Sacrifices.

"What?" Kim's father asked, "Kimmie-cub what are you talking about?"

"As long as I'm alive," Kim said, "I can be killed. We're tough, not immortal- and the moment that happens, there are at least a hundred, probably more, groups on the planet who stand a good chance of being able to reverse engineer the transformation virus from my body...and then we get back to, 'Apocalypse, occurrence of'."

"But you're..." Monique said, "Kim, that isn't fair!"

"Isn't it? I'm planning to kill however many people who took Drakken's offer and I'm making damned certain to target the ones with kids first." Kim looked at Monique, "The hell of being super intelligent is that you can also empathize really, really well, or at least I can. Wanna know how their kids are going to feel what dad or mom never come back? Ask me." She paused, "That death...that murder is only worth it if we can end this. And that means doing the job all the way, not letting mushy headed thinking stop us half way to the goal."

"I won't let you do that!" Ann said, standing, "I don't care what you look like, you are my daughter and I-"

"Won't be anywhere near here." Kim said calmly. "There's going to be a little emergency at your hospital that I arranged, mom, the patients are going to have to be transported to Upperton."

"They can't be- they-" Ann's celphone rang and she picked it up.

"Dr. Possible-what? No! I-" She put it on hold with shaking fingers and looked at Kim. "Those patients can't be moved- it's dangerous."

"Especially if they don't have every doctor on board taking care of them..." Kim said, assembling another widget. "But the possibility of a biological attack would make them take the risk... and I provided them with the kind of threat that they have to take seriously." Kim said in a calm voice, "Don't worry, the same thing is happening at every other hospital in the primary blast radius." She shrugged, "It'll probably tip off any protector, but they'll just assume it's camouflage for moving out bloodlines." Kim's face didn't smile, but her tone said it all, "Which it is, of course."

"I-"

"You should also take Joss, Jim and Tim." Kim said, and then as her mother opened her mouth, "And you probably should try to get a grip on your temper- it's not good for someone in your condition."

"My condition?"

"You're pregnant. That weight problem you mentioned two weeks ago isn't going to be solved by dieting." Kim tapped her beak, "It doesn't look like it, I know, but Protectors are very sensitive to smell."

"I-p-"

"Birth Control isn't 100%." Kim said, "And as much as I tried to pretend you aren't, you and Dad certainly are sexually active... in a variety of ways."

Now her mothers face was brick red, as was Ron and Tara's.

Nana smirked at the two adults. "I told you that you would pay for losing your virginity at 14."

"Fourteen?" Monique said. "TMI and IWLTYD!"

"I er..."

Ann shook her head, and looked directly at her daughter. "And this is supposed to distract me from the fact you're considering suicide?"

"No. It's supposed to explain why you can't stop it, you won't be here and..." Kim paused, "The moment they find out who I am, and if there are active protectors, they'll know, the Tweebs, Joss and you, especially in your condition become hostages." She shrugged, "Best to get you all away."

"I...I..." Ann sat down and covered her face.

Sorry Mom. Kim thought. Ann really didn't have a choice, now, any more than Kim did. To leave her patients when they needed her, to say nothing of the Tweebs and Joss... Just wish we didn't have to part for the last time like this...

"Okay." Kim said, "Monique, Tara, I'm going to need you."

"Um...for what?" Tara asked.

"You two and Ron can go in and try to pull anyone out who is still alive." Kim said, "I made-" She gestured at some of her widgets, "some gadgets for that- they're variants of those mind control chips we ran into Ron..."

"They look bigger..."

"Yah- they also incorporate a scanner to make certain their aren't any biological surprises or the patient isn't in early stage transformation."

"Oh...how will we know? A light, a-"

"If the person vaporizes after you put them on, you'll know." Kim flatly said. "I'm 99.9 percent certain they'll catch anything, but in case they don't, you'll need to tell Global Justice that Drew was working on something nasty and have them taken to a real biowar lab. Fort Detrick, and not the parts they show the public. Maybe Area 51."

"Vaporize?" Monique repeated.

"Yah."

"I-"

"No way, Kim!" Ron said, "You say how dangerous these things are and you want Tara and Monique to go in? They're more dangerous than Gil, right?"

"They could tear him limb from limb without noticing."

"Then why?"

"Because they won't bother to kill Monique and Tara. And I'm going to be putting them in a super suit-" Kim gestured at Wade, "Wade, I need the unlocking codes."

"We don't have time to-"

"The regeneration circuitry?" Kim said.

"That won't work, it take way too much power and-"

"Good thing I have a gigawatt fusion plant, isn't it."

"But-"

"We don't have time Wade." Kim said. "I did all of this in less than two weeks- now I'm certain Drew selected people who were likely more followers than leaders, but none of you have any concept of how fast Protectors work. If we're lucky, there won't be any...but I'm not relying on luck. Give me the codes or waste a few hours while I crack them." Wade sighed and read out a very long list of numbers and letters.

"Good. I'll be down in a few minutes." Kim said, leaping up and vanishing up the steps to her room.

"I-" James got up and started to follow Kim, but his mother waved him down.

"I'll go and talk to her James."

"Nana, she's not thinking..."

"No." Nana possible said, "That's the hell of it, James, she is thinking rationally. I knew..." She paused, "I knew a man who betrayed an entire resistance cell to the NKVD, because it was the only way to confirm his bonafides to them- to let him slip in false information he absolutely had to get to them, and have that information be trusted. He denounced his own parents...and possibly saved the western world." Now there was a bitter tone to her voice, ash and lost hope, "Not that anyone would know it- his name is sealed deep in classified archives and if his friends and family said his name at all, it was a curse."

"And-"

"And Kim has the same tone he did. I'm sorry James, but I'm the only one who can talk to her right now. None of you can...none of you know."

With that, the slight oldster walked up the steps to Kim's room.

TBC