Betty Director heaved a great sigh as she took her seat at her desk and began nursing the first of what would inevitably be many cups of coffee. By December 29th, the yule tide revelry had past, Betty spending them with her new boyfriend Tom, and millions of people's minds shifting from visions of dancing sugar plums to the resolutions they would make and God willing actually stick to in the new year.

Like hopefully making things work this time around, Betty thought to herself. She was on the fast track to the wrong side of 40 and she knew it. Two failed marriages…more relationships crashed and burned than she could count…but through it all, some small part of her still held out hope that even now she could find Mr. Right and with a little luck could manage to hold on to him. Even she, the head of an international espionage organization, still desperately wanted someone to share her life with.

I guess I'm just a big ol' softie at heart, Betty chided herself, letting out an ironic laugh at herself. She activated the table screen on her desk and a holographic projection of Cecil appeared.

"Ma'am, Assistant Director Krinski is requesting a few minutes of your time. He says it's urgent."

Andrew Krinski? Deputy Head of Personnel? Odd; hadn't Corin already submitted the final report on the possible targets for WEE to hit? Still, Andy saw his time as very expensive and certainly wouldn't throw it about. If he needed a word with her, it had to be important. "Send him in Cecil."

"Good morning ma'am," Andy Krinski entered and snapped to attention. Like herself, Andrew Krinski had been a prodigy within his native England's military community. A fully commissioned Navy Lieutenant at 19, he spent six years as Royal Navy Intelligence's top profiler and had quickly been courted by Global Justice afterwards, in fact being finally recruited by then Director of European Operations Betty Director. Always the stoic English Naval Officer, even after seven years in Global Justice Personnel and today in simple blue fatigues, his salute was still crisp and proper. "Thank you for seeing me on such short notice ma'am."

"No trouble at all," Andy certainly wouldn't have taken a seat without being offered one by his superiors so Betty waved to an open chair next to her desk. "I thought Director Jindal had already submitted the final personnel report. Did you have something to add?"

Okay…even before Andy spoke, Betty could tell this was something bad. Andy was having trouble even looking her in the eyes…and this was a man who hid from absolutely nothing and no one. He was one of the few people Betty knew who actually wanted to bring dueling BACK to the British Navy. "Ma'am…I…" Failing for words, one of only a handful of occasions in the years that Betty had known him, he simply handed the tablet he'd had a death grip on to his superior. "We've got a problem, a very serious one."

Betty began scrolling through the data. The personnel reports from Auckland, Bangkok, and Jeju Si? She and Corin had agreed that of all the potential targets, these three were likely the largest. And Corin had certainly done her a solid by being extra thorough with Auckland. So why was…wait…no…there was no…no WAY that he could've missed this!

"Ma'am, I found four potential and one confirmed, the confirmed being at the Auckland sight," Krinksi breathed, rubbing his temples. "I've seen the final report that he presented to you. The moment I found these flags, I went straight to the director and he gave me his word they would go straight to you. On an impulse, I wanted to double check a few names last night and…I discovered my names missing. When I went to confront the director about it, he…his office and apartment were deserted and every hard drive was stripped from the computer. The only conclusion I can come to…Ma'am, please forgive me for the rashness of this statement but…"

"The bastard betrayed us," Betty gasped. How…how could she have missed this…have misjudged Corin Jindal so severely? She'd known him for years and…DAMN it! If it cost her her last breath, she was going to hunt this SOB down to the ends of the Earth and back again. Looking at the profiles, each of these was indeed a potential security threat. Last was the one that Andy had flagged as confirmed and…Betty's breath caught in her throat. She felt as if she'd just been kicked in the chest. No…Dammit, please GOD not this! If she was going to salvage anything from this, she'd have to move fast.

"Cecil," Betty barked, bringing up her holo screen. "I want Corin Jindal's office and apartment completely sealed. As of right now, there is a capture order on him! Lethal force is authorized but if at all possible, I want him taken ALIVE! And get Shego Possible here as soon as you can!"

KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP

Boy, Kim sure had to give props to whoever it was at R&D who chose where the bases were built. The scenery up here was breathtaking, even by New Zealand standards. As Kim brought the hovercraft down towards the landing pad, she had to take one last long look. Breathtaking; it truly was breathtaking. Though admittedly, the four anti-aircraft turrets did detract slightly from the natural beauty of the place. The craft hit the tarmac with a gently thump. Now…vacation was over; time to go to work.

"Alright sweetie," Kim began as she unbuckled her safety harness and climbed out. "Do we need to go over the ground rules one more time?"

"No ma'am," Gracie replied, trying to sound as respectful as humanly possible. "I will stay by your side, assisting when asked, then…if I'm a good girl we get to go see the mech suits?"

"That's my girl," Kim smiled. For Heaven's sake, why did Gracie have to be so aware of just how adorable she could be? Yes, they would go see the blasted suits.

Both Mother and daughter changed into the pairs of grey GJ fatigues they'd packed and marched down the ramp towards the awaiting aide at the bottom. The man, a Lieutenant by the insignia on his shoulders, snapped to attention and stood at ease when Kim returned the salute. "Welcome to Ft. Defiance ma'am. I'm Lt. Merkel. I'm to take you directly to Base Commander Weiss; if you'd both follow me please?"

Kim and Gracie fell into line behind the young Lieutenant. Like most bases that Kim had set foot on, and there had been plenty, it appeared to be a hive of activity, a wonderful example of organized chaos that gave "Kim-ness" a warm fluffy feeling inside. Everybody seemed to know what their job was. They past a variety of security checkpoints but a quick flash of their credentials allowed the pair to breeze through with hardly any wait. Before they knew it, they were in the plush waiting room of the Base Commander's office.

Lt. Merkel knocked and a female voice called for them to enter.

Stepping into the base commander's office…wow. Kim felt like she'd just been yanked out of reality and stuffed in a Patrick O'Brian novel. This was the epitome of a sea captain's quarters. If the voice hadn't have been female, she'd swear "Lucky Jack" Aubrey would be seated in the chair behind the desk; which brought Kim's focus to the woman actually inhabiting the office chair. Commander Weiss looked to be a few years Kim's senior with shoulder length blonde hair in a classic military cut. She looked to be a scant five foot two but she definitely had that mongoose vibe going for her. She may be short but she had enough spunk and energy to take on someone twice her size. She rose from her seat and immediately went to greet her newly arrived guests.

"Base Commander Amelia Weiss," She announced, reaching out to shake Kim's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Agent Possible. Your reputation definitely precedes you."

"An equal pleasure Commander Weiss," Kim replied, having no trouble mimicking the friendly attitude of the Commander. "This is my daughter Grace. Think of her as…"

"I'm kinda like her Padawan Learner," Gracie interrupted, taking the offered handshake.

Did she and Shego EVER miss an opportunity? "And please forgive that clichéd passion. She and her Momma never miss a chance to inflict that on me and Gracie's sisters are just as bad."

"No apologies necessary," Commander Weiss replied, unable to hide her obvious amusement at the familial banter. "And please call me Mia. One of our consulting engineers here speaks very highly of you both."

Someone knew them here? Who did Kim AND Gracie know that would be consulting on a project like this? "Somebody here knew we were coming?"

"Oh don't worry. It came up during dinner with my staff a few weeks ago. One of my officers had mentioned that she'd heard you were on some sort of tour in the northern island. I beg your forgiveness but he wanted to look you up himself this evening," Commander Weiss returned to her desk and took a seat. "On to the matter at hand; Doctor Director was a little vague on exactly why you're here. What exactly can my people do for you?"

"Yes, sorry about all the secrecy," Kim filed the mystery person away for later use. As far as she knew, Betty was still running personnel searches. "How long would it take you to assemble your senior command?"

"Maybe twenty minutes?"

"Good; if you could do that as soon as possible? My report from the Director concerns the entire base."

Betty had said that Amelia Weiss didn't miss much. She was definitely picking up on the undertones of Kim's brief statement. The commander summoned Lt. Merkel and issued orders to call the deputy commander, chief of staff, security chief, and communications officer in for a meeting.

"Forgive me Agent Possible but…what's going on?"

"Well, my hope is…nothing."

True to her word, the four officers entered the Commander Weiss's office exactly twenty minutes later, Deputy Commander Andre Horowitz, Chief of Staff Stephanie Hoyer, Security Major Clark Crown, and Communications Chief Barbara Klinger. Maybe it was the wedding planner mode but Kim had to fight the urge to sigh contentedly at the sight of such a well-oiled machine.

"Now we can begin," Kim stood up from her chair. "Intel believes that WEE might be gearing up for a big operation in the area and Auckland is ruled one of the likely targets. At the request of Dr. Director, I'm here to perform an onsite security inspection; one, maybe two days."

Major Crown nodded several times as if he were running through what she'd just said. "Well Agent Possible, I can assure you that our security is first rate. But rest assured my personnel will assist you in any way they can."

"As will the rest of us," Chief Hoyer agreed, looking at everyone else.

"Thank you," Kim smiled and began assigning tasks. "To start out with Chief Hoyer, the Director has the Personnel Department stateside running background checks but I'd like you to take a handful of your most trustworthy and perform checks here as well. Klinger, I'd like you to do the same with the base systems. Try and have both reports to me by this evening. Commander Horowitz, Major Clark, my daughter, and I will perform a thorough check of all defensive systems and equipment on the base."

"Aye ma'am," came several replies.

"I'll have my aides prepare quarters for you and your daughter," Commander Weiss offered, rising from her seat. "The officers and I dine at 7 pm. It'd be a pleasure if you'd join us."

"Absolutely," Kim nodded and shook hands with the other officers. "Gracie, could you please get our things squared away and meet me out front as soon as you're done?"

"Yes ma'am."

KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP

"Hi girls."

Shego waved to the twins as they skated around the rink hand in hand while Shego attempted to lace up her skates and bounce Nicky on her knee at the same time. Abby had requested a little "me" time, free from her "pampering staff" today, likely encompassing a Star Trek movie marathon followed by a few hours on the range with her new TAR-21 assault rifle and the .357 Colt Python Shego had gotten her for Christmas. With memories of both Kimmie's pregnancies still ringing in her ears, the prospect of a hormonally imbalanced pregnant woman with an arsenal of firearms was very stirring motivation to get the kids out of there for the day. Wow…until recently, she never really realized how lucky she was that it took such a huge argument to even make Kimmie carry a knife. And an afternoon spent ice skating with her kids was something that she definitely didn't have to think twice about.

Nicky spotted his big sisters acting silly on the ice and started babbling his approval, trying to get out and join the fun. "Oh I don't think so little buddy. You'd better stick with Momma for now." With one last effort, Shego managed to tie her skates and secure Nicky in the snuggly strapped to her chest.

Wow, Shego marveled at Nicky's efforts to struggle towards the ice. This little wiggle worm really wants to get out there. We might have a hockey player on our hands.

She'd barely set foot on the ice when the Shegophone chimed. She pulled it up and…son of a Balosar! It would HAVE to be Global Justice! Were they deliberately watching and waiting for when she was just about to have a little fun? Wait a minute…Betty's personal work line? That…that didn't happen very often.

"This is Shego Possible."

"Shego! Thank God," Betty gasped through the receiver. "I need you in my office as soon as you possibly can."

"Betty, what's going on?"

There was a long pause. "I…don't think it's a good idea to discuss this over the line. Where are you?"

"I'm at the ice rink with the kids," So much for a fun family afternoon (even with only part of the family); inevitably Shego knew that she'd end up accepting this. Who could she get to take the kids? Abby was taking time off so…the only other options were Ron or Mom and Dad. Mom and Dad were closer so that would probably be best. "Give me an hour?"

Betty agreed so she immediately called up Dad. "Hey; what's up daughter of mine?"

"Hey Dad; listen, something's come up and I need a favor. I'm at the ice rink with the girls and I got called in. Could you come and pick them up?"

"Sure thing sweetheart; I'm just puttering around the house. Can you give me…fifteen minutes?"

KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP

"Betty, what's going on?"

That had been one of the longest hours of Shego's life. It hadn't dawned on her that this could potentially involve Kim and Gracie until Shego had gotten in the car. Neither Kim nor Gracie were pick up and from there…it seemed like Shego had somehow thought of every potential thing that could've gone wrong all at once and felt the stress amplified by ten. It didn't help that Betty had called her using her private work line. Thank goodness for Wade and Minnie. Wade could safely assure her that her wife and daughter were currently in Anglican Diocese of Auckland, talking with the local priest. But the fact that Kim and Gracie weren't currently in trouble didn't mean that they wouldn't be in danger later.

"Okay Shego," Betty rose from her chair as the plasma slinging meta-human burst into her office. "I want to stress that this isn't a direct line to Gracie and Kim but…"

Shego's hands burst into an eerie green flame and she took a step towards Betty. "Betty…WHAT is going on? You pull me away from a day with my children, you send my wife and my oldest daughter to a base that is a possible target for an international evil organization, and I want to know why I'm here."

Thankfully Betty took the point and activated the holo-projector in the center of the room. The focus was on Corin Jindal, head of Global Justice Personnel according the file. Age 48, been with GJ for close to twenty years…what was the point of showing her this? "My deputy head of Personnel brought this to my attention this morning." Shego had only ever seen Betty fix a glare that severe on her brother and even then only when he was being a SERIOUS pain. "Ever since the intelligence pattern emerged, I've had Personnel running intense background checks on all of the target facilities, looking for any potential threats. Director Jindal's initial report showed nothing seriously out of the ordinary…that is until the deputy provided me with the real report."

"'Real' report?" So GJ had a traitor in their midst?

"There's a lethal capture order out for him as we speak. That's not the problem though," Betty pressed few keys shifting the image. "As you know, I'm the only one who can bring Team Possible in for a mission…but what you don't know is the same goes for the rest of your family. Nobody can bring Kim's brothers, your brothers, even Kim's parents in for anything without my authorization."

The bottom was beginning to fall out of Shego's stomach. She'd talked to all of her brothers at Christmas. Everyone else had been at the family Christmas party…except for Jim. Jim was supposed to be consulting in Australia but…what if he'd somehow been gotten to…? Oh she could RING Sheldon Director's neck!

Without warning, Betty's aide burst into the office, running directly through the projection of Jim's forged consultation approval. "Forgive me ma'am, Agent Possible; I just received confirmation a few moments ago. We've got him."

Neither woman needed him to elaborate any further. Both were out the door with the aide in tow. Never breaking her stride, Betty continued with the briefing. "The only reason Jim Possible was flagged was because the consultation wasn't authorized by me. Acting Director Krinski flagged Jim as well as possible threats at three other possible targets. No matter what the target, I'm putting our security regiment in Melbourne on full alert. I've got one of our battlecruisers enroot from our East Asian fleet and called in a favor with the Americans, bringing in two destroyers. So help me, if Sheldon even TRIES to make a move, he'll face Hell."

Okay…so not really any reason to fret yet. The hovercraft was equipped with every defensive system Shego could put in it. If the shit hit the fan, Kim could be in and out with Jim and Gracie before they could even blink. Kim…Kim was simply Kim. Her faith in her wife's abilities was bone deep. She had absolutely no reason to worry. She and Ron had managed to damage Sheldon's pride once, now it was her wife's turn. But somewhere in this complex was the man who could tell Shego exactly what her wife would be facing if anything.

"Betty, give me five minutes alone with him and he'll be singing like a soprano."

"Uh…we'll see Shego," Betty replied, trying not to let Shego see the humor in her face. "Will should be onsite in two minutes about two minutes. I'll send him first and you in later. Maybe we can stagger him," Betty grabbed Shego by the shoulder and stopped her up short. "NO plasma bolts to the cameras this time. Dramatic effect is one thing but we can't afford to keep renovating our interrogation rooms."

Betty WOULD mention that to her! She had a temper; Shego had always known an accepted that. Kimmie was always so great about defusing her wife when she both literally and metaphorically got hot. But…she could keep a handle on herself. Right now information from this SOB was paramount.

"I'll try to control myself."

Deputy Director Will Du was indeed waiting for them outside the interrogation room. The once adversaries and now colleagues nodded a wordless greeting to each other and turned to the two way mirror. Looking at the man she presumed to be Corin Jindal, she couldn't help but be impressed. By the look of him, this guy hadn't gone down easy. His uniform was in shreds and he'd have one heck of a shiner by morning.

"How would you like to proceed Director?"

"Will, I want you to take the lead on this one," Betty replied, her gaze firmly fixed on the prisoner. "I'll send Shego in a few minutes later, see if we can't throw him off balance."

Shego turned back to face Jindal. Something about all of this seemed a little odd, and she wasn't thinking about Jindal. Betty seemed unusually flustered over this incident…and Shego didn't think it was because she'd misjudged Jindal for all these years. When Shego had first arrived, it had almost been like Betty was trying to convince herself that Kim and Gracie weren't in danger. This woman made decisions on a daily basis that sent men and women to certain death but...well, Betty had said time and again how she looked at Gracie like a niece. Was it really so hard to believe that the Possible family actually meant something special to Betty?

"Betty…what's wrong? And don't tell me that it is Jindal."

KPKPKPKPKPKPKPKPKP

"Betty, would you please tell me what's bothering you?"

Once again, Shego had to give Jindal credit. The SOB had lasted a lot longer than she had expected. But in the end, like all the others, he'd cracked and started spilling his guts. It had to be being interrogated by a woman who could turn you into a smoldering pile of ash with a snap of her fingers that crumpled the will of even the most hardened mercenary. The only thing of any use that they'd been able to pull out was that Jindal had been under very specific orders to place Jim Possible in the Auckland base. The engineers currently on the project HAD been hitting a few road blocks with incorporating the military software into the suits and Jim COULD likely help them overcome them. But one way or another, Shego's brother-in-law was neck deep in trouble.

Unbuckling her seatbelt now that the plane had taken off, Betty heaved a sigh and moved to the bar in the cabin, pouring herself a Scotch. If the roles were flipped, Betty would want to know why Shego was technically hovering over her family's shoulder so by all rights, Shego deserved to know her rationale. But if she was going to really talk about it, scotch would be inevitable. "When you and Kim wound up…together, you know I was…well skeptical probably wouldn't be putting it strongly enough. But through it all…you two…from what I've seen, you two truly do have a romance for the ages, one that comes along maybe once in a generation," Betty downed a gulp of her drink and let it settle. "And then you look at me. I've saved people, organized massive coordinated assaults that determined the fate of the world…and look what it cost me? Two failed marriages and numerous ex-boyfriends."

Wow…this was a side of Betty Director that Shego had never expected to see. She'd always assumed that Betty had dated and why not? But she'd always felt like Betty was one of those that was married to her job. Her social life had never really been a topic of much conversation between them. Now…now Shego thought she knew why Betty was taking this so hard. Had she known the emotions this would dig up for her friend…Shego couldn't help mentally berating herself, giving herself one hell of a dressing down.

Betty gazed out the window and downed the remainder of her drink. "I care about both of you too much to ever let either of you…end up like me."

Damn; where she'd been berating herself before…now she just hated herself. If anyone in the world could relate to feeling like you were completely alone and unwanted in the world, it would've been her. She got up from her seat and went straight for Betty, pulling her friend into a hug like she'd done with Kimmie during her wife's bouts of self-doubt. "Betty, I…I'm so sorry. I should've just kept my mouth shut." Thank goodness Betty returned the hug. My God, Betty was strong willed. Right then, if the roles had been reversed, Shego would've been weeping uncontrollably into her friend's shoulder.

"It's okay Shego," Betty sighed, thoroughly grateful for the support. "I'm like you. If I didn't want you to know, I wouldn't have told you."

"That still doesn't excuse it," Shego objected, giving her friend one last squeeze of support before letting her go. "Thank you for trying to protect my family. God bless you for that. But enough of this crap about you being alone!" Betty was quickly shooed back to her chair and Shego snagged a pair of child wine coolers from the bar. "I've got the PERFECT guy for you!"

As the wine cooler was literally shoved into her hands, Betty couldn't help but laugh. Here were two trained and seasoned international espionage agents, what some might consider two of the deadliest women in the world, headed towards a potential clash with the forces of evil…and one was trying to set the other up on a blind date like a couple of gal pals on a girls' night out. Betty had seen Kim and Shego together on missions, romantic even in the direst circumstances. Shego Possible, the woman Betty would've given anything sixteen years ago to have locked up and permanently behind bars was indeed a deep and complicated woman.

"Well…there's already kind of a guy who…"

"Ooooooh, come on girl," Shego gushed, popping the top on her wine cooler. "Dish; don't leave anything out! Is he cute?"

"Well…his name is Tom Van Dyke and yes he's VERY cute. He owns an ad agency in Upperton. It's only been a few weeks but…I REALY like him."

"Oh we are SO double dating when this is over!"

Author's Notes:

What use is having it all if you don't have someone to share it with?