Argh!
Wheeze!
Groan!
Dear God, every fiber of her body seemed to be an aching lump of something or other. The lids of her eyes felt like weights were attached. Shego could remember the storm…the machinery going haywire…and…? Blast it; everything else was a blank. Absolutely no idea where she was, how she had gotten here or...Gracie? What happened to Gracie? Her darling daughter had been in the seat behind her when they had ejected! She HAD to get up! Damn the weight and DAMN the pain! With every fiber of strength that remained, the reformed thief forced her eyes open and her torso up.
Okay…she was in a tent. Taking a quick look around, she could make out that all of the equipment inside was GJ standard issue. Thank Goodness for that! Gracie had to have survived the ejection without a scratch and made camp. That meant that her daughter had found her and managed to bring her back.
"Gracie, muffin? Where are you?"
A melodious laugh that could only belong to Shego's eldest daughter sounded outside. Despite her screaming muscles, the mother forced herself onto her knees and crawled towards the tent flap. Looking outside, Shego couldn't help but notice the beauty of their current location. If the circumstances were different, she could even see bringing the rest of the family up here for a good old fashioned rustic camping trip. Now where was…WHAT THE? Just outside the trees, Shego could see her oldest daughter running and playing with what she could only imagine were wild Gray Wolves. Had she been stronger, Shego would've shot out of the tent with plasma blazing. But…if someone wasn't observing very closely, they would likely see a fourteen year old girl playing with her sled dogs.
"Gracie?"
The fourteen year old's head jerked up from her new friends and back to her mother. She was finally awake! With the wolves' help, Gracie had gotten Momma back to the tent within a few hours. She fell in and out of consciousness on the way and had slept for hours afterwards, twelve hours at least. Gracie had done her best to keep Shego comfortable and tend to her wounds during that time and had been waiting for a sign.
Gracie closed the distance and tenderly embraced her mother, careful not to hurt her. "How are you feeling Momma?"
"Uh…well, a little overwhelmed," Shego released her daughter and began rubbing her temples. "I'm having trouble remembering some of what's happened over the last few hours…"
"I can explain later. But I think you need to lie back down. You still look very weak."
The irony was not lost on Shego as she laid back down into her bedding. She could remember oh so clearly the times when she would mother over her daughters when they were sick. Please God, don't let it be for a long time…but Gracie was going to make an excellent Mom. Shego leaned her head up and began sipping from the water that Gracie had offered her.
"So…what happened, muffin?"
"Well, you thought that a bolt of lightning had struck the jet and made the hardware go haywire," Gracie set the cup down and fluffed Momma's pillows. "We both ejected and my chair landed on the beach. I was able to set up camp under these trees and get started looking for you."
"When…when did the wolves show up?" Shego cringed as she tried to shift to a more comfortable position.
"About the time I found you. I set up a grid search and went looking for you. I found your location on my second try and the three wolves got between me and you. They're very friendly," Gracie looked back out the tent flap at her new friends. "I built a litter to get you back to the tent and they helped me pull it back."
"Did you get banged up on the way down?"
"A few bumps and bruises. So not the drama." Shego couldn't help but smile as her daughter borrowed Kim's motto. Gracie Anne Possible may have a pale complexion but every time Shego looked at the little miracle that brought her and Kim together, she always saw her wife. God bless them. Kim and her daughters truly could do anything.
"So what's to eat in this little hole in the wall? I feel like I could eat a horse, bones and all."
Gracie laughed and stepped outside to one of the camp ovens she'd dug around the campsite. There should still be some baked veggies that Momma could keep down. Gracie unearthed the bundle of foil and began piling the carrots, broccoli, and potatoes onto a plate. Usually Momma couldn't resist making a little jab at her daughter about the lack of seasoning, Gracie was a better cook than Mom but still nowhere near Momma's skill, but the moment she set the plate down Shego began wolfing down the veggies as fast as she could get a hold of silverware.
"How's," Shego muttered through mouthfuls of mashed veggies. "How's the ejection seat?"
"The seat's intact but the homing beacon was damaged. It looks reparable but…"
Inside two minutes the plate was licked clean. With some half-way's decent grub in her belly, Shego's mind began taking stock of the past day's events and their situation. Then it finally hit her! Her baby girl! Her baby girl had nearly been killed. Without warning, the older woman sat bolt upright and embraced her daughter as tightly as she could.
She could be embarrassing and over-protective…but Momma was one in a million. "It's okay Momma. I'm okay."
"I love you so much Muffin," Shego's breath caught and she had to fight off a tear threatening to slip down her cheek. "I'm so proud of you. You're so much like Mom."
"Speaking of…where do you think she is?"
KPKPKPKPKPKP
This is not going to be a pleasant experience…not that I can really blame her.
Colonel Harris was standing on the tarmac, cringing at the sight of the approaching Global Justice transport chopper. The news of Shego and her daughter crashing in the wilderness, after she'd only just seen them, had hit the woman like a ton of bricks. Whatever she could do…whatever anyone on the base could do to help Kimberly through this…nothing would be out of the question. If this were her stepdaughters…She held onto her uniform cap as the chopper touched down and the embarkation ramp descended. A mop of red hair was immediately visible as Kim Possible came into view and marched directly towards the Colonel.
"What's the sitch?"
"Your wife and daughter left here shortly after dinner yesterday," Colonel Harris shook the offered hand and gestured for Kim to follow her. "Environment Canada predicted a small squall over their flight path and…well quite frankly it wound up being infinitely worse than expected." Harris led Kim into the base and led the redhead to the Colonel's private office. Everyone needed to be focusing on their jobs in a situation like this and Kim's nerves would likely be frayed. Both women entered the Colonel's office and Colonel Harris activated the screen beside her desk. A red line tracking Shego's flight plan began streaking across the screen, coming to a stop roughly twenty miles short of Hudson Bay. "Until we recover the wreckage, we'll likely not know what brought the jet down."
"Do we have an exact position fix on them?" Northern Ontario was complete wilderness. Kim Possible would NOT leave her wife and daughter out there any longer than it took her to find them.
"That's the bad news. Global Justice gave us the tracking frequencies for the emergency beacon and Mr. Load the frequencies of their personal trackers. The emergency beacon in Gracie's seat must've been damaged when she ejected. We can't turn it off remotely and it's causing interference with their trackers. There's about a seventy mile radius in which they could be holed up."
Thank God! At least that means they're still alive! "Do we have birds in the air?"
"Choppers are enroot as we speak with four search and rescue squads."
"Okay, get me into a cockpit. I'm going…"
Oh, not on her LIFE! Tammy's maternal instincts screamed out against Kim's statement. The poor soul looked as if she hadn't eaten or slept since she received the news. No! Tammy had a bunk room in the facility and Kim was going straight there whether she wanted to or not. And if she refused…well Tammy wasn't above ordering the MPs to escort her there and the base physician to sedate her.
"Kimberly Possible, you are not going anywhere until you get a nap."
"Tammy, I appreciate…"
"'Appreciate' NOTHING," Tammy fixed Kim with a glare and a pointed finger. "Kim you can barely stand, your eyes are bloodshot, and they've got bags underneath. Now listen to me. We've got everyone we can spare looking for Shego and Gracie. We know they're alive and we WILL find them. But you driving yourself to exhaustion for them isn't going to help them. Now, I promise you that you will be on the next flight out…but so help me, if I have to, I will call your mother and she will have the base physician sedate you."
Princess, you know she is right!
And of course, if Eme were here, Kim wouldn't only be hearing that in her head. Why did Eme always seem to be the voice of reason when it came to what was good for Kim? But…oh damn it! Fine! Like a prisoner being led to her cell, Kim got to her feet (ignoring the fact that her limbs seemed to be jelly) and followed Tammy to a warm bed.
KPKPKPKPKPKPKP
This pup and her mother were not like the other two legs the pack had encountered. Everywhere that Moon Hunt had gone where he had encountered two legs, trouble always seemed to follow; but these two? At times, they seemed to be members of the pack. Many of the younglings enjoyed playing with the younger red furred pup, under the always watchful eyes of her mother. But Moon Hunt could tell that the pup and her mother were ready to return to their own hunting grounds. The mother in particular ached to return to her mate and other pups. None of the pack knew how, but Moon Hunt would help them however they could.
The mother was still healing from her wounds so Moon Hunt took it upon himself to watch the pup, the one the pack called Red Wind, while she worked, leaving Cloud Chaser and Hot Rock to watch over the mother. Today, she seemed to be trying to remove a piece of the strange object that appeared at the same time the pair had. The pup's scent conveyed extreme urgency; so Moon Hunt could only assume this would help them return.
With a loud clink, a piece was freed, the force throwing the pup backwards onto her rear. Ever the resilient one, Red Wind jumped to her feet and hugged the piece to her chest. She looked as pleased as a pup on their first successful hunt. Red Wind hefted the piece and began running towards their den, stopping to pet the fur between Moon Hunt's ears.
KPKPKPKPKPKP
KPKPKPKPKPKPKP
Aaaaaand…THERE WE GO! With a great tug, the emergency beacon came free, throwing Gracie onto her rear but keeping the beacon in her arms. FINALLY! If Gracie had to hear Momma moaning and complaining about her bed rest much longer, the fourteen year old would punch a tree! Now, at least Momma could get to work on repairing any damage to the beacon and Gracie could have a little peace and quiet. Gracie jumped to her feet, hefting the beacon under one arm, and spotted the older wolf that had been keeping an eye on her every time she left camp, almost as if the wolf were her babysitter. She rubbed the wolf between the ears and began sojourning back to the campsite.
You know, if you could forget the fact that Momma and I crash landed here, that Momma nearly broke every bone in her body, this is kind of a fun vacation.
Her history class had been learning about the American frontier and this was pretty much what she imagined it would look like. Forests that went on for miles, hardly a soul for miles; it was beautiful. That little revere took her the remaining mile towards camp where she spotted two other wolves. They've GOT to be babysitters.
"Break out the tools Momma," Gracie ducked into the tent, catching Shego brushing her teeth. "I found you something to do."
"Thanks Muffin," Shego rinsed her mouth out and spit. "Because if I know your Mom, she's tearing through the countryside to give me a lecture about our little hobby."
Author's Notes:
I had originally started out wanting to incorporate a lot of Top Gun into the story but have kind of turned more towards Far from Home: The Adventures of Yellow Dog, an old movie from my childhood in which a boy, about Gracie's age, is lost in the Canadian wilderness with his dog and the two have to survive until found.
I've always been partial to Grey Wolves and like making them actual characters a la the wolves in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time. A past reader suggested Gracie test her healing powers on animals and I think she might have that opportunity sometime soon. Just have to keep reading and see.