I don't own these characters; Disney does.

12: A Pirate's Life

The new Company Possible, a crew of six pirates, all stared at each other as they stood on the ship. Shego was at the helm, but she watched the other five pirates on deck and every now and then someone would glance up at her. It was like they did not know what to make of each other, like they did not know what to make of the situation.

Waves crashed against the hull, deafening against their silence. They fled the Middleton port posthaste after Kim and Shego just orchestrated a simple, but rather successful slave break, also managing to drag a couple of women along with them. Ron did not understand what happened, but he was more than happy he had gotten back to the ship within an hour. It was a good thing Rufus had been on his case about the time.

"So, Ron, who's this?" Kim inquired, turning to the new crew member now with them by accident. He was a young man who appeared to be in his early teens that had been helping Ron and was now stuck with them.

"I'm Wade," the young man introduced himself. He gave them a little shy smile, not sure what to make of them or what was going on. Was he being kidnapped?

Kim put her hand out for him without hesitation. Wade was a bit taken aback by such bold behavior, but he shook her hand. The other two new crew members were also stunned Kim's forward behavior, watching the handshake with wide eyes. Kim did not even notice.

"Kim Possible. I suppose I'm the captain around here. Sorry we dragged you into this," she sincerely apologized.

Wade shook his head. "It's quite all right. The store owner bought me from the auction…" He shrugged as he trailed off. Basically, they were not taking him from paradise on Earth or anything, so he did not mind much.

Kim's warm eyes and greeting put him at ease. Besides, the short time he spent with Ron was far from horrible. He had heard tales of pirate ships. This might be better than his time on land.

"Well, there's none of that on this ship. We're all equal and free on the sea. That's one of the first lessons I learned on the ocean," Kim stated with a broad smile. It was one the first things she totally agreed with about being a pirate, too.

Wade smiled back. "Sounds better than being a slave for the store, then. I was nothing more than a beast of burden for him." His expression shifted to a scowl and bitterness oozed from his tone and anger in his gaze. The reason he got stuck on the ship was because his master ordered him to carry Ron's things for Ron, even though Ron objected the whole time.

"None of that here, but you do have to realize, we're pirates for the most part. Shego and I have already stirred up a bunch of trouble at the slave auction house," Kim said, a small amount of pride in her voice.

"But, it was so much fun and we'd probably do it again if given the chance," Shego added in. Everything about it was fun, from breaking out the slaves to watching Kim kick around all of those guards. The only regret was that Kim did not leave any guards for her.

Wade laughed. "Sounds like I got shanghaied by a good ship, then." He did not seem distressed at all from what Kim could tell, which made her quite happy since there was no way they could return to Middleton and send him back. Not that she would ever send anyone back to slavery, even if the person asked.

"I hope it does work out for you, but if you find it's not for you, tell us. I'm not too keen on forced impressments. We'll figure something about if necessary." Kim figured if he was unhappy, they could find a safe port for him. Maybe even give him some money to help him on his way. She turned her attention to the two women. "Well, we know Wade. What about you guys?" she asked.

"I'm Monique," the chocolate-skinned woman answered. She looked Kim right in the eye, but it was clearly a struggle to maintain. Still, she held her head up, like a queen, even though she was dressed in shapeless rags.

"I'm Bonnie Rockwaller," the other female replied, sounding just a little uppity. She also held eye contact, but her body trembled as she did so.

"No one asked for the master's name," Monique huffed, folding her arms across her chest.

"Don't be mad because you don't have a family name," Bonnie countered, rolling her eyes. This was a remark that she often made with Monique. Most of the time, it was a joke whenever she lacked a real comeback for something Monique said. Sometimes, though, she acted like it was a real accomplishment, which irked Monique even more.

"Stop trying to act all high and mighty because the master took the time to rape your mother. That's why we're in this mess, because you think you're too good for everyone else," Monique stated with some bite in her tone.

The crew flinched, but Bonnie did not seem fazed. "We're in this mess because you had to go around teaching everyone who asked to read! All you had to do was keep it to yourself, but no, you think everybody in the damn cane field needs to know how!" She threw her hands up in frustration.

"Of course everyone needs to know how! There's a reason they don't want us to!"

"Yeah, like they're fucking sell us the fuck off! Which, surprise, surprise, is exactly what the hell happened! You're lucky we didn't get killed over this!"

"Being dead is better than what we had!"

Kim glanced up at Shego, who shrugged. She did not know what type of skills the two women had, but they had a lot of energy and they were feisty. That had to count for something. And as much as Shego hated to admit it, they seemed like they would fit in perfectly with the "company." Besides, they gave off a good vibe to her. Kim would have agreed with that, if she knew.

"All right, Monique and Bonnie. You're here to be a part of the crew. Have you ever been on a ship before?" Kim asked, even though she could guess the answer to that.

"Aside from as cargo, not so much," Monique answered. It was a joke, but no one laughed because it was way too close to the truth.

"Hmm… that could be a little problem. Do you guys have any special skills?" Kim inquired. She wanted to add, "besides arguing with each other," but she had a feeling that would just lead to another argument. She got enough arguing out of Shego, so she figured she did not need it from other members of the crew.

Wade raised his hand a little. "I was apprenticed to a carpenter for most of my life. Not really stepping out of line or even making myself sound better than I am, I will say that he sold me a few months ago because I was better than he was. He hated my talent, especially since I'm so young, and wanted to be rid of me, so he sold me to a vendor to make sure I was never to touch another tool, ever."

"That's great! We need a carpenter," Kim declared with a smile. She noticed Wade was very well spoken and was willing to bet that he was well read, which probably added to the reasons why he was sold. She was quite right in that thinking.

"I'll be happy to do what I can. I've missed doing carpentry work." The young man smiled and bounced on his heels, not wanting to appear as giddy as he was. He seemed ready to burst at the thought of building things and doing the work that he loved. And if Kim spoke the truth and they were truly free, he figured he could catch on his reading as well. He was already imagining owning a pile of books bought with his pirate loot.

"That's great. So, we have a carpenter," the redhead said. She turned to the ladies. "What about you guys? Anything?"

"Well, let's see, she's really good at getting on my nerves." Monique jabbed her thumb at Bonnie.

Bonnie glared at her. "Oh, yeah! You're really good at getting me into horrible situations! You got me sold, for crying out loud!" She threw her hands out at Monique.

Monique pointed at Bonnie. "You got you sold! It was your own damn actions, but you don't want to own up to it as usual! And, if you haven't noticed, we didn't get sold! We're free on a ship thanks to these people, so just be happy you're not in a damn cane field or tasting the master's whip again!" She snorted through her nose at the end to punctuate her statement.

Kim decided to jump in before things got out of hand. "Uh… okay. I can teach you guys the basics about being on the ship and then we'll work on developing beyond that," she stated. She knew she really was going to need to teach them to work the guns most of all because that was why they needed the extra crew members. But, while they learned that, it would not hurt for them to know how to run the rigs and sails, work the helm, and the hundreds of other things that made sailing go smoothly.

"Hey, I don't have to listen to you if I'm free on this ship," Bonnie proclaimed, turning her nose in the air and folding her arms across her chest in protest. She would be damned if she would leave one master to be commanded by another if she had already been told she was a freewoman.

"Yes, you're free, but you're also a member of this company and expected to pull your weight and help the ship run efficiently," Kim said logically.

"I don't have to be a member of this company or whatever it is either," Bonnie declared, which was technically true. Kim had no desire to force anyone to do something they did not want.

Monique looked like she wanted to rip her hair out as she huffed. "Oh, for goodness sake, could you be any more of a snob? These people just risked their lives to keep us from being sold and the second they give you the precious gift of freedom you act like you're too good for them! You keep acting like this and they'll probably throw you overboard and it would be serve you right!"

"I prefer pulling into the nearest harbor and selling her as fast as we can. A lot of brothels like exotic half-breeds. You said her father was white and her mother black, right?" Shego inquired with an absolutely wicked smirk. "We could probably get a pretty decent amount for Bonnie, as long as we sell her before she started talking."

"Shego!" Kim admonished the helmsman. Even if that was just an empty threat or a poor attempt at humor, it was far from okay in Kim's book.

"You wouldn't dare!" Bonnie shrieked in horror, jumping back. Monique put her arms around Bonnie as if to protect her. Monique glared at Shego as if she was a monster.

"Try me. We're pirates, honey! We do things like that!" Shego pointed out.

Kim decided to go along with Shego's announcement, even though she would never allow such a thing to happen. She hated how Monique looked at Shego and she did not want Monique to look at her like that. But, she just needed Bonnie to agree to work with them, even if it made her want to throw up.

"It's either help out on the ship, or we could just go with Shego's idea." Kim shrugged, trying to appear casual. It felt wrong to do and say, but they needed Bonnie's cooperation as soon as possible.

Bonnie's nose remained in the air and her light blue-green eyes showed nothing but hostility. "…I guess… I did agree to help…" she muttered. Monique still held her close, like she would not allow things to come to that, but she sighed in relief as well. Monique had little desire to do this alone.

"Good. Now, first things first, as a new company and all, I figured we needed to start things off right. First thing we need to do—" Kim was cut off.

"Change the name of the ship!" Ron chimed in. Rufus stood up on his shoulder, nodding his agreement.

"Hey, for once, me and blondie are on the same page!" Shego cackled. They needed to change the name of the ship and fast! The last thing they needed was for it to get around that their new company sailed around on The Flying Monkey.

"We'll change the name of the ship later. Let's be serious here," Kim said.

"Then we're changing the Jolly Roger first!" Ron shouted with hope. They were not flying the flag and, hopefully, they never would, but if they ever ran it up, everyone would see it was clearly a monkey head with bloody fangs biting into a heart. Ron never wanted to look at that thing again now that Monkey Fist was gone from his life.

"What? No! Before any of that stuff, to become a real company, we need to sign the Articles of Agreement, so that the ship has some order and we're not all out just for ourselves!" Kim pointed out.

Ron nodded as if agreeing, but it was more that Kim made some sense to him. "I still say changing the Jolly Roger would be the better thing to do first." Rufus nodded again.

"We'll get to it, Ron, but right now, we should look like a real company if we want any respect on the high seas," the redhead stated.

Ron conceded that point. Kim went and retrieved the parchment she wrote the rules on. Ron had no problem reading it quickly and making his mark, signing his name with a delicate calligraphy no one expected from him. Rufus followed him with an inky paw print, earning a laugh from Kim, Wade, and Monique while Shego and Bonnie rolled their eyes. Wade was next to sign. He rapidly read through the Articles, asking a few questions about what certain things meant before he made his mark, signing his name with a neat curve. No one was surprised he could read or write. He basically said he was too smart for his own good, which was why the carpenter sold him in the first place.

Monique signed next. She had a few questions, too, not understanding many of the terms because she had never been on a ship before. Kim explained everything to her as best she could. Monique was a little hesitant to make her mark. The last time she showed she had a functioning brain she was almost sold, after all. But, since it was already clear she could read, she supposed it would not hurt to show she could write.

"So, these are basically, the ten rules of the ship? Once I sign, I have an equal vote and get an equal share of any prizes we collect?" Monique asked, just to be sure, even though Kim had already said as much.

"Exactly. And considering the fact that we're a pretty small company, I think you'll like the size of your share," Kim remarked.

"I've picked cane all my life for free, so any amount of money would be to my liking. Last thing, this part right here where it talks about flogging. That's whipping, right?" Monique scratched at the top of her shoulder, accidentally drawing some attention to the area. The crew could see a couple of marks on her back peeking out of her dress.

Kim flinched. "Yeah. I know it seems harsh and I doubt we'll ever have to use it, but the last ship I was on, the captain told me this is standard punishment on most ships. Honestly, I was onboard a pirate ship with one of the greatest captains ever and I never saw her flog one person. I hope we can be that sort of crew." She felt a little bad for writing that in there now, not knowing half the crew would be made up of runaway slaves. But, there were former slaves on other ships with the same punishment. Hopefully, they never would have to use it.

"It's not really freedom if we can be punished for doing what we want," Bonnie hissed.

"And it's not really a ship if we can't all work together to keep afloat. Freedom has a price, too. Now, if you want to be treated equally and get a fair share of any prize we might take, you have to be able to follow the code of the ship," Kim barked, starting to get a little irritated by Bonnie. She had never come across someone so ungrateful to be rescued.

"Well, who the hell died and put you in charge? If we all get an equal vote in everything, shouldn't we vote on who we want to be the leader?" Bonnie said.

Kim was about to retort, mouth opened and everything, but she stopped. The annoying wench had a point! They were supposed to vote for Captain. On the Global Justice, they had had a few votes for Captain, even though it was Betty's ship. Betty always won the vote, getting them all except for Vivian, who always voted against the captain to tease her. Just because Betty always got to be Captain automatically did not mean that she would, Kim realized.

"You're right. I've overstepped my boundaries," Kim said in an apologetic voice. "All right, I would like to nominate myself for Captain. Vote aye if you agree."

There were four "ayes" from Ron, Wade, Monique, and Rufus. No, they did not know Kim that well, but she seemed to know what she was doing. She had a take charge personality and from what they could tell she was not a bad person. She gave off a kind, but competent aura that sort of comforted them. Besides, she was the one who had been on a ship before and seemed to know how everything worked.

"All opposed, say nay," Kim said, even though she had the majority, so she had the vote.

Two nays rang out. Bonnie was one, which did not surprise Kim. The redhead was shocked that Shego was the other nay. This was all Shego's idea to begin with and now she was opposed to it.

Olive eyes shot up to the helm with a glare. "Shego?"

"I think I should be Captain," Shego decided with a smirk and a dangerous glint in her eyes.

Kim smirked a little as well, getting over her shock. No, this made perfect sense, Kim realized. It made sense for Shego to challenge her because she would have done the same thing. And she knew why she would have done the same thing.

"Why should you be Captain?" Kim inquired, still smiling. "I'm the one with the map."

"But, I'm the one that can kick your ass and take the map," Shego replied with a cocky smirk of her own.

"Map?" Monique echoed, turning to Ron.

"Apparently, Kim has a map from one of the most successful pirate captains to sail the sea. We're going to find it… as soon as Shego votes right," Ron explained, saying that last part loud enough for Shego to hear.

"Why vote when I can prove it?" Shego left the helm, leaping down onto the deck. Just to be a showoff, she had to do a backflip on the way down.

By the time Shego landed, Kim was in a fighting stance. Shego attacked immediately after gaining her balance. Kim blocked and dodged everything Shego came at her with, grunting when it a hit impacted her forearms. Shego snarled as she tried to gain ground.

The rest of the crew was not sure what was going on, but they made sure to get out of the way. Ron could not believe what he was seeing most of all. Kim had not said anything about knowing martial arts and she did not say anything about Shego knowing them either. Of course, it made sense as he watched them work. Everything about their personalities and mannerisms spoke of people confident, used to being in control, and able to back up anything they said.

"That all you got?" Kim smirked.

"You won't be saying that when I crush you, Princess." Shego jumped at Kim, forcing her back. Kim almost fell off balance, but caught herself in time to just slide out of the way of a slash attack.

The pair became a flurry of kicks, punches, hand strikes, and other moves. Kim threw punches, but favored kick moves. Shego had open handed attacks, cutting through the air as if she were trying to disembowel Kim. Whenever one of them connected, the sound of flesh hitting flesh thundered well over the waves.

A blur of orange and black zipped across the deck, leaving the crew speechless. They could hardly fathom what they were witnessing. The fighting was hard to follow, but everyone assumed it was tie. For each kick, there was a dodge, and for each hand strike, there was a block. For any blow that landed from one person, the other landed one right after that. The tide seemed to turn when Shego grabbed Kim, causing a brief pause in the battle.

Shego thought she had the redhead and she was about to fling her onto her back, but Kim was not done yet. Jumping up, the younger woman planted both of her feet in Shego's chest, pushing her away. Kim lost some material to her jacket, ripped away by the older woman's claws. Kim caught herself as she hit the deck and hopped back up quickly.

Shego was on Kim in less than a second and they were that same flurry of activity all over again, except things seemed to be more intense now. Shego let loose a battle cry as she cut across Kim's chest with her claws, leaving slice marks through the fabric of her clothing. Kim was not to be out done and soon landed a few hits of her own, kicking Shego's shoulder a few times. Shego eventually caught her foot, but Kim used that to her advantage, jumping up and putting her other foot across Shego's face.

"This is crazy…" Ron muttered. Rufus nodded, watching slack-jawed and wide-eyed, just like his owner. Neither of them had ever seen fighting like this and that said a lot considering the captain they once served under.

The fight continued, each warrior getting a few heavy hits in. Everything stopped when Shego crashed into the deck, her back being pressed into the wood by Kim's weight. Kim had one hand around Shego's neck and the other posed to punch her face in. Shego had one hand wrapped around what was left of Kim's jacket and the other posed to claw through her face.

"How about you just give it up and vote for me?" Kim suggested with a teasing smile as sweat dripped off the end of her nose. Her smile and tone confused the rest of the crew. She did not seem to have any more of an advantage over Shego to make that suggestion than Shego had over her.

"Why should I vote for you? I can still kick your ass and you don't even have the map anymore," Shego pointed out in a haughty tone.

Kim's expression did not change. "You're a good thief, I'll give you that. If I were anybody else, I probably wouldn't have even noticed you took it from me. But the map does you no good."

Shego frowned. "What do you mean? You think you're the only one here that can read a map?" She snorted and rolled her eyes. She was not an idiot, after all. She knew how to live on the water.

"I'm the only one that can read that map," the redhead boasted.

Shego scoffed, calling Kim's bluff. The glint in the olive eyes did not leave, though. So, she flung Kim away from her, which Kim allowed. Shego climbed to her feet and pulled the pilfered map from her pocket. Unrolling the parchment, she studied it. After less than a second, her face scrunched up, announcing her bewilderment to the ship. Sucking her teeth, she flung the map back at Kim.

"Fine, you can be Captain, Princess," Shego conceded, as if it had been her idea all along, which it kind of had. She did not want the position anyway and that was why she told Kim when they met up she would follow along with Kim. Why would anyone want so much responsibility?

"I figured you'd see it my way," Kim replied with a playful smile. She then turned her attention to Bonnie. "Even though I only needed a majority, would you like to challenge me for Captain now?" Her smile was teasing, but close to devilish.

Bonnie sucked her teeth and turned her nose up. "Maybe later, after I get a better idea for how the ship works."

Kim could not help laughing. She doubted Bonnie would seriously try to challenge her for Captain. She knew Shego's attempt had been serious, but more to make sure Kim's ability to fight was not a fluke.

Shego also wanted the rest of the crew to see what she and the captain were capable of. Shego would never want to be Captain, which was why she signed the Articles of Agreement without even reading them. She suspected they were the same rules that governed the now gone Global Justice and she had heard those rules from many sailors. They seemed like a good set; better than anything Drakken ever came up with.

"Shego, for now continue being the helmsman," Kim said. Shego did not argue and returned to the helm. The redhead turned her attention to Ron. "Ron, show Wade any parts of the ship that require repair. Hopefully, he can fix them with what we have aboard. If not, we'll get to a port and buy supplies. We need a lot of things anyway."

"No problem," Ron answered. "Wade, you think you're up to it?"

Wade nodded. "That, and a whole lot more," he declared confidently.

"Make a list if there's things you need and we don't have," Kim said, looking directly at Wade. She wanted him to see she respected him and she would always address him personally.

Wade nodded again. "You got it."

The two guys walked away and Kim turned her attention to Monique and Bonnie. She needed to show them everything she knew about being on a ship. She figured it would be easy enough with Monique, but the look in Bonnie's eyes told her that the tan young woman would continue to be defiant. She did not care, as long as they ran a good ship and could find out what the map led to.

Both women turned out to be fast learners. The only thing was that Bonnie did not like to display she grasped a concept. Kim was not sure if this was due to slavery conditions or if Bonnie just liked to be difficult. It did not matter, as long as Bonnie knew what she needed to do and could do it. Kim would let her stretch out and find herself. Bonnie deserved that.

Monique had no problem picking things up and showing off her abilities. She added her own flair to them to get into them and she found it easy to get along with Kim. They were fast friends and shared jokes, as well as stories.

Bonnie made it a point to be difficult and argued every step of the way with both Kim and Monique. By the end of it all, Kim just wanted to pass out in bed, but found Shego had already taken the space. Kim groaned and would have thrown her hands up if she had the strength.

"Look, Shego, this is the Captain's quarters and since I'm Captain, you need to go find some place else to sleep," Kim declared. Now that she was Captain, too, she would definitely make changes to the room, starting with the whole bed.

Shego looked up, smiled, and replied, "Make me."

Kim groaned, but she could not resist the challenge. Crouching down in her fighting stance, she waited for Shego to get up. Shego leaped up and the fight was on. The crew could hear the noise below deck.

"Don't those two ever stop fighting?" Monique wondered aloud. The crew played cards in the galley, gambling with dried fruit. Gambling with actual money was outlawed on the ship as it led to friction between crewmates, as matters of money always did.

"I was actually gonna ask the same about you two," Ron remarked, pointing to Monique and Bonnie. This, of course, started an argument. Wade just sat back and watched, feeling that the voyage would be entertaining if nothing else.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: the crew show their worth when Kim finds them a prize.