Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. She is owned by Disney and Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. Any original characters shown or mentioned belong to me and cannot be used without permission. Got it?
Primary Author's Note: This story takes place right after the White Knight/Will Du/Catgirl conversation in the last chapter to "The Cat Came Back".
Maternal Instinct: Spotlight
Chapter 9: Catgirl- Thinking It Over
Catgirl muttered to herself as she stomped angrily through the hallways of the Justice Squad's mansion. She paused only when she stopped in front of the door to her room and considered kicking it in frustration for a moment, but the though quickly faded and she instead pulled out her Global Justice I.D. card from her right hand gauntlet and used it to unlock the door. She did throw it shut after she entered the room so that it let out a satisfying slam.
"Stupid, arrogant, jackass Will Du!" she ranted to herself. "Maybe it took a second to pull that stick out of his ass he'd know that sometimes, just sometimes, you need to do things that aren't 'by the book'. But does he get that? Noooo!"
She let out a frustrated sigh that helped to let out all her pent up anger. Any lingering anger was forgotten when she heard a small meow and looked down to see her pet tabby cat walking up to greet her.
"Hey Ali," she said cheerfully as she kneeled down to stroke the top of the cat's head. "Bet you missed me, huh?"
The cat responded by let out a low purr and rubbing back against her hand. A peaceful smile played over Catgirl's lips as she continued to pet her cat for a few seconds longer. This is why she liked cats. They were always had such a clam demure about them that in turned help calm down their owner. At least her cat did and it always helped her. She gave Ali one last scratch under the chin before standing up.
"I bet I know what you really missed," she mused as she walked over to the closet and pulled open one of the wooden double doors. Ali's head sprung to attention as she picked up her tail and walked over to rub against Catgirl's leg in anticipation of what she knew was coming. Catgirl smirked a bit at the predictable reaction as she pulled out a can of cat food and a plastic fork off one of the closet shelves.
"How about some chicken and tuna? That sound good?" she asked, holding up the can.
Ali let out an excited mew and rubbed her face against the girl's leg more enthusiastically.
"Thought you'd like that," Catgirl smirked then walked over to the small area she set aside for Ali's dry food dispenser and a few bowls for can food and water. She switched out the old, dirty bowl with a clean one, and then popped the top of the can of cat food before she started to shovel it into the container while also fending off an impatient Ali.
"Just wait a second you stupid cat," Catgirl smirked as she pushed her pet back a bit.
After she got the last bit out, she backed up to let Ali devour the gelatinous mess while she tossed the empty can, fork and old styrofoam bowl into a nearby garbage can. She then walked over to the small living room section of her room and pulled back her mask with a slight sigh of relief. She shook her head a bit to help straighten out her chin length blonde hair, which was suffering from what she liked to call "mask hair". She ran her fingers through it a few times to fluff it out then clicked the hidden latches on her gauntlets and tossed them on the chair next to her. She then pulled off her gloves and tossed them onto the chair as well before she reached down to unzip and kick of her boots, letting them fall behind the chair.
With all the extraneous things out of the way, it was time for the main event, so to speak. She reached up to the hidden zipper in her collar and was about to pull it down but stopped and looked around the room. Ever since she moved in here, she couldn't help shake the feeling that she was being watched all the time. It was probably just her being paranoid but she wouldn't put it past some of these GJ types to put hidden cameras in the rooms to keep an eye on them.
Well I guess whoever's watching is about to get a good show cause I gotta get out of this thing, she thought.
The decision made, she quickly pulled the zipper all the way down then practically peeled the costume off herself like a second skin. It flew off her right foot with a slight "snapping" sound that caused Ali to jump a bit. She chuckled at her cat's antics as she tossed the gray suit over the back of the chair and reveled into the cool air running over her now exposed body. Much as she loved fighting crime as Catgirl there were times when she had to just get out of that thing and enjoy being plain old Felicia Kyle.
Who really needed to put on some clothes. Or at least get a shower.
"Shower," she decided with a nod.
As she stepped into the private bathroom, she found herself once again thankful that the mansion was made with convenience in mind. After all, it wouldn't do much good to have your team of superheroes be late to save someone cause one of them had to wait in line for the bathroom, would it? Plus it helped reduce the chance of some unscrupulous person to try and sneak a peak at her in the shower.
She pushed that unpleasant thought aside as she pulled back the shower curtain and turned on the water. She adjusted the knobs for a bit to get the right temperature then stepped inside and closed the curtain behind her. She let out a pleasured sigh as the warm hot helped ease the lingering tension out of her sore muscles. Once she was more relaxed, she reached down for the bar of soap and a washcloth and began to scrub herself down.
As she did so, she thought over the events of the last few hours, specifically Kim's remarks of her needing to work with her team. She had to admit; the redhead did know her stuff. Course that wasn't much of a surprise considering how long she'd been doing the hero thing. Felicia had only taken on the Catgirl idenity about two years ago during her junior year of high school. But in that short amount of time she found a routine for herself that she was comfortable with.
Then it all changed when Global Justice found her and recruited her for their Justice Squad. It wasn't that she didn't like the people on the team or the idea of being on a team in general; she just preferred to keep working alone for awhile. It might have been the cat in her. After all they never have been known as particularly social animals. Still, once she got use to the idea being on the team wasn't really that bad. Even if she did have to deal with Will Du more times then she'd like. The rest of the team wasn't bad, and in fact they were pretty cool, she just didn't like being treated like the baby of the group.
Technically she knew what she was, but they didn't have to actually remind her over it every five seconds. Sure she was impulsive but that's just part of who she was. She knew the importance for her to calm down a little and work with the team more, but she didn't want to give up on who she was to do that.
Maybe…maybe I don't belong here, she thought as she rested her head against the wall. But I like being here. They other guys are nice, even if they talk down to me a bit, but it's not like I don't deserve it sometimes. Just wish I could feel like more of part of the team. Maybe I need to talk this over with someone. But who? And when?
She suddenly let out a long, loud yawn and ducked her head down a bit further to keep from getting water in her mouth. She then stood straight up and turned off the water flow.
"Well the 'when' will definitely have to be tomorrow," she said to herself. "Way too tired to deal with this tonight. Time for sleep."
She pulled the curtain back and grabbed a towel hanging on the rack next to the tub. After a few minutes of toweling herself down she finally felt dry enough to exit the bathroom. She grabbed a bathrobe hanging on the door and tied it around herself as she stepped back into her room. She looked over eagerly at her bed, but there was something nagging at her that she knew wouldn't let her sleep until she got it done. She walked over to the chair she left her costume on and picked up one of her gauntlets. A quick tap opened one of the compartments and her cell phone popped out into her hand. She tossed the gauntlet down into the chair again then turned on the phone and scrolled through her missed calls. One name stood out the most amongst the list.
"Mom," she muttered as she went to her saved numbers and hit the speed dial for her mother.
She made her way over to her bed as she listened to the intermediate ringing, waiting for her mother to pick up. She was about to hang up and try again in the morning when she heard a soft "click" and a groggy, female voice ask:
"Hello?"
"Hi, mom," she greeted a bit sheepishly.
"Felicia!" her mother replied enthusicastically but quietly.
"Yeah. Sorry for calling so late, I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"No your father's snoring was already doing a great job of doing that."
Felicia chuckled a bit as she sat down on her bed. "Also want to say I'm sorry for not getting back to your sooner. I was out on a mission."
"Oh."
There was a disapproving tone in her voice that the young blonde couldn't miss.
"Mom," she started, sounding a bit irritated.
"No, no it's fine. I know this is what you want to do with your life but…I just worry about you," her mother explained.
"I know, but I'm safe, believe me. They're giving me all sorts of training and the team definitely helps out a lot."
"Well as long as you were out with that team I suppose it wasn't that bad."
"Well…actually…"
"Felicia," her mother's stern tone made her wince a bit.
"It's not like I was out there completely alone! I was working with Kim Possible!"
"Kim Possible?! The Kim Possible?!"
"Yes, the Kim Possible."
"Honey, that's amazing! Now why couldn't you have worked with her earlier. At least her I could trust and not have to worry so much you hanging out with her."
"Mom she doesn't need me hanging around her and slowing her down. Besides the guys here are all friendly and helpful. And most of them have super powers so they can protect people, and me, even more better than Kim could."
"Yes but they all wear masks. How can you trust someone who hides their face?"
"I wear a mask," Felicia said sternly.
There was a pause on the other end as her mother picked up on the not-so-hidden meaning of the statement.
"Honey you know that's not what I meant," she tried to back peddle.
"I know what you meant," the girl nearly growled.
"I'm sorry Felicia, but you know I don't really agree with your decision."
"Mom-"
"Let me finish. I don't agree with it but I know it's your life and you're old enough to make you own choices now. I just wish you had thought about it a little more carefully. I mean you could have gone to college and gotten a good education."
"And then want? Try to find some dead end job where I'd be miserable and maybe earn enough to get by if I'm lucky? I know that's everyone's suppose to strive for but that's not me. I like excitement and adventure and I like helping people. I get to do that here and I'm continuing in my studies, so I don't see the problem."
"And what about when this is all over? What are you going to do then?"
"I'm sure I could get some job in Global Justice whenever I can't fight in the field anymore. They take pretty good care of their people and pay fairly well."
There was an exhausted sigh on the other end.
"So there's nothing I can do to talk you out of this?" her mother asked.
"No there's not," Felicia insisted.
"Alright. Just take care of yourself, alright?"
"I will mom."
"Alright then. Goodnight sweetie. Love you."
"Love you too. Tell dad I said 'Hi'. Night."
With that, she clicked the phone off then let out an exhausted sigh of her own as she fell backwards onto the bed. She placed the phone on the nightstand and settled herself in for night of well-earned sleep. Just before slipping away into dreamland she felt a slight shift on the bed and then something sniffing at her ear. She opened her eyes to see Ali standing above her. She gave a sleepy smile and raised a hand to gently pet the cat's head.
"Alright you can sleep up here with me. Just don't do that thing where you put your butt in my face," she remarked.
Ali let out a slight meow before climbing onto the pillow and laying down right next to Felicia's head. The blonde smiled and petted her one last time before turning onto her side and closing her eyes. Her last thoughts before going to sleep were hoping that tomorrow would be better than today.
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The next morning, Felicia woke up with a slight groan as she stared at the blurry red lights in front of her. When her vision finally cleared up she saw that they were actually the numbers of her alarm clock and they read 10:45.
"10:45?" she muttered. "They let me sleep in that late? Guess Will was serious about this 'confined to quarters' thing. Still sucks they didn't at least wake me for breakfast."
At the mention of the missed meal, her stomach let out a growl that was so loud it caused Ali to pick up her head and look around in surprise. Felicia noticed this movement out of the corner of her eye and turned over to look at her pet.
"It's just my stomach you dumb cat," she explained, scratching Ali under the chin. "Means its time for me to get some food."
She forced herself out of bed and walked unsteadily over to the dresser. She slipped the bathrobe off and tossed into the nearby hamper before quickly putting on some underwear then picking out an outfit consisting of a black V-neck T-shirt, a white frilled skirt and a pair of black, thigh high stockings. After she fixed up her hair to her satisfaction she put on a pair of white, cat paw print slippers then walked over to the door and cracked it open. She peaked out from left to right to see if the coast was clear. When she didn't find anyone, she stepped in the hallway then quickly, and quietly, made her way into the kitchen.
Once there she made a bee line for the fridge and opened it to see what she could find to eat. Unfortunately, as hungry as she was, there wasn't much in there that appealed to her. She dug around for a bit to try to find something to eat and eventually settled on a Tupperware container filled with kind of a white/grayish blob that looked like it had some eggs and celery in it. Curiosity getting the better of her, Felicia popped open the top and took a good whiff.
"Oooh, tuna salad," she gushed. "Sounds like it's time for a sandwich."
She place the container on the countertop next to her then went about finding the bread, a plate, and a knife. She hummed happily as she went about putting her small meal together. As she did so, she got so caught up in the process that she somehow failed to notice the rather loud sounds of grinding rocks and pounding footsteps behind her.
"What are you doing kid?" a gravely voice asked.
Felicia let out a terrified shriek and jumped a few feet into the air. When she landed she spun around and went into a defensive stance but quickly calmed down she saw it was only Stonehenge, who looked rather apologetic at scaring her.
"What the hell are you doing, you scared the crap out of me!" she admonished.
"Sorry, but honestly it's not like I'm able to sneak up on people a lot these days," he replied, stepping up to the small island style table.
"Yeah, yeah you're right," she said sighing a bit. "Guess I just got really caught up in my work here."
"Making a sandwich is your work?" he asked, looking over her shoulder at the half prepared plate.
"It is when I'm starving," she clarified as turned around and went back to finishing the sandwich.
"Thought you're suppose to be confined to quarters?"
She let out a slight groan as her shoulders slumped.
"You heard about that?" she whined.
"Kinda hard not to in this house."
"Let me guess, Will Dumbass when around telling everyone about it, huh?"
He chuckled a bit at the remark. "Yeah, yeah he did."
Felicia cursed under her breath as the toast popped up from the toaster. She picked them up and placed them on the plate before spreading a good helping of the tuna salad over the bread. When it was all done she placed everything back where it belonged then turned around and stared at Stonehenge.
"So would you tell on me if I eat this out here?" she asked. "If I try to take it into my roommate Ali's gonna try to jump on it."
"You're secret's safe with me," he replied holding up his hands. "Though you know I can't help it if Will walks in here and see you."
"You could always knock his head off," she muttered as she carefully sat on one of the stools next to the island.
"Really don't like him, do you?" Stonehenge asked, though he felt like it was a stupid question.
That feeling wasn't helped when she gave him a look like he had just asked a stupid question.
"Duuuuh!" she exclaimed obnoxiously before taking a bite out of her sandwich.
"Alright, alright it was a stupid thing to ask," he admitted. "I just don't get why you don't like him that much. Sure he's a bit…stuck up but he's not that bad."
"That's probably cause he doesn't treat you like you're an immature idiot that doesn't belong here!"
"And running off on your own without telling anyone is a good way to prove him wrong on that."
She chocked slightly on the bit of food she had in her mouth but she was able to force it down and after coughing a bit she stared up at him.
"You okay?" he asked in concerned.
"Yeah I'm fine," she replied with one last cough. "And you're probably right, that wasn't the best thing to do. I just…felt like it was something I had to deal with myself, you know?"
"Yeah a bit. Honestly, this whole team thing is new to me too," Stonehenge confessed.
"Thank you!" she exclaimed, raising her free hand. "It's not like I don't like you guys it's just…taking a lot of getting use to. And it doesn't help that a tight ass like Will is constantly barking orders at us."
"Well he's just use to a different mentality when dealing with teams and agents. Pretty sure they have some sort of chain of command there. Don't really know though. I know we don't fit into it and I think that's what got Will and everyone on edge."
"I think Will's always been on edge," she growled before taking another bite of her sandwich.
"He just needs some time to adjust to all this."
"He needs an ass whooping is what he needs!"
Stonehenge chuckled at the remark, an action that actually shook the island a bit. When he realized this he immediately stopped.
"Sorry," he said sheepishly.
"Not your fault."
They sat in silence for a few seconds as Felicia continued to eat her sandwich and Stonehenge stood perfectly still so as not to disturb her. It was a bit of an uneasy silence that was broken when Felicia finally spoke up.
"So…about this whole team thing," she started.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Just…you get the feeling it's not really working out?"
"Having second thoughts?"
She nodded rather shamefully.
"I'm just not sure I belong here is all. I mean like I said, everyone just treats me like a kid."
"Well technically you are."
"Yeah but I don't want to be reminded of that all the time!"
"Look if you really want to change the others' opinion over you should stop being so impulsive and reckless all the time."
"So then all you're saying is that I have to stop being me."
"No, I'm not saying that. Just be a you that thinks a little bit before acting."
"I do think!"
"Really? Did you think about what you did last night?"
"Yes actually. I was thinking I didn't need to bother the team with something that was my mission before we're all brought together. Isn't that a way of team thinking?"
"Well…" Stonehenge hesitated. "Yes and no. It was good that you didn't want to drag the rest of the team into your problems but when those problems are something that puts you in harms way you should at least tell us about it. That we if something does go wrong we'll know so we can come help you out."
She chewed on a bit of her sandwich as she thought his advice over.
"Actually…that makes a lot of sense," she admitted. "See if someone had said something like that then I'd be alright with it."
"Didn't White Knight say something like that when he found you?"
"Well I don't think it was quite that. Something close to it maybe. But it sounded different."
"How so?"
"I don't know. His speech sounded more…lecturey. Yours sounds more like actual advice. Something like a father would say."
"Not surprising since I am a father," he remarked matter-of-factly.
A soft "plop" sound echoed throughout the kitchen when Felicia dropped her sandwich onto the plate as she started slack jawed and wide eyed at the man mountain.
"You…you're a father?!" she shrieked.
"Oh, right. Never did mention that, did I?" he asked, scratching the back of his head nervously, producing an unpleasant scraping sound.
"NO!" she stressed.
"Oh sorry. Well I'm a father. Actually the last time I was with my kids they were your age. Been through college now."
"When did this happen?!"
"Them being your age or going through college?"
"You being human!"
"You didn't think I was human?"
"Well…no! I thought you're some kind of living golem or mutated rock monster or something."
He sighed and rested his head in his hand.
"Guess I deserved that," he muttered. "Anyway, yes I was human once."
"Well what happened?!"
"Honestly I'm not really sure. But there is a reason I chose Stonehenge as my codename."
"Is that where…whatever happened happened."
"Yep," he nodded. "My family and I were on vacation in England and of course we had to visit Stonehenge. Like a lot of people I heard all these stories that it was suppose to line up with some stars or something and just had to check it out for myself. So one night I went to check it out. There was a full moon, a bright light and then…I woke up like this," he explained, holding up his stone hands.
"Wow," she breathed. "So…what happened after that?"
"I pretty much ran away."
"What?!"
"Well it's not like I could go back to my family like this. I mean…look at me I'm a monster!"
"You're not a monster," she said softly.
"Not to the villagers in the area."
"You stayed there?!"
"Again, where was I suppose to go? I lived in the nearby caves and valleys and tried to stay out of people's way as much as I could. Course that didn't stop some people from hunting down the 'horrid rock monster'."
"Oh man Stoney, I…I didn't have any idea," Felicia whispered as she placed a comforting hand over one of his.
"No, it's fine. Guess I should have said something earlier but…well it's not something you can just bring up in a conversation, you know."
"Yeah. So what happened to your wife and kids? You just never told them?"
He shook his head. "As far as they know I just disappeared. Rather have them think that anyway."
"But you're a superhero now. You help people! That's gotta be worth something, right?"
"Oh yeah, that would be a good conversation," he scoffed then held a hand to the side of his had in the shape of a phone. "Hey honey it's your husband that's been missing for years. Turns out I'm not dead just turned into a giant rock monster that terrified people for a while. But now I'm on a team of superheroes that saves the world, so it's all good!"
Felicia chuckled. "Okay, okay, you got a point. Still though, you should at least tell them or something."
"Nah they've moved on with their lives. Like I said my kids are out of college and my wife's found someone else."
"How do you know?"
He cleared his throat and looked around a bit nervously. Felicia raise an eyebrow in confusion at this action before they both arched up in surprise when she realized what he meant.
"Oh. Well…that's kinda creepy," she remarked.
"Yeah I know. That's why I try not to do it a lot. But I do like to keep tabs on them every once in awhile."
"Oookay," she said a bit uneasily. "Well have fun with all that. I think I'm gonna go back to my room before Will catches me."
"Actually Will's already caught you," an all too familiar voice remarked from the hallway.
They both turned to watch Will walk into the room. He stopped and glared at Felicia who merely glared back at him. It was a rather tense moment that made Stonehenge uncomfortable and really wish he could sneak out of a room. Instead he busied himself by taking the forgotten plate over to the sink and carefully placing it inside, though the slight "chink" it let out seemed to snap the other two out of their daze.
"So what part of 'confined to quarters' did you not understand?" Will asked in an even, though irritated, tone.
"Hey I was hungry and apparently no one felt the need to wake me for breakfast!" Felicia shouted.
"Well you're so independent I figured you'd be able to wake up in time yourself."
"Oh don't give me that crap! One time, one time, I went off on my own!"
"One time is enough! It shows a complete lack of respect for the chain of command and disregard for the rules."
"Rules, rules, rules, is that all you ever think about?! Do you have any idea how to have fun?!"
"Actually I do," he smirked smugly. "In fact I plan to have a lot of fun running through the training room at its highest level. And again since you're so independent I think you can run through it alone."
"You wouldn't dare," she growled, placing her hands on her hips.
"Try me," he returned, crossing his arms over his chest.
Again they glared at each other but this time it was cut short when Stonehenge finally spoke up.
"Oh would you two just make out already," he joked.
"What?!" they both shouted, snapping their heads towards him.
"Oh come on, there's clearly something between you two. I'd leave the room but I'm afraid of what might happen if I did."
"The only thing that's going to between me and him is my foot when I'm kicking his ass!" Felicia shouted.
"That sounds dangerously close to a threat," Will commented. "I could write you up for that."
"Or you could look at it as a challenge."
"Challenge?"
"Yeah. Since you think you're so high and mighty, how about instead of just running me through the course you and I face of against each other. If you win I'll listen to everything you and White Knight have to say about following the rules and all that other crap. If I win you have to lift my confinement."
Will placed is hand on his chin as he thought the wager over.
"Alright," he finally said. "Since I know you're not better than me I have nothing to lose. You're on."
"Good. I'll go get changed and we'll see who's better than who."
"Better than whom?" he corrected.
The blonde let out another shriek before storming out of the kitchen and back to her room. Will smirked in a mini victory then went off to set everything up in the training room. This left Stonehenge all alone in the kitchen where he merely smirked and shook his head.
"Kids," he muttered.
The EndAuthor's Notes: Well here is it the second of my big "Spotlight" chunk. Honestly this is taking a LOT longer than I thought it would so I think I'll change my original plan to where I'll post the first eight of the sixteen chapters and then move on to some holiday themed fics I have in mind for the month of December. Then I'll move to some mainline "MI" fics and maybe the second fic in the "All I Really Want" universe. Not really sure. But that's the best thing about the "Spotlight" chapters they can really be moved around to fit wherever I need them too. Good stuff.
Now as for this chapter itself, I just wanted to do something to show off Catgirl some more, so to speak. She's turning out to be a rather fun character so don't be surprise if she pops up again ever now and then. Plus there just might be something between her and Will considering I'm also having a lot of fun playing those two off each other. What might that something turn into? Well you'll just have to stay tuned to find out.
See ya later guys!