"Honey, your ride's here!" James called from the front door, surprised to find the most luxurious unstretched limousine he'd ever seen parked by the curb. His two favourite redheads in the world soon appeared, Ann with a wheeled travel bag and Kim with her usual backpack. The chauffeur quickly offered to tend to their luggage while they made their farewells.
Ann seemed quite taken with the mode of transport. "She's really making an effort, isn't she?"
"Uh, yeah," Kim answered nervously in her father's presence. Her mother had never told her just what she had told him. However much he knew, he seemed to be letting it pass.
"I want you both to have fun in your tropical paradise this weekend," he told them; obviously Ann had told him that much. "But don't skimp on the sunblock, okay? And no cabana boys. Either of you." He gave them both a warning glare that was mostly mockery.
Ann smiled softly at her daughter's blush before it struck her what was missing. "Isn't Ron coming to see you off, Kimmie?"
"I think he's still tweaked about all the time I've been spending with Erik lately," Kim chuckled in an attempt to disguise her own disappointment. "It took a whole afternoon to convince him I wasn't running off with him for a weekend of sun, sea and s... uh..." the blush intensified as she trailed off.
James quickly cleared his throat. "Well, I'm sure Ron will calm down eventually. He does tend to overreact to things."
"You sure you don't mind looking after the boys this weekend by yourself?" Ann asked, giving him a last chance to change his mind.
James smiled and nodded assuredly. "We'll have our father-son time while you go have your mother-daughter time. You girls don't have enough of it as it is."
Kim tried not to let how wierd that sounded show on her face. Thank goodness she was already blushing. She watched her mother kiss him on the cheek and go out the door before giving him a brief and tentative hug. "Take care, dad."
"I will, Kimmie."
"No, really. You alone with the tweebs all weekend..."
"Heheh, we'll be fine. Remind your mother to call me when you get where you're going. Have fun, Kimmie-cub."
"I will, dad. See you Sunday night."
James watched the girls get into the limo and head off before closing the door. He checked his watch to see the twins still had half an hour of soccer practice to go, and double-checked that his alarm would warn him when it was time to go pick them up. He still had time to ponder that cybertronic replication problem; perhaps the severe time limit would provide a stroke of inspiration as to how he could turn his theory into practice.
If not, it would at least keep his mind off what Ann had and had not explained about this weekend getaway, and not let his imagination run rampant with the possibilities.
"The airport's quite small, isn't it?" Ann asked as the limo went through the security gate.
"A lot of rich folks use smaller airports just to avoid the volume of traffic at the larger ones," Kim explained. "And it helps her stay off the radar... uh, so to speak. All the major airports have lots of surveillance."
The ride from gate to hanger was brief. The latter was occupied by a black Learjet with a pair of bright green stripes running the length of the aircraft on either side. A customs officer awaited them by the open hatchway into the jet, and tended to their passports with surprising swiftness while the chauffeur took their luggage aboard. Ann suspected the customs man didn't even inspect the documents properly, but since Kim did not comment on it, she chose to hold her tongue. Perhaps it was simply because her daughter's heroic reputation preceded them; she got rides around the world all the time, after all.
Now she thought about it, Ann wasn't sure how often passports were involved during Kim's adventurous travels. Perhaps it really would be better not to ask.
The next surprise was inside. While the upper half of the interior was as white as could be expected, Kim and Ann stared at all the embossed leather and graphite surfaces with metallic accents that took up the lower half. The black and green ergonomic seats had the Indianapolis Motor Speedway logo embossed into the upper portion of the seatbacks.
"Well, this is..." Ann wasn't sure what to call it.
"Flashy," Kim finished for her, obviously amused. "Do you care which side..."
"Oh, no, go ahead," Ann waved vaguely at the seats, allowing her daughter to plop into the nearest forward-facing seat on the left side of the jet. The chauffeur appeared to explain where he had stowed their baggage and wished them a pleasant trip before taking his leave.
Things certainly proceeded rapidly thanks to being just two passangers on a small jet in a small airport. Ann took the seat beside Kim as the aircraft was sealed, then a familiar voice came through the speakers with surprising clarity: "Good afternoon ladies, and welcome to Lime Airlines, the sweetest ride of your life. The flight will take four hours and put us two timezones ahead. All electrical equipment including phones, pagers, portable music players, laptops and kimmunicators should be switched off because we're about to start rolling, so siddown and fasten your seatbelts before you break something."
"She's a pilot?" Ann asked in surprise as they started moving.
"A good one," Kim confirmed. "She tried to kidnap Mr. Nakasumi with a jet fitted with all kinds of gadgets."
"I thought that was ninjas."
"After the ninjas." the teen hero smirked at the memory. "She gave me quite a ride... though I doubt Nakasumi appreciated it."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the jet had this big grapple that snatched him right off the float. I managed to grab onto him. Shego spent a couple of minutes trying to shake me off before Ron knocked us all loose. Then she tried to grab Nakasumi with this big pincer thing, but only got his jacket. She nearly crashed after that and had to give up."
"Why was she in a jet in the first place?"
"Smoke bombs to cover the ninjas, I think. And... she might have wanted to show off."
"To you?"
Kim shrugged. "Yeah. It's mainly her fault why I want a pilot's licence."
Their conversation paused as the engines kicked into high gear, throwing them across the takeoff strip and into the air. In a Boeing the initial rush wore off soon after, but the Learjet kept pushing hard, all the way up to cruising altitude. Both passengers watched from their respective windows as the ground fell farther and farther away.
When they finally levelled out, Ann turned to her daughter. "Kimmie... I would like you to tell me these things more often. It would help me understand her, and your relationship as well. That's why I chose to come along, to get to know her better, and spend time with the two of you together."
"Not for kinky sex?"
"Kimberly An-"
"I know, mom, I know," the teenager interrupted, laughing, "And I will be more forthcoming, I promise." She waited for her mother to nod in acknowledgement of that before adding, "And she knows not to expect anything kinky, but that doesn't mean she's going to stop thinking about it."
The elder redhead nodded again, believing she and Kim's lover had already reached an understanding of sorts. After a moment, she looked down into her lap as she chose to ask, "What about what you're thinking?"
"That's what we're here to find out, aren't you?" Shego pointed out as she shut the door to the cockpit behind her. "To see how kinky you can both go?"
"Lime Airlines?" Kim asked with a raised eyebrow to deflect the green girl's line of questioning.
"Seemed appropriate. On paper, it's a small private travel company based in Mexico. In reality, it's just a way for me to get around on my own without too much hassle."
Ann took her turn. "And the decor?"
"The Indy 500 interior was originally a limited edition for the 40s," Shego explained, "But when I traded up I had it switched over."
Kim understood. "This is a 45?"
The villainess raised a condescending eyebrow. "45XR. You think I'd settle for less?"
"Not you," the teenager smirked.
Ann was reluctant to bring up her next concern, but considered the matter quite important. "Shego, if you're here, who's flying the plane?"
"Oh, uh... autopilot. Sort of."
"What does that mean?"
"...I'm not sure I should talk about it. It's kinda work-related."
"Is it actually secret?" Kim asked, aware of her mother's nervousness.
The villainess thought it over, then shrugged. "It is, but what the hell, you'll find out eventually anyway. You both remember that syntho-goo Drakken was trying to get his hands on?"
"The self-replicating synthoplasma?" the younger redhead specified.
"Didn't it try to eat the train we were on, and us along with it?" the elder redhead added, now definitely worried.
Shego nodded. "Yeah, that stuff. The formula's in the open."
Kim was not pleased. "How did that happen?"
"Not me. Good old-fashioned industrial espionage. Dr. D actually paid top dollar for it. First thing he did was get rid of the self-replicating part. Far as I know, he's the only one to manage it. Of course now, if it loses any goo, it can't replace it..." Shego leaned against the seat opposite Kim. "It's goo in a jumpsuit, now. He calls it a synthodrone."
"Is it safe?" Ann persisted.
"Oh, yeah. It's smarter than the actual autopilot. They work more like human brains than computers, y'know? They don't just follow a program until they freak at an unknown variable. This one knows everything about piloting and air travel in general, and this aircraft in particular. I've flown with it plenty already; it's not gonna go nuts or crash us into a mountain, and if there's an issue it'll buzz the intercom. I think the only reason that gunk isn't classified as a lifeform is because it doesn't excrete anything."
"It did react to electrical impulses the same way..." Ann mused, though not entirely mollified.
"I think I'm with mom on this one," Kim decided. "I mean... this is Drakken's work we're talking about. Since when have you had that much confidence in his creations?"
"He didn't create it, he just tinkered with it. The train-eating goo was military science. Synthodrones are mad science. You have to admit, he's pretty good with stuff he doesn't invent himself."
"I guess..." the teen hero grudgingly supposed.
Shego sighed. "Don't worry. It handled takeoff just fine, and even if we lose cabin pressure and pass out from hypoxia, we'll still arrive at our destination on schedule."
"That's a terribly specific example," Ann opined.
"Most Learjet owners have heard the horror stories. Anyway, there's no need to worry, and this is supposed to be a vacation." She turned to Kim. "Wanna make out?"
Kim blinked at Shego's abrupt gear change, glanced in her mother's direction and replied, "Maybe later."
Shego nodded, turned to Ann and and asked, "Wanna make out?"
Ann had seen it coming, so she merely smiled and repeated Kim's, "Maybe later."
"And no, we're not going to make out so you can watch," Kim forestalled Shego's next question even as she opened her mouth to voice it.
"Then I guess noone's gonna eat anyone, either," Shego huffed in apparent disappointment. "No mile high club for me..."
"Shego!"
"Oh puh-lease. How much d'you wanna bet your momma experimented in college?" She paused to enjoy the uncomfortable yet curious look Kim gave her mother - who was modest enough to blush slightly herself - before continuing. "My point is, under the circumstances, we might as well eat some food. I assume you haven't had dinner this soon."
"No," Ann admitted. "Normally we'd wait until the boys were home."
Without another word, Shego rose and headed to the rear of the jet. The smell of food reached the redheads before the green girl returned. "Ackee and saltfish with rice and peas. Not actually made in Jamaica, but just as good."
Shego was surprisingly companionable during the meal, willing to talk about her earliest encounters with Kimmie at Ann's urging. Kim was surprised to find herself enjoying it, despite the fact that she was worried about her mother's reaction to Shego's earliest attempts to kill her; and she was correct in her assumption that the villainess wouldn't sugarcoat anything even if she did want to make a good impression.
"You cut her jetpack off?" Ann gasped, horrified.
"Yep," Shego confirmed between mouthfuls, "I was waiting to hear her go splat when she swung around on that damn hairdryer of hers and jammed my claws into the gondola," the green girl mimed the motion, "Then grabbed the remote. Her sidekick grabbed her and we ended up in the drink." Shego frowned as she chewed on a fresh mouthful of fish, then added, "Dr. D wanted to clone me after that, despite the clause in my contract, so I took a little vacation until he learned his lesson."
"Oh, it took him a while," Kim realized. "He cloned me, Ron and Rufus. And Bonnie," the teenager added with disgust. "That was the freakiest. The world does not need more than one Bonnie."
"I remember your mission outfit came into fashion that week. That one, single week."
"Didn't you have a big topless guy in the car with you when you picked Drakken up?"
"Oh, yeah. He was worth taking home." Shego smiled at the memory.
"You talk about these things so casually..." Ann quietly observed.
"Sex?"
"No."
The villainess had spent a considerable amount of time on what she was about to say. "Messing with people's brains would freak a lot of people out, but you're used to it. No different with me and Kimmie, except what you fight isn't another person." Shego's gaze turned from Ann to Kim. "I soon learned how capable your little girl is at what she does. She knows I can rip a safe open with these hands, but that doesn't stop her from the fisticuffs... sometimes it's the only thing that keeps her off me." The last bit was ad lib, but it got the smile from Kim before she continued. "I may still try to kill her occasionally, but we both know she can handle it."
Ann considered her words, wondering which pair she meant by 'we'. Her train of thought was interrupted when her daughter leaned across the space between and kissed her girlfriend soundly.
When it was finished, Shego hummed contentedly before saying, "Myeah, that's my dessert right there." Kim giggled, and Ann couldn't help smiling at the exchange.
Their host did check the cockpit quite frequently, usually to get on the radio as they crossed airspace. Kim elected not to go take a peek at the synthodrone, since under normal circumstances she wouldn't have a clue about it. She'd ask Wade about the original plasma, though. Ann was eventually more curious than concerned, but decided this wasn't the time or place to poke or prod the thing. As the green girl said... vacation.
Speaking of whom, she got her dessert on numerous occasions for the rest of the flight. The makeouts went on a little longer each time, and Ann never voiced a complaint. Perhaps in response to that, Shego never tried to switch Possibles, and she always stopped before things got too hot.
Well, almost.
"Mmmstop it," Kim moaned grumpily.
"Stop what?" Shego breathed on the teenager's lips.
"Turning me on so much. You're only doing it to tease me."
"What's your point?"
A question that invariably led to a single slap, usually to Shego's ass, causing her to growl and kiss the younger redhead once more before returning to the conversational threeway.
It left Ann thinking about James and their conversation, about the doors that could open and whether or not they should be.
The intercom dinged, drawing Shego's attention. "Half an hour to arrival. I better get back in there." The villainess gave Kim a final peck before heading back to the cockpit.
Ten minutes later, she could clearly hear Ann's voice through the door, declaring, "Kimberly Anne Possible, you're a very naughty girl!" followed by a series of spanking noises and an enthusiastic cry of, "Harder, mommy, harder!"
"I know you're doing it to yourself, princess!" Shego called through the door. "You can't fool me!"
From Ann's throaty laugh, she could imagine the look on Kim's face.