I don't own these characters; Disney does. Except for Cali, Isabel, Kane, and Professor Sobek. Those are mine.
A/N: there's some violence here that's beyond the usual stuff that would normally happen on Kim Possible. Consider that this a warning.
3: Archeology 101 — How to Dig Up Trouble
Kim was cleaning up after her classroom was empty when the Kimmunicator sounded. Reaching into her back pocket, she plucked the small device out. The newest incarnation of the Kimmunicator was about the size of Blackberry. It was more practical than her wrist Kimmunicator because it was hard for her to do demonstrations with others while she wore the device. It snagged on everything.
"What's the sitch, Wade?" Kim asked as the young man's visage appeared on the screen.
"Hey, Kim, you got a hit on the site by a professor. It's not your usual mission, but I figured if you didn't have anything better to do, then you might want to look into it," Wade explained.
She arched an eyebrow in curiosity. "What's it about?"
"Apparently, a Doctor A. Sobek, who is a professor at a somewhat decent university, is planning a trip to Egypt to explore a new pyramid he and some colleagues discovered on another expedition sometime last year. The short story is that he doesn't want to take any of his grad students with him because he thinks it might be too dangerous in such unexplored territory. But, then he seemed to recall the famous Kim Possible has a masters in Anthropology and thought you might want to tag along," Wade explained.
"Sounds spanking!" Kim grinned and bounced on her heels. Her eyes seemed to sparkle and even through the small screen of the Kimmunicator, Wade could swear her whole body glowed.
"I figured it might sound that way to you. So, I should get back to him and say you're all for it?"
"Well, I need to check in with the 'wives' first," she joked, earning a laugh.
"This is why I'm staying single and fancy free. Let me know if you're allowed to go out and play in the dirt," Wade teased her.
Kim chuckled, they bid each other farewell, and they disconnected the communication. The redhead finished up her cleaning and then went downstairs to meet up with Shego. She was tempted to bring up the "mission," but thought it would be best to do with Bonnie around. So, her "request" to leave was held until dinner that night.
-8-8-8-8-
"One of these days, one of us has to cook a meal again," Bonnie commented, looking at Shego since they were the two allowed to use the stove. They sat at the dinner table, eating their meals on plates, even though they had purchased the food from a nearby takeout restaurant.
"It has been a long time since we've had a home cooked meal," Shego concurred, nodding a couple of times. "Fine, I'll cook tomorrow," she conceded.
"What do you want in return?" Bonnie asked suspiciously with an arched eyebrow. It was rare for Shego to so openly altruistic, especially with sounding offended while doing it.
"Do you think you could hold off on that?" Kim inquired, interrupting the flow of the conversation to interject her own topic. "I was hoping I could go on a mission soon and I don't want to miss any home cooking," she said, the glint in her eyes showing her words had a double meaning.
"A mission? To where? About what?" Shego countered, turning her attention to the redhead. Bonnie did the same.
"And with whom? Obviously it's not a rescue mission or you would've left and filled us in later," Bonnie pointed out.
"It's a real easy mission from what I can gather. An archeology professor wants to go into a recently discovered pyramid. Apparently, he thought it was too dangerous for any of his grad students to go since the tomb hasn't been explored yet, but he hit up the site, requesting me. I would love to go, loves. Please? It's a once in a lifetime chance. I mean, how many unexplored pyramids will there be in this lifetime?" Kim clasped her hands together like a beggar, hoping it would get them to cave. They were not fans of her missions, after all.
Bonnie and Shego looked at each other. They seemed to be having a conversation with their eyes. Kim followed along somewhat, but they were pretty good at keeping her out of the loop when they wanted to.
"Shego, maybe you could go with her," Bonnie finally suggested.
"I don't think I should. Do you know how tempting it would be to be in a pyramid full of goodies that haven't been cataloged? I feel like I might not be able to help myself in that sort of situation," Shego answered honestly, holding up her hands and wiggling her fingers. The thought was already tempting, even though she did not even need the money. Just the idea of owning something so priceless was enticing.
"I don't need a babysitter, babe," Kim objected, olive eyes glaring at the lawyer for even suggesting such a thing.
"I would feel better if you did have one. I mean, I know this sounds simple enough, but if he wasn't willing to take his own grad students, then I feel like something's up about it. Can you take Ron?" Bonnie requested.
"Ron doesn't really run with me on these things anymore, and he's out of town for a couple of days on a little vacation with Yori anyway. Besides, even if he did, Ron wouldn't want to go on this trip. He'd think it was boring," Kim explained.
Bonnie sighed and rubbed her face with her hand. Cali noticed how distressed Bonnie seemed and tried to help by rubbing herself up against Bonnie's leg. The action was distracting and earned Cali a petting, but nothing more.
"Baby, I don't have a good feeling about this," Bonnie said with a sigh, shaking her head. Her eyes clouded over with unease and glum.
"What? This is like one of the easiest missions I've ever been given. Plus, I get to use my degree. This is win/win for me, baby," Kim argued, which caused both Bonnie and Shego to blink in shock. Even Cali had to pause from her meal for a second. Kim was actually arguing with Bonnie. It was so rare that they almost did not know how to process the information.
"Baby, I know you don't get to do work in your actual degree-related field, but there are other ways to work as an anthropologist," Bonnie retorted.
"I forgot you even had an anthropology degree," Shego mumbled, glancing away for a moment. She then turned back and looked at both of her lovers. "Bonnie, you know what, I think we should let her do this."
"What?" Bonnie said in disbelief, her eyes wide.
"Think about it. Kim never gets to use her degree as far as we know and I like to think we're as up-to-date in her life as you can get without actually being glued to her. Imagine if you never got to use your degree. You'd have jumped out the window by now, probably taking Kim with you," Shego commented, earning odd looks from her girlfriends. "What? I'd gnaw my arm off, so she wouldn't be taking me down with her," she remarked.
"What? It's different with me," Bonnie replied, mentally kicking herself as soon as the words left her mouth. Unfortunately, she was going to have to stand by that weak argument.
"How so? How could it possibly be different with you? You went to school and started taking law classes because you like law. You got a degree in law, so that you could practice law. You got a job in a law firm, so that you could practice law, which you're doing. But, if you mean it's different because your job is less dangerous, well, not from where I'm sitting," Shego argued.
Bonnie tensed for a moment, her whole body rigid. Her girlfriends reached out for her, hoping to comfort her, knowing just where her mind went. Bonnie was thinking back to her close encounter with her former coworker Lyle and how he had attempted to force himself on her.
"Duchess, I don't mean that. I swear, I didn't mean that," Shego whispered in a soothing tone, taking the attorney's hand and drawing small circles on her wrist with her thumb. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to Bonnie's temple. It was not that she did not mean the job was dangerous, but she did was not referring to that incident.
"Then… what…?" Bonnie asked in a low, shallow voice. She had to take a few deep breaths to keep herself calm.
"I just mean, I've been in courtrooms and I've heard tales of other criminals in courtrooms. It's not the safest area on the planet. Hell, one time I even flipped out. I was really young at the time and I had just been arrested. I got some bad news and punched through the table. While the bailiffs were trying to hold me down, I kicked poor Charlie in the stomach. I hit him pretty hard, too. The whole area was all bruised and nasty. I've spoken to people in prison who actually pulled knives and guns in court. Duchess, you might dress nice and go into a courtroom to make intelligent, logical arguments, but sometimes shit just happens," Shego answered.
"Shit is more likely to happen with Kim, though," Bonnie pointed out, taking things back to the original problem.
"On an archeological dig? I doubt it. Besides, again, she went to school for this degree because I'm sure the field interests her. It's not fair to keep her away from her field. Hell, even I get to use my degree to a certain extent. Why should we stand in the way of her using hers?" Shego reasoned, motioning to the redhead with a wave of her hand.
"Just because I call it a 'mission,' Bonnie, doesn't mean it's like all my other missions either. I just called it that because he contacted me through my website, which has happened before. A lot of the scholars I know get in touch with me through the website because they know those messages will get to me faster," Kim chimed in.
Bonnie seemed on the verge, so Kim decided to cheat to tip the scale in her favor. The puppy-dog pout was to be used in emergencies only and Kim considered losing the chance to go into an unexplored pyramid a complete and total emergency. So, the puppy-dog pout was on her face within seconds.
"Ah, no! Kimmie, that's not fair!" Bonnie closed her eyes and turned away. "Okay, fine, I see how important this is to you if you have to use something like that on me. You can go, so put it away."
"It's gone," Kim said with a grin.
"Nice move, Princess!" Shego reached across the table to give her redheaded lover a high-five.
"Don't encourage her," Bonnie barked, glaring at the eldest among them. "You know if she used it on you, you'd be up in arms."
Shego snorted. "Yeah, but she's not using it on me, so it's cool."
Bonnie shook her head. "You're the reason that she did something so manipulative in the first place. You're a bad influence on her," she teased.
"Oh, yes, and you've just been a shining beacon of morality for her to look to," Shego countered with a smirk.
"Please, at least I've got it together Miss I-can't-go-into-pyramid-because-it's-too-tempting," Bonnie snapped, smiling somewhat herself now.
Kim turned her attention back to her meal while her girlfriends went at each other. It was a way of getting things to go back to normal. While they argued, she sneaked Cali a little bit of her meal, giving the cat some beef before Cali wandered over to Shego. Cali begging for fish halted the whole thing and they all went back to eating dinner.
-8-8-8-8-
Kim yawned as she waited for Professor Sobek to show up at their agreed meeting place. She had been to Egypt many times in her life, but it was never like it was now. There was almost tangible electricity in the air. She was certain it was her excitement bubbling inside of her, trying to get out. Whatever it was, she felt like she was going to burst at any moment.
She waited in a quiet little village that she was certain had more goats than people. It was a nice place and she promised herself to come back again, if only to bask in the peace and quiet for a few moments. Her moment there was short lived as the reason she was waiting walked up to her.
"Kim Possible, I am so glad that you could meet me. I'm Doctor Sobek," the man introduced himself.
Reaching out, Kim shook the man's hand. She felt like she should have heard of him or he should at least look vaguely familiar. His face was not ringing any bells, though. But, then again, he had a somewhat generic look. There was the short, but wavy black hair with square jaw and unassuming brown eyes hidden behind average glasses. He could have been any middle-aged businessman on the street… vacationing in Egypt.
"Ready to go into the unknown?" the professor asked with a charming smile.
Kim grinned. "I was born ready. So, do you think on the way to this pyramid, you could fill me in on things?" She wanted to know everything about this place.
"Of course I will. But, we should really get going. I have a jeep waiting for us," he told her, motioning in the direction he came.
Kim nodded and followed him over to the jeep he had. There were supplies in the back, but they were bundled up. As soon as she was secure in the vehicle, he pulled off. She was jerked back, but quickly recovered.
"So, did you discover this pyramid by any chance?" Kim asked.
"Yes, I did and my school has me keeping it under wraps for right now. They don't want to say anything until we have more information. So, I'm supposed to explore it as quietly as possible," he explained.
"And they picked now and they didn't assign anyone else to do this with you?" she inquired. It seemed somewhat weird for him to come to do something so important alone. There should at least be someone else there to check his work and she was not qualified for that.
"Yes, now. They want this done as soon as possible. I'm alone for the most part because they want this as quiet as possible to keep looters away from it. We'll be safe if that's what you're worried about. In fact, this is one of the reasons I requested that you accompany."
Kim nodded and smiled. "Safety certainly won't be an issue."
"I figured as much when you agreed to come. This is one of the reasons why the university was fine with me going alone, actually. They had considered it might not be a good thing for me to go on my own, but once I pointed out I had Kim Possible on board, they were very gung-ho about this. So, I'd like to thank you again for agreeing."
"It's no problem for me. I'm always happy for an excuse to dip my feet back into anthropology." In fact, she wished she had more opportunities to do so.
He nodded. "I've had colleagues who spoke of your work when you were a grad student. They had been expecting you to delve deeper into the field. What happened?"
Kim scratched her cheek and smiled a bit, half-amused and half-embarrassed. "I'm not too sure what happened. I graduated and just fell back into what I did whenever I didn't have school. I guess I always took it like I was on break and, eventually, I'd get back into it when classes started up again. The only problem was that I didn't have classes anymore." She shrugged.
"That's too bad. Hopefully, this will whet your whistle and get you back into the field. I'm sure you'd do well in it."
The redhead could not help giggling. "I hope I can get back into it. I might not have the time, though." She had classes to teach, after all.
As exciting as it was to be doing something close to her field, Kim was not an anthropologist and she doubted she ever would be. Once upon a time, she would have liked to be one, but she was not one now. No, she was a teacher of small children eager to learn martial arts and she liked that very much. So, she would play in the dirt for a little while, wish she could do it more often, and then get back to her life and her many different loves.
"You might not have the time? If you're as good at this as I've heard, you should make the time. It's fun, plus, if you play your cards right, you get fame in certain circles and money if you know where to look," he pointed out.
"Well, I don't do anything for the money or the fame," she replied, shaking her head a little. It was like this guy did not know much about her. Back when she was a teen the fame might have factored in because like most teenagers, she wanted to be popular. Now though, she just did things to do them. Being a hero for her was like breathing. She needed to do it, so she did it. End of story.
He glanced over at her, his brow furrowing as he arched an eyebrow. "No? I thought those were the reasons most people lived their lives, but now that you point it out, I guess you make a point. If you wanted those things, you would've had it by now," he reasoned.
"Right."
"Well, I hope you want adventure because I think we'll be having that for the next week or so."
"I told you before that I can only stick around for a few days," she reminded him. When she contacted him about going with him, she made it clear that she was only free for four days tops. Then, she had to get back to her classes and her girlfriends.
"You say that now, but wait until you're in that pyramid."
Her only response was to laugh. For a while, they traveled in silence. There was not much to discuss beyond the pyramid as far as Kim was concerned since she could not very well tell the doctor she had never heard of him. But, she figured out a way around that.
"So, Doctor Sobek, what sort of papers have you published recently?" she asked. Surely she would be able to bring up his work in her mental index if he just ran off some titles or descriptions. While she might not be active in the field, she was well read in pretty much everything.
He glanced at her and then focused ahead of them. "Uh… nothing recently really. That's one of the reasons why this find is so big for me. I need to do something soon. This is definitely going to put me on the map, though."
"How'd you find this pyramid anyway?" she asked curiously. It seemed strange that someone so unaccomplished would have such a big find. Maybe he was with someone more experienced, but then, why did that person not get this assignment?
He gave off a soft chuckle and glanced at her again. "Believe it or not, it was pure dumb luck. I got lost on a dig with a colleague. There was a sand storm and I was caught in the middle of it. I ended up walking in the wrong direction for the camp and as the storm lifted I found myself standing in front of what looked like a mountain covered in sand. The rock part that I was seeing happened to be an eroded part of the pyramid and the rest is buried under tons of sand."
"An eroded pyramid?" she echoed, almost skeptically. She unconsciously raised an eyebrow to this.
"I know. That's the same thought I had, but it's definitely a pyramid. I'm guessing it just wasn't set up on prime real estate," he remarked.
Kim nodded for lack of a better thing to do. "So, is there a clear way in and everything?"
"Yes, there is an entry way for us to use. I was able to look at some of it when I was here the last time, so we should be clear on that."
Again the hero nodded. Focusing ahead, she did her best to remain still and not bounce in her seat from giddiness. The idea of being one of the first people in a pyramid that no one had been in over the course of millennia was so… exhilarating. Olive eyes began searching the dunes, wondering when they were going to get to the pyramid.
"Is there going to be anyone else there or is just going to us the whole time?" Kim asked suddenly, realizing Doctor Sobek had not mentioned any colleagues joining him at any point. She was not going to be there long, so she thought eventually his university would send someone to be with him. He could not possibly handle something like this by himself.
"No, it'll just be us. I've got the initial investigation, but they'll be along after I report my findings," Sobek answered.
Kim found herself nodding again, storing that information in the back of her mind. It was a little weird, a voice in her head commented. Shaking it away, she tried not to think about it and just focus on the excitement of her latest adventure.
They were at the site faster than she thought they would be, but she was able to see why the pyramid stayed hidden for as long as it had. There were rocks around that looked almost exactly like the exposed part of the pyramid surrounding the structure. What she could see of the pyramid, it was smaller than she expected. It was smaller than any pyramid she had ever seen in Egypt. It seemed like it was about half the size of what she expected, but it was hard to gauge because it was buried underneath so much sand.
"We should set up the tents and get settled in. When we're done, if there's time, we'll do an initial once-over of the pyramid and see what we're working with," he suggested.
"I can't wait!" Kim grinned.
They started working on setting up their camp. The redhead had a bunch of archeology questions for the doctor, which he seemed a little nervous about answering. She guessed it went back to the fact that he did not have much published, which he admitted to dozens of times. He was certain this discovery would change it all, though. She was inclined to agree.
"This is the discovery of a lifetime," Kim said.
"It definitely is," he agreed with a nod.
They finished with the camp with enough time to at least survey the pyramid. The entrance was exposed, starting at the base of what looked like a rock pile. Kim could already gather the pyramid was probably a hazard zone. The way it was set up, it seemed almost like it might have fallen over and that was why it was eroded and buried unlike similar structures in Egypt.
"What do you think caused it to become like this?" Kim inquired, wanting to pick his brain on theories.
"I'm not entirely sure. I'm hoping that exploring the inside will help explain how it ended up like this," the doctor answered.
"What do you think we could expect to find in here?" Kim asked, turning her flashlight on as they stood a few feet inside of the site.
"A tomb, of course. Vast riches from a time almost forgotten," he replied, sounding like he was trying to make a joke.
"Do you have any clue who the pyramid was built for?" she inquired, turning her light to the walls. Even the hieroglyphics were faded and eroded, which she had to take pictures of. It was so peculiar and awfully fascinating. She wished she had more time to devote to the place, but she just felt her students needed her more. The thought did not surprise her because she loved her crazy little kids. She also wanted to get back to her family; neither her lovers nor their pet seemed pleased she was leaving for almost a week. Maybe if the university sent a proper team, she would be allowed to join them for a couple of days sometime in the future, which would be enough time for her.
"Honestly, no. I didn't get a chance to much exploring before, remember? So, this'll be as much a surprise for you as it will be for me," he answered with a smile.
"I'm almost tempted to say we should keep going," she said, unable to hold her grin as she scanned the walls.
"I know what you mean, but we should both be well rested. Then, we can wander about this place all day tomorrow."
"Doc, you are speaking my language."
"I should hope so."
They looked around the entrance a little more before retreating back to their tents for the night. The doctor did not say much after that, informing her that he had notes to work on. It sounded right to her, so she went to her own tent and checked in with her girlfriends using her Kimmunicator. They were able to do a video chat using Bonnie's cell phone.
"How's it going, baby? Nothing too exciting happened, right?" Bonnie asked.
"No, nothing exciting how you're thinking happened, but something exciting did happen!" Kim replied with a happy chirp.
"What happened, Pumpkin?" Shego inquired with a small smile. She was pleased to see how happy the redhead was.
"We made it to the pyramid, which is in a strange location and looks ever stranger. It's been eroded, so it looks like nothing more than a pile of rocks and a sand dune. We went inside already, but not too deep. The insides are just as eroded as the outsides. You know how with most pyramids, you'd never guess it was from a couple of thousand years ago?"
"Yes," Shego answered, just because she knew it was not a real question.
"This one you totally can tell its thousands of years old. Hopefully, once we get inside and go deeper, I'll be able to learn more about Ancient Egypt's culture and people. I already recorded some of the hieroglyphics, so I can study them later. There might be a clue in there as to why the pyramid ended up the way it is, too. This is going to be a great four days," Kim proclaimed, bouncing in her seat.
"Just four days, right? You're not going to extend it?" Bonnie asked, just to be sure.
"No, I'm not. I want to get back to my classes already. I miss the little guys," Kim admitted with a somewhat sorrowful smile.
"Sounds like someone should've gotten an early childhood education degree," Shego teased.
"It never occurred to me. Most of the time, I assume I'm not good with children. I mean, after trying to coach my little brothers' soccer team when I was in high school, I always figured it was best that I stay away from little kids," the hero explained with a sheepish laugh.
"Well, Kimmie, you sound like you did this thing called 'growing up.' Most people do it as they get older and find out they're not the same crazy person they were in high school," Shego remarked.
"Aren't you pretty much the same?" Bonnie accused the former villain.
"Hey, this isn't about me. It's about our little cupcake. Now, back to you, Kimmie, is everything all right?" Shego asked to be sure.
"Fine. Everything is on schedule and correct. I'll be home soon."
"All right. Oh, hold on, Cali wants to look at you or something since she's too lazy to change forms," Shego said. Cali was suddenly on screen — still in her cat form. She purred and bumped the screen with her nose, but that was pretty much it. Farewells were said between the lovers and the communication was then disconnected.
Kim went to sleep with a smile on her face. She dreamed of the pyramid and her students waiting for her. She could not wait to get to either.
In the morning, Kim and Professor Sobek had a light breakfast. They then set out to explore the pyramid. Once they made sure they had all of their supplies, they were off. The first day was just spent mapping the place. They found a lot of tunnels and rooms, which they made note of. They also made note of what chambers they felt were safe to go into and what chambers they thought would be best to avoid with just the two of them there. There were plenty of paths blocked off, but Kim assumed a proper excavation crew would get to that.
Kim spent much of her time photographing things to study later on. Professor Sobek took a lot of notes, especially on a small note pad, which Kim did not think was suitable for the dark area. She did not say anything, though, figuring it might just be a quirk of his. Closing out the day, they found several other entrances for the pyramid, which illustrated just how damaged the structure was. They did not speak at all while they were down there.
"Hey," Kim said as they exited the site. "Do you want to compare notes or talk about anything we saw?" she suggested. She was hyped and ready to talk for the rest of the night.
"No, I think I better organize these notes and then get to bed. I'm worn out," he replied, heading for his tent.
The redhead's face fell. "Oh… okay…" Moseying along, she returned to her tent and sighed. The professor was not very good company, but she supposed he might be overwhelmed with his discovery. She did not have time to think long on it as her Kimmunicator went off and she answered it, seeing that it was her lovers. "Hello, beautiful and beautiful," she remarked with a smile.
"The sun must be getting to her already," Shego remarked, off screen. From the sound of her voice, she was clearly close by, though.
"I'll take both of those beautiful comments then. I'm twice as beautiful as you are, anyway," Bonnie replied, smiling at Kim. "So, how are things going?"
"Fine. We got a lot of work done today mapping everything out to make sure we don't get lost down there. Tomorrow we'll start exploring the chambers more thoroughly. It's quite fun," Kim answered with a grin.
"How's thing with the professor? Is he taking good care of you?"
"He's pretty absorbed in his work, but then again, I can understand that one. I was pretty absorbed, too. It's all so intense. We didn't talk at all while we were exploring. It was amazing," Kim said with clear awe in her voice.
"You spent the day with someone without saying one word to them?" Bonnie could not believe it and the look on her face made that quite clear.
"It was that intense. I can't wait for tomorrow!" Kim felt like she might burst from her skin at the very thought of exploring more of this extraordinary discovery.
Bonnie smiled a little. "I'm glad you're having such a good time."
"I am. How are you two doing? Miss me?" the hero teased a bit.
"We do. I can't wait for you to get back here. In two days right?"
"Yes, two days. How are my kids doing?"
"Shego said they're doing fine. I think they miss you. She was talking about how they were bothering Kane about when you're going to come back," Bonnie reported.
"Where is Shego?" Olive eyes scanned the image, trying to find some sign of the eldest, but did not even see an ebony strand of hair.
Bonnie glanced off to the side. "She's trying to get Cali to stop tearing up one of her favorite shoes. I think she's forgetting that Cali understands English because she's just cursing at her. Cali probably thinks she's playing around since Shego's always cursing at her."
Kim sighed and shook her head, but she continued smiling. "Never a dull moment at the house."
"No definitely not. Okay, baby, I think I need to get these two before they wreck the living room. Make sure you eat something, okay?"
"I will."
"You better. Love you."
"Love you, too. Tell Shego and Cali, I love them, too." Bonnie nodded and the communication was ended.
-8-8-8-8-
"You missed Kim's phone call," Bonnie reported, speaking to Shego, who was rolling around on the floor with Cali.
"Damn it, Cali!" Shego then screamed nonsense words, totally frustrated with their pet.
"Cali, precious, can you just let Shego's shoe go?" Bonnie asked, caressing the cat behind the ears. "Shego's not playing around with you. You're actually making her upset and ruining her shoes. So, please, let it go," she whispered to the feline while continuing to rub her down.
Cali glanced at Bonnie and obviously took in what Bonnie was saying. She released the shoe and quickly put on her best apology face. Shego was not buying it, though.
"Do you know how much these fucking shoes cost?" Shego bellowed at the feline, who kept on her apology-kitty face.
"Uh… Shego, you know Cali has almost no concept of money," Bonnie reminded her lover.
Shego opened her mouth and raised her hand, ready to argue, but then shut her mouth. "You're right, but these were Italian leather. Italian leather!"
Bonnie nodded and turned her attention back to their cat. "Cali, you know how we feel about you chewing on our things. If you want chew toys, we can go buy you some, but you can't keep trying to devour our good shoes."
Cali nodded to show that she understood and then she wisely slinked away. Shego continued to lament her ruined shoes. Bonnie reached out and caressed her lover's cheek with the hope of raising her spirits.
"Calm down, sweetheart. You only wore the shoes twice and you said you didn't like the way they pinched your heel. I think you're just frustrated because Kimmie's gone more than anything else," Bonnie reasoned.
Shego did not deny that. Bonnie smiled and leaned down, resting against the older woman. She then wrapped Shego in her arms and gently ran her fingers through wavy, thick, and soft black hair.
"Remember, you agreed to this. You were all for her going on this trip," Bonnie pointed out.
Shego settled against Bonnie's body. "I know. That doesn't make it any easier. I mean, a day mission is fine, but several days just suck. Nothing against you, Duchess. I love and appreciate you as much as ever, but things just seem off without Kim. It's weird going to lunch without her and lying in the bed without her. Like I said, it's nothing against you…"
"I'm not taking it as anything against me. I know what you mean. This is our family and there's a piece missing from our family. Trust me, I can appreciate that just as much as you."
Shego laughed a bit. "I guess I wasn't as prepared for this as I assumed."
"Or it could just be that you've seen your mom over the past two days and she makes you close to having an aneurysm for whatever reason," Bonnie teased, even though she was sure that was part of Shego's problem.
Shego groaned loudly. "Oh, god! Why is she even here! Daddy is teaching Kim's classes, yet I still have to see that woman every freaking day?"
Bonnie chuckled. "I don't understand this thing with you and your mom. She loves you to bits and all you do is tear her down, which makes her love you more. It's the craziest thing."
Snorting, Shego waved that whole thing off. "Don't try to understand. It's just the way we are."
"I know." Bonnie rubbed Shego's shoulders.
"But, I really am pissed about the shoes. I love these fucking things, even though they do pinch my heels. They look fantastic on me," the former sidekick remarked.
"Well, Cali didn't mean it. She's just antsy that Kimmie's gone, too. This is her first time not seeing Kim for consecutive days since she moved in. So, she's not dealing with it too well. You know you can't just scream at her, though. You know she's like a four-year-old child."
"Now you see why I work with the bigger kids," Shego joked, smiling a bit.
"This is true. You have to find her and apologize before she starts bringing dead birds in here to apologize to you."
Shego groaned, knowing how right Bonnie was. Letting her shoe go, she went in search of the feline. Cali was in her "secret place," which was how she got to Shego's shoes in the first place. Shego pretended not to know where the cat was, but stood in front of the open closet.
"Cali, where'd you go? I know you're sorry for what you did and I'm sorry I yelled at you. With Kimmie gone, we're both not coping too well because it seems like our family is incomplete and everything, which it is. But, Kimmie's going to come back in a couple of days, so you don't have to mope around and try to occupy your time with doing stuff that we've told you dozens of times not to do. So, I'm not upset with you or anything. I don't care about the shoes. I just miss Kimmie too," Shego announced in a loud voice, making it seem like she was not talking to the whimpering mass of kitty flesh in the corner of the closet.
For a few seconds, everything was quiet. And then Cali poked her head out of the closet and Shego looked away, as if she had no idea the cat was there. Cali then rubbed up against Shego's leg, wanting her attention. Emerald eyes looked down, finding Cali sitting on the floor in her humanoid form.
"Kimmie's coming back, right?" Cali asked in a low tone.
"Of course she is. It's only been two days," Shego pointed out. She wondered if Cali had the same sense of time as a dog, where ten minutes seemed like ten years.
"Soon?" Her eyes were big and hopeful.
Shego nodded. "In two more days. So, just behave until then, okay? She'll probably bring back a gift and everything."
Cali nodded and was quickly back to being a cat. Shego looked up in time to see Bonnie smiling at her. She smiled back. They all could not wait for their family to be whole again. Shego and Bonnie were now very thankful Kim had not used her anthropology degree or she would be on trips like this one all the time for a lot longer.
-8-8-8-8-
Kim and Doctor Sobek had split up in the pyramid. They had agreed to catalog different rooms with the hope of getting more done. Kim finished early and decided to go see if Sobek needed help. Moving along, she found the chamber the professor was supposed to be in was empty. Totally empty.
Professor Sobek was gone as well were the treasures of the room. Kim rushed to the closest exit, hoping he was outside and possibly taking a better look at the few priceless objects that had been in the room. Hearing voices as she neared the way out, she slowed down. The exit was high above her head, requiring her to climb up a rope ladder, which was already there. Something was wrong.
Proceeding with caution, Kim listened first and could only make out arguing. She could hear Doctor Sobek and he did not sound pleased. That was all she needed to know to get moving faster. She was supposed to protect him on this trip along with everything else that she had been doing.
As she got closer to the top, her heart rate increased, but she ignored it. It was probably just the adrenaline, she figured. The voices got louder as the sunlight touched her face, feeling almost burning to her for some reason. It occurred to her that the voices were speaking in Arabic now that she could hear it more clearly. She could pick up some, but she was not fluent at all. Before she emerged, she pulled out her Kimmunicator and turned on the translation application. She only got to hear one thing and that was enough for her, Profess Sobek said, "Put the gun away!"
"What's going on here?" Kim demanded as she emerged from the exit, pushing herself up and landing ready for war. She was faced with Professor Sobek a couple of feet away from her, holding a golden, jeweled necklace. Less than a yard from the doctor stood three men, armed with handguns.
The response was the raising of the gun toward Doctor Sobek and lots of shouting in Arabic. Kim moved, wanting to save the professor. Before she could process what was happening, she heard shots and felt a burning sensation through her shoulder and abdomen. Wincing, she stumbled back and before she could react, one of the men ran at her and bashed her across the skull with the butt of his gun. Taking another stumble backwards, she lost her balance and fell, dropping down the way that she had come. The sickening thud of her body hitting the stone floor echoed in her ears before she lost consciousness.
-8-8-8-8-
Everything was black, smelled of antiseptic, and noise seemed warped, but the sound of outright bawling hit what felt like clogged ears. It almost sounded like Shego… and Ann Possible. Unfortunately, the information did not compute. There was too much distortion for anything actually making it to the brain to make sense. The only thing that came through clear was the burning sensation tearing through everything and causing intense, extreme pain.
-8-8-8-8-
"I can't believe this happened. I knew we shouldn't have let her go! I knew it!" Kim could hear Bonnie's tearful voice, but it sounded so far away. Slowly, she opened her eyes, wanting to pinpoint where her lover was and what was going on. She wanted to hold Bonnie and reassure her everything would be all right, even though everything hurt. Everything was blurry to the point that she did not know where she was or if there were people in the room or if the room was totally empty.
"Duchess, you need to calm down. She's all right," Kim heard Shego respond in a tender tone. She was pretty sure they were discussing her, but she could not figure out what they were talking about. She wanted to open her mouth to respond, but found it impossible. In fact, it hurt her whole body just think about opening her mouth.
"She's not all right! She was shot twice!"
"A bullet went clean through her shoulder and the other one just nicked her a bit. Nothing the Princess can't handle."
"Nicked her? Shego, it went through her stomach!" Bonnie sounded almost hysterical.
"It went through her side. It's nothing she can't handle," Shego repeated.
"And the broken bones? Nothing, too?"
"They'll heal in time. Right now, we need to be supportive and positive for her. This isn't going to be an easy time for our little cupcake."
Kim could only wonder what Shego meant about things not being easy for her. She could feel pain all over her body, so she guessed that she had broken something… a lot of some things. Had they said she was shot, too? Groaning, she could bet that was what they had said.
"Baby?" she heard Bonnie's voice and there seemed to be a long blur standing over her. She suspected the blur was Bonnie. When another blur came into view, she guessed it was Shego.
"Princess, how you doing?" Shego asked in a concerned tone.
"We were so worried about you. Do you want us to get your family? Your parents are sitting outside," Bonnie said.
"Uh…" Kim forced her mouth open despite the pain. "… Huh?"
"You were in an accident, baby," Bonnie said and Kim could feel a small hand clutching hers. She squeezed the hand and it squeezed back.
"Acc…" Kim could not even get the word out. Her eyelids drooped and she struggled to keep them open.
"Go back to sleep, baby. We'll tell you when you wake up."
The hero tried her best to argue, but she could not do it. Falling asleep was the only thing that she could do. Before completely giving in, she mustered a smile for the two blurs standing over her.
-8-8-8-8-
When Kim awoke again, she was much more coherent than before. Her vision was better and she could see Bonnie and Shego sitting by her bed. A small groan from her caught their attention.
"Do you need anything, baby?" Bonnie asked, giving Kim's hand a gentle squeeze.
"Water…" Kim croaked out.
"Here's some ice chips," Shego replied quickly, putting a small handful to the hero's lips. The cool ice felt nice, so Kim took in as many chips as she could.
"Thanks…" Kim whispered. For a moment, her whole mind felt like it was swimming. "Wha… wha… happ'n…?" she managed to ask.
"You had an accident," Bonnie said.
"In the car?" Kim asked in a groggy tone.
"No, baby, not in the car," the lawyer replied.
Kim's brow furrowed and she turned her attention to Shego, thinking she might get more information from the pale woman. "In a fight?" she asked.
"No, sweet pea, it wasn't a fight," Shego answered, sounding very similar to Bonnie. The tender tone made Kim suspicious. Something serious had to happen for Shego and Bonnie to have the same worried, gentle tones.
"Then where?"
"You don't remember what happened?" Shego inquired.
Silence reigned over the room as Kim searched her mind for how she was injured. Things came in bits and pieces, causing her to scrunch up her face. She turned her attention back to them.
"Doctor Sobek was being attacked. Is he all right?" Kim begged. She was supposed to take care of him. If she ended up like this, had she at least done what she was supposed to do? Had she protected him?
Two sets of eyes looking off to the side before Bonnie spoke up, "Baby, we'll fill you on everything soon. For now, you just need to heal. If you feel up to it, we'll go get your parents and brothers."
"Where are they?" Kim asked, glancing around the room.
"Waiting outside because it seemed like the best option. Your dad fainted when he saw you in the bed and your mom couldn't stop crying," Shego answered honestly.
"It's that bad?" Kim's voice was low. It felt bad. Very bad.
"Well… Bonnie fainted, too," Shego replied. "… And I cried," she added honestly.
Kim nodded for lack of a better thing to do. Her lovers went and retrieved her family. The Possible family, including Kim's grandmother, charged into the room. Everyone looked as if they expected Kim to be dead.
"Oh, dear, how are you doing?" Anne inquired, rushing to the head of the bed. She took Kim's hand in hers. James came and stood next to her, putting his hand on Kim's arm. His mother stood next to him while the twins stood at the foot of the bed, appearing quite confused.
"I'm okay, I guess. Everything hurts, though," Kim groaned.
"It's not surprising considering how far you fell," James replied.
"Fell?" Olive eyes searched everyone for what that meant. She did not remember falling. She just remembered that Professor Sobek was being attacked. She could not recall if she saved him or not.
It was silently decided they would not bring up what happened until Kim was clearer on the subject through her own memories. Until then, they waited for word on her injuries. Thankfully, the bullet wounds were not serious and expected to heal nicely. But, the amount of broken bones made up for any damage the bullets could have done.
It seemed on reflex, Kim had put her hands out when she fell and tried her best to land upright. She shattered her heel bones and snapped her left fibula and tibia. Both of her wrists were shattered, several fingers were broken, her right elbow had popped out of place, and her left radius was broken. Her several ribs were bruised. Her skull was fractured from a blow to the head that the doctors believed were not related to the fall. Then there was the multiple internal injures. When the doctor made that report, Kim noticed her family and girlfriends looked relieved. She had hated to think what the initial report had been when she was first brought in.
"When can we take her home?" Bonnie asked the doctor after he rattled off all of Kim's injuries.
"I would like to keep her one more day and then you can take her home. She's out of the darkness for now, but I just want to be sure," he answered.
Everyone gave somber nods and Kim was tempted to ask what happened, but did not want to disturb them any further than she obviously had. Instead, she tried to piece together what happened from her own mind. She remembered the attack, remembered the shots, and even remembered falling once she tried hard enough, but nothing beyond that. She was not sure what happened to Professor Sobek or what those men wanted. Actually, she was not totally sure where she was, aside from it being a hospital.
"Uh… are we still in Egypt?" Kim asked.
"No, you were in Egypt for a few days, but then we weren't sure if the men who did this to you were going to come after you, so we had you moved across the Mediterranean. So, for now, we're in Greece," Shego explained.
Kim shook her head. "I don't think… I don't think those men were after me." It felt like she had come between a dispute with the doctor and those men.
"No, we gathered that too after my mom and dad got on the case," Shego muttered.
"What?" the redhead asked.
"Come on, Kimmie. Surely, you wondered why my parents weren't here considering how much they adore you. They're out looking for the men who did this to you," Shego pointed out.
"They're not…" Kim paused to swallow, but she did not need to continue.
"We spoke to Isabel and Kane. They're not going to do anything. They're only going to find them," Ann chimed in. Isabel and Kane had been as outraged as she and James were over Kim's injures, but the Go couple had a very different reaction. While all James and Ann wanted to do was get to Kim, Isabel and Kane wanted to find "the bastards who dared touch our daughter-in-law." Ann and James did not try to stop them. Part of them wished they could have gone with the Go couple and had their own revenge.
"And then what?" Kim asked.
"Don't worry about that. When they find those guys, they'll tell us and we'll figure out what to do. I'll tell you right now, a lot of law enforcement agencies weren't too happy to find out some guys actually assaulted you," Shego informed her.
"Professor Sobek? What happened to him?" the redhead inquired again.
Suddenly, everyone was looking at each other, as if they were expecting the others to explain what happened. Kim felt her heart drop as she guessed what happened. She had failed the professor.
"He's dead, isn't he?" Kim's voice was low and disappointed.
"Very dead. But, it wasn't your fault, Kimmie. The professor dragged you into his mess and he's the reason you're in the shape you're in," Shego answered, hoping that would make Kim feel better. Unfortunately, she knew that would not be the case.
"I was supposed to protect him, so how is it not my fault?" Kim begged, eyes wide and daring Shego to lie to her.
"He was using you because he probably knew those men would come looking for him since they seemed to be after him in the first place. You more than likely were attacked for getting in their way, but they intentionally killed him. We did some deep digging about him after we found out what happened. He never had any plans of letting anyone else in that pyramid, cupcake. He was looting it while he had the chance, before the university sent an actual research team, which is why he wanted you to search separate chambers on those last days," Shego tried to explain. They had been looking in to the matter ever since they found Kim and dug up a lot of information. All they needed to do was find out who the dead men were that dared to harm Kim.
"But… he seemed so excited. I… I was so excited…" Kim mumbled, licking her dry lips and trying to gather why everything had gone so horribly wrong.
"He used that against you, baby," Bonnie said. She and Shego were well aware of how excited Kim was because she had called them the night before, talking about the plan to search and catalogue separate chambers. They remembered her expression the day she left for Egypt, the light in her eyes and the bounce in her step. That bastard Sobek had used their beloved to help him steal priceless treasures and then put her in mortal danger.
Kim wanted to ask more questions, but was much too tired to do so. Her eyelids drifted shut and she was asleep before she knew it. Her last conscious thought was that she had failed.
-8-8-8-8-
"So, what are we going to do about taking Kim home? You two can handle her, right?" Ann asked Bonnie and Shego. Of course, she would check on her daughter constantly, not just as a mother, but a world-renowned surgeon.
"I've got my classes covered, using my idiot brothers for now. Stoppable volunteered to do Kim's morning classes. When my folks get back, they'll handle it," Shego answered.
"I'm on vacation for right now. Two weeks," Bonnie replied. Once again, her boss Charlie Darrow had proven quite understanding of her when she explained that she needed to take an emergency vacation. All she really had to say was "Kim Possible" and "terrible accident" and he was sending her on her way without any notice at all.
"All right, but you two don't be scared to tell us you need help. We're all here for you," James said.
"Including Wade, even though he couldn't make the trip," Jim added.
"We know," Bonnie replied.
"Joss also volunteered to fly in when we get back home to help," Nana chimed in.
"I'm surprised Joss isn't here," the lawyer commented. Joss was still Kim's number one fan, even though she had that weird period where she was Ron's number one fan, too.
"Joss was trying, but we told her to just wait until we got back to the States before she made any moves because we weren't sure how long Kim would be here," Ann explained. Not to mention, they wanted to spare Joss in case the outcome was as grim as first predicted.
"I spoke to Ron. He says he's still stuck in the snow, but figures that by the time we get back, he'll be back too," Shego reported.
"He picked a fine time to decide he wanted to try skiing," Bonnie muttered with a frown, shaking her head.
"Yori wanted to give it a shot and you know how he is with Yori," Tim pointed out with a shrug.
Shego and Bonnie nodded. They would take Kim home, but they would get a lot of help from the Possible family in caring for her. The Go family would help out, too, more than likely when they finished with their business. Kim was in good hands.
-8-8-8-8-
Kim smiled as Shego pushed her through the door; Bonnie held the door to their apartment open. Cali rushed out when she heard the door and followed the wheelchair that held Kim. The cat had been warned about jumping on the hero, who was going to be out of commission for two months… if she was lucky. Kim had taken the news oddly, as far as her girlfriends were concerned, anyway. She took the news of being wheelchair-bound for two months like a champ.
"How do you feel, Kimmie?" Cali asked, bouncing around in her humanoid form. She planned on helping as much as she could too.
"I'm okay," Kim replied with another smile. She had been smiling a lot for someone just out of the hospital.
"I'm going to wheel you into the bedroom and put you in the bed, okay?" Shego proposed.
"No, please, put me on the couch. I've been lying down for so long in a bed," the redhead somewhat complained.
Shego complied while Bonnie went to start on a late lunch for them. Shego made sure Kim was comfortable and sent Cali off to fetch some pillows for the injured woman. Again, Kim was all smiles and "thank yous." Shego arched an eyebrow to her behavior, but did not say anything about it. There was too much else to do for the moment.
"Shego, do you think you could tell me what happened to the professor now?" Kim requested. They still refused to tell her the full story when she was laid up in the hospital.
"Let's wait for the Duchess. I might not be able to get it all out, so I might need her to fill in what I can't," Shego replied.
Kim nodded and Shego lingered for a second, searching olive eyes for something more than what she was getting. Kim was too calm and collected over things. It was not right, but Shego was not sure what was not right about it.
-8-8-8-8-
"Duchess, do you think Kim's all right?" Shego asked in a low voice, standing in the kitchen and watching Bonnie prepare their dinner.
"She said she's fine," Bonnie replied.
"She's been saying that for everything and acting like that for everything. Doesn't it seem a little weird?"
"I think she's in shock. The best we can do is be there for her until she's ready to come out of it," Bonnie reasoned.
Shego shrugged, figuring that was a good response. "She wants us to tell her what happened to the professor."
"Has Wade called with all of the information yet?"
"He's got most of it. He and my parents are still looking for the assholes that did this. My mom says it was properly some black market dealers the professor had probably pissed off in the past or guys that he called to sell those artifacts to and they double-crossed him. It could be a combination of both. Doesn't help that the guy had gambling problems. It could've been goons hired by his bookie or something."
Bonnie sighed and leaned against the counter for a moment. "I'm sure your parents will get them. They're not going to hurt them, are they?"
Shego scratched her head. "I don't know. My parents are overprotective, you know? They see you and Kimmie as their daughters as much as they see me. I can tell you, from what I know, my parents are going to make them suffer. A lot."
Bonnie faced Shego and searched her face for a second. "Kill them?"
"No, not kill them. That would mean the suffering stops. It's like when my mother found out that Drakken purposely tried to kill me. He's still alive, but I'm sure he wishes he wasn't," Shego explained.
Bonnie nodded, even though she did not understand it much. Parental love was not something that she had grown up with, so parents going to extreme degrees for their children was not something she was very familiar with until recently. She had to admit, she could not have picked two better families to "marry" into.
"Anything else?" Bonnie asked, turning her attention back to the meal.
"What are we going to tell the baby?" Shego remarked, smiling a little to keep from showing how worried she was about Kim.
"We tell the baby what we know happened with the professor. I don't want her to beat herself up over this when he was the one that put her in danger. He almost got her killed. He almost cost us…" Bonnie sniffled, gripped the countertop again, and began crying.
Shego quickly took Bonnie into her arms and gently rocked her. "Shh, Duchess. It's all right. Everything is all right. She's here with us and she'll get back to normal. We're stronger than this, honey. So much stronger," she promised.
"I was so scared when Wade called. So scared. Shego, she gave me a reason to be myself. She made me who I am today. What would I have done without her?" Bonnie cried, holding Shego tightly around the waist.
"Shh, Duchess. I know. I know. You don't have to find out the answers to that question, though. She's here and she's going to heal. You'll see. Three months from now, we won't even remember she was hurt."
Bonnie shook her head and began shaking. "I'll never forget. I'll never forget her all bandaged up. I'll never forget not knowing if she was going to live or die. Those feelings will always be there and I'll be haunted by those memories. Why can't we just have a normal life? Why can't we just be normal?" she begged, sounding terrified and lost.
Shego kissed the side of her head. "I'm sorry we make you crazy like this, honey. You know we don't mean it."
"I know. I just worry. I don't want to lose either of you. I want to grow old with you two. I want to us to be a family for a good long time. Hell, maybe even have a kid or two," Bonnie said, forcing out a smile.
Shego let out a surprised exhale. Bonnie wants to have kids? To Shego, having kids was even more important than being in a committed relationship or a marriage. People in her family, they bonded with mates for life most of the time, but they bonded with their offspring in a way she could not even explain and to have kids with someone was beyond marriage, beyond mating, just beyond.
"Kids, huh? Can't say I ever thought of that," Shego whispered. It was somewhat a lie, but in the sense that she never considered kids mostly because of her former criminal lifestyle and being a hedonist for the most part. Now that it was out there, it would definitely be on her mind. "But, love, I promise you, Kimmie and I will do better. We'll talk to Kim later, but you know this one wasn't her fault. Even if she didn't do missions, she would've leaped at the chance to do this."
"I know. I know. I was just so scared." Bonnie's voice shook.
Shego held her tighter. "That's a normal reaction, sweetie. I was scared, too. You saw me breakdown. It's all right."
Bonnie nodded, but continued to cry. Shego suspected Bonnie was releasing frustration and anxiety more than anything and let her cry. She then quietly helped with dinner, only leaving to check on Kim. Cali, still in her human form, kept Kim entertained. Dinner was ready fairly quickly.
"Can I help? Can I help?" Cali asked Shego as she came to put Kim back in her wheelchair.
"Not right now, but I'll show you how to pick Kim up and everything to make sure you're not hurting her, okay?" Shego proposed, knowing Cali was just as anxious as the rest of them, so she was not looking add to that anxiety in anyway.
"Okay," Cali replied with a nod, following her humans to the table. There was a place set for her since she seemed keen on staying in her hated other form. She looked down at the plate, recognizing the food, but not sure how to use the utensils.
"You know, I like that one of you has to feed me and everything, but I can't wait until I can use my hands again," Kim remarked, smiling again.
Shego ground her teeth together to prevent herself from saying anything about the smile. Bonnie moved to her seat next to Kim. She was going to feed the hero tonight.
"So, we figured we'd tell you about what happened to the professor now," Shego announced.
"Oh… okay…" Kim nodded.
Shego took a deep breath. "Okay, so here's the deal and all of the information that we know so far. Professor Sobek had actually been skating on thin ice at his school like he claimed, but it was for more than not being published. He had gambling problems. The man liked the poker and blackjack tables a lot more than he should. The university had reason to believe he was stealing artifacts and selling them on the black market to fund his addiction. At that point, they stopped allowing him on digs, but he had been there when they discovered that pyramid."
"So… why were we at the pyramid if he wasn't authorized to dig there?" Kim asked with a scrunched up face.
"He was raiding that tomb, Kimmie. He had lucked out on the last dig that he was allowed on and stumbled across that pyramid. He didn't think anything of it at first, but when he got back home and couldn't give up the tables, he needed money. He needed a lot of money, Kimmie."
"How much is a lot?" the redhead inquired.
"Let's just say when I saw the figure, I whistled and Bonnie's eyes literally fell out of her head. Cali chased 'em around the house," Shego remarked, forcing out a laugh.
"He was just in over his head, baby, and he dragged you in head first. He decided to beat the university to the pyramid to take what he could before anyone could catalogue it, so they'd never know what was missing, which was why he had you go into other chambers. You could catalogue some things, but he would not catalogue anything he actually found," Bonnie chimed in.
"Wait, he was looting that tomb?" Kim did not seem to be following, in sheer disbelief over this.
"We're assuming that the men who attacked you were the men he planned to sell the items to. When you were found, there were a couple of artifacts around you, but the Egyptian authorities are sure there were more. A couple of the chambers in the pyramid were empty when it was explored," Bonnie continued.
"How did you guys even find me? That pyramid was in a remote piece of desert," Kim pointed out.
Turquoise eyes glanced away guiltily. "That would be my fault," Bonnie admitted.
"I wouldn't call it a fault, baby," the redhead replied.
"No, but it was somewhat of an invasion of your privacy. I asked Wade to put a monitor on your Kimmunicator. It monitors your body temperature and heart rhyme if it's close enough. Once those drop, he's alerted and I'm alerted," Bonnie explained.
Kim nodded and swallowed slowly. "You saved my life, baby," she whispered.
"It was nothing you wouldn't have or haven't done for me. Now, promise me you're not going to let this thing with the professor bother you. He's the one that failed you, not the other way around. He took advantage of you. His greed and addiction hurt you, hurt your family, hurt us, so promise me you won't let this bother you," Bonnie implored the petite hero.
There was a nod from Kim and her family lightly embraced her, silently letting her know that they were there for her. Tears slid down olive eyes. Silently, Kim vowed to make it through everything — the guilt, the pain, the fact that she had been taken advantage of, and she would come back as strong as ever. If not, stronger.
-8-8-8-8-
Next time: Joss shows up and Kim has to cope with her injuries.