"Monique!" Ron screamed as he ran toward the window. Even as he screamed her name he realized just how stupid had been the action. It was one of the rules of facing villains: Don't give people away. Amazing how many things could be a matter of coincidence. This Darren could have easily assumed Monique to be a random innocent civilian, but that weak connection was gone now in favor of something a lot more powerful. He didn't know if she heard her, but her eyes swept from the guns to him and she knew that she recognized him. Her beautiful mouth opened up in a scream of her own. His name, he knew, but he heard nothing. He pounded his fist against the glass.
One gun jerked, and a bright red beam shot from it, cutting into the ground inches from Monique's foot.
"Let her go, you bastard!" Ron screamed at Darren.
"Then get your filthy hands off my nice clean window," Darren replied smoothly.
Ron kicked the glass hard as strong hands clasped his shoulders. The glass did not even budge.
"Ron," Brick's stern voice whispered. "Calm down. This is not how to react. Keep calm. He's expecting you to—"
Brick. The stupid musclehead had become a stupid muscleheaded cop. And who knew what he had been doing with Kim beyond holding her hand? He had no right to Kim, and here he was telling him to keep calm where Monique was involved. Ron twisted from Brick's grasp and punched him in the face. Brick reeled back, blood streaming from his nose.
"Don't tell me what to do," Ron hissed.
"Ronald," Professor Sharpe began.
"Shut up!" Ron's eyes gazed over the room for something heavy to break the glass. He wasn't thinking clearly. He knew that. And he didn't care.
"Maybe you should listen to them," Darren said as he pushed another button.
Two guns jerked forward this time. Two more blood-red beams barely grazing Monique, who screamed again.
It was Kim all over again.
He felt dizzy. All strength drained from him. He collapsed against the window, muttering Monique's name.
"What do you want?" Wade demanded.
"The bomb," Darren said, drawing his finger back from the button. "As I already stated. And Kim Possible."
"What do you need Kim for?" Brick sat up. The blood from his nose drenched his sleeve.
"Jackson, my boy, your little team here doesn't seem to know much of anything."
"He's just the cop," said Jackson. "He doesn't need to know all that much."
"What do you need Kim for?" Brick repeated in a scream.
Ron felt sick. It was Kim all over again. He mouthed "I am coming" to Monique, who lay panting in terror, and turned around. "You're turning her back in."
"Ron, stop," said Wade.
"I can't believe I trusted you. You lied again. What is your problem?"
"Lied again?" Brick was on his feet now. "What is-?"
Wade pulled something from his pocket. A click of something, followed by a buzz, and Brick was back on the floor, unconscious.
Ron barely had time to blink before his own mind went black.
Wade looked down at the two motionless bodies as relief flowed through him. Maybe he should have warned them before hand. They were right. He was really bad at that kind of thing. Note to self: Next mission, make sure all participants were on the same wavelength. It tended to get rather messy, otherwise.
He just wished they had shut him when he had told them to. Zapping people out really wasn't was much fun as it looked, and he wished he hadn't had to do it. But they wouldn't shut up. Either of them. He could have explained away one or the other, but both Ron and Brick?
People were so sensitive when it came to Kim.
He slid the weapon back into his pocket and looked to Jackson. This was Jackson's mission, after all.
Jackson was also staring at Ron and Brick in surprise. "Nice job, Wade," he muttered.
On the other side of the window, Monique was watching, tears streaming from her eyes.
Wade would explain it to her later. If all went well. But everything would go well. No negative thoughts.
But he hated watching her cry. She was still hot.
"Ruthless," Darren said thoughtfully. "I approve of that. I guess they weren't involved at the level you two were?"
"They weren't informed about Kim Possible," Jackson said. "They're both… involved with her."
"Well, she is a pretty girl. Too young for me, don't get the wrong idea. But I can imagine how she'd be a heartbreaker. I can see why you kept that from them. So can I assume that means Kim Possible will be included?"
Jackson nodded.
"Excellent. So I'll just take the bomb and Miss Possible and this little father/son reunion will be over."
"All right," said Jackson. "My associate should be arriving soon."
"All right, then. I spoke with her myself, as you probably know. We'll just wait for her."
"I want to see my son."
Darren smiled, and Wade felt a shiver go down his spine. Maybe he shouldn't have taken Brick and Ron out so quickly. "I'm afraid that's not possible yet. Other arrangements were made by your associate. And I still have the girl targeted."
It felt good to be back in the game. Kim could scarcely believe that was the thought that went through her mind. Back in the game? What was this? A quick practice to get her skills back in order? Oh, it was something she had done a hundred times, snaking through the darkness of a creepy lair of evil. Though having a villain at her side was certainly a novelty. Was that cancelled out by the fact that this villain was going to betray her?
Breaking in had not been too difficult. Not too easy, either. That would have been suspicious, and Kim had learned her lesson the last time. This building was standard protection, nothing terribly more extreme than anything else she had ever seen. Now she and Shego walked through it in darkness and silence.
Kim tried to keep her breath calm, but her heart pounded. Just when was Shego planning to strike? She wished Brick were with her.
But Shego did nothing. She walked ahead of Kim, hair bouncing with each movement, voice silent.
Every now and then she came to a door. She would pause, check it, then slash it open with a blast of green before moving on. Kim would then pass the room. Empty, always empty.
And then Kim would wonder about that and then her thoughts would for some weird reason jump to Ron and how he had stared at her and Brick. She felt nothing. It was just a memory, meaningless. What did meaningless mean?
After pondering that a few seconds she would force herself back to the present and the situation she was in. Wade had told her Shego was going to trade her in for Brexton. Any time now. Shego had told her they were merely looking for Brexton. It could not be that simple. They could have broken in here before and found the kid. One of the doors would lead to Brexton, and then the trade would begin.
Finally, Kim couldn't take it anymore. But before she could do anything, a door was ripped apart and Shego froze.
"Mommy!" came a little voice.
The room did not look like a prison. Not like Kim's prison, anyway. It looked like, well, a little boy's room. A racecar bed, a dresser, a box of toys.
And the trade-off would begin.
Sobbing, Shego scooped up Brexton. She squeezed him tightly to her, and the boy happily wrapped his arms around her neck.
Kim felt something hot behind her eyes. Tears. All right, so she was a softie. Why wouldn't she be touched at this? Why shouldn't she be touched? This was perfect. Shego had not even needed her. Now all they had to was turn around and escape…
Shego finally used one hand to wipe the tears away and then pull a small phone from her pocket. "She's here."
And another door slammed down to replace the one Shego had destroyed.
Shego only felt some guilt as she watched Kim throw herself against the door. Maybe she should feel more, but who could blame her for being concerned with more important things? She dropped the phone to the floor and ran her hand through Brexton's hair.
This was him. Her beautiful, beautiful son. He was alive and he was healthy and he was right where Darren had said he would be. Though a more specific room number would have been nice. She let herself cry into him, and for once he didn't react with fussiness.
"Did you miss Mommy?" she whispered.
"Mm." He nodded.
She kissed him on the cheek. Sweet baby cheek. He smelled so good. His grandfather was a rat, but at least he had taken care of him.
"Shego." Kim had turned from the wall.
"I'm in here, too, Kimmie," Shego replied.
"Wade warned me."
"I'm not all that surprised. He's quite traitorish, as you know. Ah, well. If he had warned you, why did you come?"
Kim didn't open her mouth. Good. The girl could talk an awful lot. She balled her fists.
"I'm not going to fight you in front of my son." Still, she turned her back to Kim, just in case she got any ideas.
"Put him down, Shego!"
"No. Never again."
"Put him down and fight me!"
Shego smoothed Brexton's hair again and kissed him on the forehead. He lay against her, that wonderful and familiar weight. "Come at me, if you want. Darren will be here shortly and you'll be carried off and I can leave with my son."
"You're trading your son for me."
"Duh. You sure catch on quick. No offense, but he's my baby and you're my enemy. Why would I value you anywhere near my baby? Darren was very kind. He agreed to let me come in, provided I could get in, to get my boy first. As long as you came with me."
"You never changed."
Shego laughed. "Nope. I don't know what the big deal is. You can handle yourself, can't you? Except for that one time. If it makes you feel any better, I really did want to use you for breaking and entering then let you go on your merry way. This is merely back-up."
Kim glared at her.
"I think I can hear someone coming now," Shego said. With a final kiss, she set Brexton on the ground. It hurt her heart to do so, and he clung to her legs. "Brexton, go hide under the bed, sweetie."
"No."
"Mommy says go under the bed."
Slowly, and with a dramatic sigh, he obeyed. She watched him until his little legs were completely hidden from sight. Then she turned to the door. She could hear someone outside. In moments the door would hopefully open.
"You can handle yourself, Kimmie," she said. She let the green light from her hands.
The door opened.
There he was. The man who had caused all of this. Darren Sharpe and half a dozen of his goons who looked like they had been hired from the nearest roadhouse.
"Thanks for waiting so patiently, Shego," Darren said. "I saw on my cameras you even brought Miss Possible. Now if you'll help me—"
At that moment, Miss Possible dropped from the ceiling where she had climbed to, knocking Darren to the ground. Shego launched herself forward, green blast colliding with the nearest of the guards.
Men were always momentarily taken back by a sexy figure, though she hadn't expected seven-to-one odds. The man she had landed on had a red ponytail and tribal tattoos wrapped over his massive arms, but she punched her own fists into those muscles and then into his head. He gasped, eyes glazing over, before slumping to the floor. She jumped back to her feet and slammed another idiot into the wall. Not her style. Didn't work. But who cared?
Kim was busy with Darren and the other four. She certainly could handle her own.
Shego dove under the bed and scooped up Brexton. Then she sprang over the fight and down the hall toward freedom.
"Sorry, Kimmie," she muttered. "I didn't expect that many."
Monique watched them carry away Ron. She screamed all the obscenities she knew at them, hardly caring they couldn't care her. Ron had come to rescue her! How could she ever have doubted him? He did love her, he did pick her! A rescue, even a failed rescue, was such a better gesture than flowers.
She wasn't sure what had happened, having been a little preoccupied with the lasers that had tried to cut her in half. She hoped, though, that it had been good, even if it had not ended well.
He had better not be dead.
That thought was not romantic. Death was never romantic. Why did everyone think it was? She was not going to sit here thinking how touched she was Ron had died for her. She didn't want him to die for her! She wanted to get out of here and have him be fine and then run off and marry him, wedding plans be damned!
But instead she was still tied to a pole, crying long after Ron was gone and the window had closed.
"Poor little Monique," said a too-familiar voice in an unfamiliar tone.
Tara walked toward her.
Tara who had set this all in motion.
She pulled a knife and slashed the chord. "Get up."
"You're not Tara," Monique whispered. Tara had never been this strong. Monique was practically jerked to her feet.
"No, I'm not. Surviving decapitation is impossible."
"You're like Kim. The other Kim."
"Actually, I'm better. That Kim was a mindless clone." The Tara-who-was-not-Tara dragged her with impressive strength toward a door. "I was engineered with not only intelligence but a lot more power. My creator Grant is very proud of me." She flicked a switch on the wall, and a door slid out of nowhere.
And opened into some sort of shuttle.
"Get in," the Tara clone said, giving her a push.
That push sent her sprawling into the shuttle to land on what Monique realized in horror was a bound-and-gagged Kim, staring up at her.
The shuttle door slammed.
"Enjoy your ocean vacation," the Tara clone called from outside.
