full attention.

"Oh no thank you." She went back to her reading.

"You going to Moscow for business or pleasure?" A woman asked next to her.

"Oh just a bit of business, and maybe a meeting with an old friend." Eve replied with a thoughtful smile. The woman smiled back unaware of Eve's hidden massage. Eve returned to her book and counted the minutes until she would be in Moscow to beat Kim to her prize.

(AN: So I'm a sucker for Hannah being the one to blow the lid off Kim's plans. I've been working on about 5 different stories lately so I have to tone down and work on one at a time. Starting with this one.)