"I'm missing you guys already," Shego cooed, holding her wife and her eldest daughter tightly. "Promise me that you'll call when you land in Honolulu?"
"It'll be just like you're there with us," Kim answered, returning the hug and planting a juicy kiss on her wife's cheek. "Gracie, go start the preflight for me?"
Like Kim even needed to ask. Gracie kissed her Momma goodbye and bolted for the pilot's seat, giving her parents a degree of privacy. Alone with her wife, Shego couldn't really explain the feeling in the pit of her stomach. If you'd told her twenty years ago that Shego would be on a first name basis with the head of Global Justice, Shego would've been sure that you were drunk and drastically imbalanced. But despite it all, she'd grown to genuinely trust and like Betty. Ever since the beginning of Shego and Kim's unique relationship, Betty had done her best to do right by Shego. And as ironic as it sounded, Shego counted Betty as a close friend. But…with this "mission"…Shego just couldn't explain it. One the one hand, this affair really concerned her, really set her guts churning. But on the other…maybe Shego was just getting a little paranoid.
"Promise me that you'll be careful?" Shego pleaded, unable to hide her emotions from the woman who knew her best. "I won't be there to watch your beautiful bubbly behind."
"Ha…my behind has endured your…absence before," Kim laughed, gazing into her wife's green eyes. "Besides," Kim leaned in and breathed into her wife's ear. "I feel compelled to demonstrate my utter gratitude to my noble Jedi Warrior, my rescuer from a life of slavery. Upon my return, my noble savoir will be in…utter…BLISS!"
Shego's legs turned to mush. "Nnnggghhh…I am SO going to hold you to that Possible. I'll be waiting for your call tonight."
The pair parted ways and Kim sealed the door to the hovercraft, getting a tight seal. Shego's gut may well be right; something may very well be a foot. But…all it was was a security inspection. Kim had seen the intelligence reports and the analysis was solid. As of yet, there was no indication that Auckland was the target, and even if it was, it would be at least two months until they could mount anything. Kim's objective was only to ensure that if it would prove to be Auckland, they would be prepared. Global Justice had any number of units in the area available to respond to any crisis that might arise.
"Are we ready to go?" Kim asked, taking the copilot's seat.
"All set to kick the tires and light the fires," Gracie boasted, finishing the last check. "It'll be just like Beggar's Canyon back home."
Why? WHY didn't she put her foot down, nip this in the butt early? And with more movies on the horizon? Sure…in the privacy of the bedroom, Shego's little passion had provided many nights of fun. But Kim had seen Emily try that "mind trick". Ha…her family! She'd married a Jedi Guardian and together they'd produced a Rogue Leader and a pair of little Ewoks…and Kim STILL couldn't believe she even knew what those things were.
"Just…just get us in the air please," Kim laughed, her voice dripping with irony, patting her daughter on the back and donning a headset. "Middleton Tower, this is Private Flight Possible 2022 requesting permission for takeoff."
"Roger 2022; clearance is granted. The skies are yours."
The familiar hum of the repulsor engines coming to life sounded through the hanger. With a precision that had been instilled in her since the beginning of her training, Gracie brought the hovercraft out into the open air. This…this had been her home away from home since she was litte. Gracie could remember every one of the times Mom or Momma had put her in the pilot's seat, firmly on their laps. Flying was the greatest feeling Gracie know of. The sense of absolute freedom was exactly what Gracie imagined must be Heaven on Earth.
"I am a leaf on the wind," Gracie breathed, heaving a contented sigh. "Watch how I soar."
Well…at least Gracie wasn't a total lost cause. At least Joss Whedon fans like her dear cousin of the same name as well as her BFF and her husband, Monique and Felix Renton, tended to have personality and dared to be original with their fandom. Kim could certainly appreciate the political and historical undertones of Whedon's Firefly series. Mon certainly didn't seem to want to drop the idea of she and Kim accompanying Felix and the rest of the gang to Space-Con, the pair of them dressed as Browncoats. Not for the first time, Kim reflected on exactly what a wonderful relationship her BFF and Ron's gaming buddy had. Much like Kim and Shego, the pair was always challenging each other to expand their horizons. Thank God Mon had succeeded in convincing Felix to branch out with his wardrobe. And Mon…well it had come as quite a surprise when their last girls night out had involved watching The Avengers. "So muffin, you never told us what Billy got you for Christmas."
"Oh, I forgot," Gracie answered, blinking as if she'd just come out of a trance. "We agreed that we should encourage each other to broaden our horizons. So he got me an old black and white movie."
Really? That was a surprise. Billy was a pretty good kid. Kim had worked with Billy's father for years and counted him as a good friend. More importantly though, Billy Murphy was always a perfect gentleman around her daughter, largely because of his upbringing; but despite all of those positive traits and redeeming qualities, when it came to movies, every Murphy man that Kim had ever known was and always would be a quintessential "guy". Kim didn't think Greg Murphy nor did any of his three sons ever watch anything earlier than those silly Clint Eastwood "spaghetti Westerns" from the 1970s. "Wow…that's a surprise. Dare I ask which one?"
"I know, right?" Gracie laughed, following the same train of thought as her Mom. "He got me a copy of this old Cold War movie called Dr. Strangelove."
Kim had been in the process of drinking from the lemonade she'd just opened when she nearly spit it out the mouthful of fluid all over the console. Really? REALLY? Not only did she owe Greg an apology but she owed every Murphy man going back to the film's release in 1969 a debt of thanks. As the daughter of a rocket scientist, Kim had been bred on that movie and its treasure trove of quotables even more than she had been on Mel Brooks. Yet…for some reason, it had never occurred to her to share that cinematic gem with her own kids. Now that she thought about it, she'd never even shared that movie with Eme.
"Gracie…sweetie…this is very important. DID you bring the movie with you," Gracie hesitantly nodded, looking as if ol' Mom might have finally cracked under the stress of planning the wedding. "Spankin! I'll got make us a big bowl of popcorn and my daughter and I are going to settle in to watch the greatest movie EVER!"
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"This is Honolulu tower. We have you on approach. Please identify yourself."
"Roger that Tower. This is Private Flight Possible 2022 requesting clearance to land."
Okay so Mom hadn't been just blowing smoke. The movie had turned out to be pretty funny. It was cool to see a really young James Earl Jones. And Gracie felt like a lot of Mr. Murphy's humor and jokes made a lot more sense after having seen General Turgidson. That had gotten them to the foot of the Rocky Mountains and electing to show mercy on Mom, Gracie had selected the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood. Ever since their little adventure in Skyrim, Mom and Gracie had developed a shared passion for medieval combat and weaponry. As Gracie saw it, she and Momma had Kendo and "Jedi Combat" while she and Mom had sword and shield to bond over. There was any number of activities that Mom and Momma liked for family activities but each one love to have a personal activity that they liked to spend with Gracie or the twins or both. Gracie had been developing a particular penchant for axe craft and she and Mom were both becoming more than fair archers.
Upon getting approval to land, Mom brought the craft to a smooth stop and landing in the assigned hanger. Though she'd been several times with the family on vacation, the prospect of a night spent in Hawaii was quite appealing to a fourteen year old girl; surfing, hula dancing; exactly how much could she fit into their schedule tonight? Billy's older brother Hank was a naval officer stationed at Pearl Harbor and Mom had said Mr. Murphy had called ahead and Hank and his wife were willing to put them up for the night. Grabbing her overnight bag and following Mom down the ramp, Gracie was immediately struck by the Naval Officer standing before them. Wow…Billy had said that he wanted to follow in his brothers footsteps, at least to get through college, and if THAT was what Billy would look like in a uniform? Ouch…Gracie would definitely be on board with that.
"Mrs. Possible?" Hank reached out his hand for a shake. "It's great to see you again."
"Why little Henry Murphy, you cut quite the dashing figure in your naval uniform," Mom smiled, gladly returning the handshake. "And this has to be Mia, the lucky lady that managed to tame the wild one before me."
"It…it's an honor to meet you Mrs. Possible," Mia breathed, shaking Mom's hand and turning to Gracie. "So THIS is the one who's managed to snag my little brother-in-law's heart."
Hank's wife seemed to be nice enough. Everyone piled into Hank's Jeep and were quickly whisked through the city and in no time at all, the vehicle was pulling onto Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and the living quarters within. Gracie could see them get more than a few stares as they drove through, Mom being pretty recognizable on almost any military base in the Western World. When they came to a stop at Hank and Mia's house, a few brave souls even approached Mom asking for an autograph.
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"Man, Billy wasn't kidding when he said his girlfriend was absolutely obsessed with flying," Hank voiced, returning to the grill. Hank had made reservations at The Blue Lagoon, a popular dining and socializing establishment geared towards officers with families. Predictably Kim had drawn more than a few stares upon entering. Several of the female officers and their family members approached, voicing their admiration for Kim and Shego's exploits. Gracie meanwhile had immediately sought out all of the fliers in the building and began chatting them up. It could only happen in their family; Gracie, at age 14 had already had more combat experience than most of the pilots in the room and was currently taking her crowd of followers through Gracie's experiences during the Montreal Affair.
"That's her Momma's doing," Kim sighed. "She took to flying like a duck to water. She was prop and jet qualified within a year but somehow she had to take driver's education twice and the second time with Shego as the instructor."
"How's Mrs. P doing these days?" Hank had been one of Shego's more promising students towards the beginning of her teaching career when the twins were born.
"Oh, about the same as always," Kim described after taking a swallow of her lite beer. "Students still love her and she's still dragging us to Star Wars conventions."
Mia snorted into her drink, nearly choking. "Your wife's a Star Wars nerd?"
That sent a peal of laughter around the table, everyone who knew Shego having thought that same thing when they discovered that little gem in her life. Hank remembered how Mrs. P would come in once every other week dressed as a Jedi for the class's "Star Wars Day", a day in which she would use Star Wars to explain the content they were working on. "Mia honey, this woman is a LEGEND at Middleton High School. She once melted a trophy into a puddle of goo in front of a jock with a big mouth; went down in school history after that."
At the mention of Kim's ring, Kim proceeded to regale them with her version of the Montreal Affair, how Shego had planned the whole thing with the express purpose of asking Kim to remarry her, and the resulting adventure that ensued. Mia found the whole thing deeply romantic and voiced her jealousy at missing out on going to New Zealand.
"Because a Hawaiian paradise isn't enough?" Hank chuckled, rolling his eyes. "You ACTUALLY strapped yourself down to an F22 Raptor and rode it up to the fortress?"
"With Gracie piloting the whole way," Kim bragged, lounging back in her chair as if it was so not the drama. "It was kind of like a Call of Duty game only with your eyes as the screen."
Mia glanced at her husband and grumbled in frustration, seeing all too well the look of excitement in his eyes. "Henry Thomas Murphy, so help me if you even THINK of trying something like that, I'll thump you so hard it will make your old ROTC instructor cringe!"
"Not to mention what your mother would do to me if she found out I told you about it," Kim giggled, watching Hank squirm under his wife's glare and doing his best to look thoroughly chastised.