Unstoppable Journey
Family Gathers
Welcoming the Widow
Triskelion, Washington D.C.
The redheaded, twenty-something year-old woman, sat quietly awaiting her debrief from her recent mission to Budapest. The images she had of the little girl, continue to run through her mind. Antonia Dreykov, walking into the building to meet her father, who was for all intents and purposes a true monster. Forcing little girls through brutal training, turning them into killers, all because of certain men wanting to push their tyranny upon the world, but not having the balls to do it themselves. Antonia was just unlucky, Natalia thought to herself, she was unlucky to have been born to a father like him. I had to make sure the General was there, even a man like him wouldn't have his daughter come visit him if he wasn't there. Even monsters love their children, she rationalised, but it doesn't make their crimes any less heinous.
This woman's facade did nothing to give away her inner-turmoil, as loathe as she was to admit it, her training in the Red Room, under Madame B, was helping her cope with her choices. When she was awake, she could consciously keep her thoughts in order, at night when she slept, faces of the people she killed swam into her mind. There were good dreams as well, from her time in Ohio, when she could believe she was part of a family. There were other dreams, weird images from when she was much younger, where she underwent a barrage of injections, then she was extremely cold and went to sleep for a long time. In those dreams, she would wake up in the morning, just as she woke up in them. That seemed to be where all of her memories stopped and started, she could never remember anything of her life before those memories.
The door to the room opened and in walked an older man, and a woman, not much older than Natasha Romanoff herself. The man was of African descent, with a bald-head and the beginnings of a moustache and goatee growing on his face. He wore dark clothing, a long-sleeved shirt, and cargo pants in a military cut. He wore a shoulder holster with a .45 inserted, Natasha assumed he probably carried a knife or two as last resort, but the way he carried himself, with confidence even a little swagger, told her he was formidable with or without a weapon. He also stood straight with the bearing of a high-ranking military official, and the air of menace coming from his one eye, told her it did not come from sitting behind a desk giving orders. I would never want to fight this man, if I had a choice, because even with all of my training, I doubt I would prevail. The most striking feature of his attire, however, which gave him an extra layer of menace was the eyepatch floating over his right-eye. The scar-tissue peeking up over the eyepatch, said it was not just an accessory.
The woman was quite attractive, enough to be distracting to the general male populace, but not noticeable enough that she would attract more attention than she wanted. Dark chestnut hair, falling down her back, wearing a generic SHIELD Uniform, with a sidearm on her right hip. She did one thing that actually unnerved Natasha more than anything, she could not get a read on her skills. The man seemed to radiate aggression and intimidation, but the woman was utterly unreadable, she seemed to do her best to fade into the background, and make you forget about her. Black Widow had no problem in believing that this woman was at least as competent as herself, but where Natasha allowed her malice to seep into her exterior, this woman was completely neutral.
"Good morning, Agent Romanoff, I am Colonel Fury, this is Commander Hill," the man greeted her, while introducing himself and his silent companion, his tone was rather lukewarm, "did you enjoy your time in Hungary?"
"Not especially," Natasha answered ambivalently, "I have never enjoyed that part of the profession, I only ever did what I had to do to survive. Until Clint came for me, and offered me an alternative, I never knew there was another way."
"Even with the collateral results, the benefits of this mission will be felt by the world for years to come," Maria declared!
Natasha merely nodded to indicate that she understood the stakes, so Nick moved on with the debriefing. Natasha recited the steps she took to insure the successful termination of General Dreykov, even going so far as to search the wreckage. "I'm sure we got him, Colonel," the redhead asserted, "the only thing that gives me any doubt is while I did search, I wasn't able to be thorough enough, before the Hungarian Emergency Services arrived. So, unless there is a hidden room that I didn't know about, we can be sure that Ivan Dreykov is dead."
"I concur," Hill agreed in a professional tone, "and unless he sticks his head out of whatever hole he may have crawled into, we can never know for sure."
"Very well," Fury agreed with a nod, "I am officially marking this one as Mission Accomplished, but I'm having all agents and contractors affiliated with SHIELD, keep their eyes peeled for any sign of Dreykov. When Betty and I have our weekly intel share, I will brief her on him so she can have her peace officers and contractors keep an eye out, also."
"You're talking about Global Justice right," Natasha asked to his nod? "I've met some of her people while working on the other side. A few of them were actually able to impress me," she added, "but they're rather stiff. Especially one agent who seems way more arrogant than his skills allow him to be."
"If we're talking about the same agent, I may know who you're talking about," Hill agreed with a titter of amusement.
"Du," Widow asked, to Hill's nod, and they shared a giggle over their memories of one of Global Justice's self-proclaimed best agents.
"I know two teenage independent contractors working for us, who are better at The Job, than he is," Hill added to Romanoff's quirked eyebrow.
"Teenagers," she asked?
"Yes, teenagers," Fury broke into their hen party, "but don't worry, they chose this line of work. Been doing it since they were eleven," he added, "which brings us to your next assignment."
"Okay," Natasha replied dubiously.
"This one should be a cakewalk for you," Fury mused, "it's just a basic gathering mission. I figured we'll start you off easy with your first official SHIELD mission."
"And what was Budapest, a vacation," Nat snarked?
"An audition," was his reply.
Looking at the black man in thought, Natasha had to concede to his valid point, I could use a vacation, then asked, "so what's the mission?"
Fury pulled out a folder and slid it across the table. Natasha opened it to see identification photos of two individuals. They were of two teens, a blonde male with brown-eyes, and a redheaded girl with green-eyes. The girl was already quite attractive, and would only grow into her looks as she aged. The boy was rather dopey-looking with that gangly angular face that had the potential to grow into quite a handsome man.
As she was reading their basic information, Fury began speaking to her about her mission. "You're going in under the name Natalie Rushman, we were able to get your undercover records from KGB computers, which show you attending colleges in some states of the US. We compiled them into a single file that will give you bonafides for teaching credentials, your cover will be as a student-teacher. The last leg required before obtaining a teaching certificate."
"Ronald Michael Stoppable and Kimberly Ann Possible, Middleton, CO," Natasha said aloud, "independent contractors for Global Justice and SHIELD. They are collectively known as Team Possible. I assume this is mostly a mission to evaluate their effectiveness," she asked, looking up at the pair, who nodded to confirm her instincts. Natasha turned back to the file, and read some more, "what does semi-mercenaries mean?"
"It means they're more like… troubleshooters than actual shooters," Hill answered, "they're extremely competent martial artists, but they utilise little if any weaponry in battle."
"Stoppable is the in-field technical expert, and the best at distraction and retreat tactics. He can figure himself past any lock, electronic or otherwise. Possible, as the team lead, I have never seen her lose her cool in any situation. She is the better fighter between the two of them, though I do not see much difference in those skills," Hill concluded.
"One thing I am curious about is the part where it says: Enhanced, it has the designation: FDE. What does that mean," Natasha wondered?
"It means, For Director's Eyes only," Fury answered, "that means only I and my counterparts in other clandestine services may divulge certain information. In this case only Me and Dr. Director have control of their enhancement status."
"May I be, read into this information, Director Fury," Black Widow requested formally, "it may come up in the course of this investigation?"
Fury gave her a hard look as he considered her request, then looked at the other woman in the room. He already trusted her with his life and she has never given him a single doubt in where her loyalties lay. "Very well, only me and our geneticists know what I am about to divulge. This room is swept regularly for bugs, and I even did my own sweep before you got here."
Fury sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than the two women, to divulge this bit of intel. He turned to look at them, with a nod, "both members of Team Possible are mutants, Possible is a latent mutant, but Stoppable has already partially awakened his abilities. Stoppable, in addition to the enhanced senses of a wild animal, and an unheard of night-vision, has near impenetrable skin, and a skeleton made of a type of metal that so far, has denied anybody's attempts to break it. He has six pairs of chains that he can control as easily as his other limbs, they can cut through any substance known to man, like it was tissue paper."
Fury got a kick out of the gobsmacked expressions on the women's faces, "if you find that interesting, this'll really blow you both out of the water. Take a look at his family history."
Natalia read the section he indicated, until she came to his paternal grandmother's marital history… "What," Natasha asked, standing up in shock, the chair she was sitting in falling back with a clatter?! She backed away from the file on the table, like it was a bomb about to go off. Staring up at her under previous marriages was the name: Valeria Romanova.
It doesn't mean anything, she told herself, all of a sudden her Red Room training was not working. One of the things that always kept her going in the Red Room was the hope that she had a mother, a family, someone out there looking for her. She had kept it at the back of her mind, during the worst times in that hellhole. She never told anyone about her fantasy, because she had witnessed first-hand what happened to girls that voiced such weakness. The beatings would be brutal. Romanova is not a common name, but there are bound to be others with the name. I always thought it was just something they gave me there…
Fury just smiled at finally getting a rise out of the cold-hearted assassin, at least we know she's human, and not a machine, because only a person would give that kind of reaction upon learning they have family somewhere.
"I had it confirmed during his agent training," Fury answered her solemnly. "I personally went into his parents' home and collected their toothbrushes and hair care tools. If you remember, we did a standard medical work up for you before your mission to Hungary and after," he paused to be sure she remembered, which she confirmed with a nod, "we got the results back today. His father is your half-brother, meaning…"
"… meaning Valeria Stoppable, is my mother." Natalia shakily reached down and righted the chair, which gave her time to collect herself. "For years, I wondered how I came to be in the Red Room, if I had family outside. It was one of the few things that helped me keep hoping, I had somebody to look for, who may or may not be looking for me."
Natalia read some more of the file, she saw how thorough SHIELD was in their vetting process. Under Valeria's entry was her name: Natalia Romanova, DOB: March 6, 1951, Address: Killed along with her father, Ivan Romanova in Leningrad, July 15, 1954. Gas explosion. "How is this possible," Natalia demanded, trying to choke back a sob, "I'm not fifty, and I remember being 13 in 1995, so how can this be accurate?"
"We don't know," Fury admitted, "she did not abandon you, she definitely loved you."
"How can you be so sure," Black Widow asked with a growl, "she didn't seem to waste too much time running away from Russia, when she had the chance?"
Fury turned to another page in the file to a black-and-white picture that seemed to have been taken at the scene. It showed the devastation of the apartment building, the fire was still raging, and firefighters were on the scene. They could not begin to put out the fire, because three of them could be seen trying to restrain a woman, trying to rush into the flames.
Natalia looked at her face, the Red-Room taught her to read body language and facial expressions. It was easier with photos than live people, even older pictures like this one. Natalia studied the woman's face, she could see certain features on Valeria's face that matched her own. The woman she saw in the photo had lost everything that mattered to her in that blast. She was destroyed, the only purpose she could have had for running into that building was to join her family in death.
The fact that it was taking three large men to restrain her was telling by itself. Natalia's vision had suddenly gone blurry as her eyes suddenly filled with unshed tears, as she felt her mother's anguish, even through the photograph. My mom loved me, if she'd known I was alive she would have come and got me, or died trying, she realised in an epiphany, and knowing how the Red Room took care of threats to its existence. She was suddenly glad her mother never realised she was alive, she could have been killed if she tried to find me.
Natalia was suddenly feeling protective of her family, her mother, her brother, and her precious nephew. Ron Stoppable, who was already part of the Job, was going to get to meet him, and perhaps the rest of her family. She took a deep cleansing breath, which calmed her nerves and set her mind at ease. Then she looked up at her handler, "Commander Hill, during the mission, if I see an opportunity, may I make him aware of me?"
"I will be leaving that up to you," the brunette woman agreed with a sympathetic smile, "you've got enough prior experience to judge those sorts of things. This isn't exactly a critical mission," she offered, "you'll have enough contact with them on a daily basis to allow them to get to know you as Natalie Rushman. That should allow you to assess their character, and judge for yourself, if you want to make contact with them. By the way, you may call me Maria."
Natasha's face bloomed into a bright smile, "in that case, call me Nat."
With Great Power…
Westchester County, New York
Ron Stoppable never thought of himself as having any vanity. Oh sure, he did not mind looking good whenever the occasion called for it, but in most situations, he, like most boys his age, did not care overly much about his outward appearance. That was until he thought he would never look like himself again.
He thought he would look like a bad artist's rendition of a skull for the rest of his life. During the week in which he and Kim had been staying in Westchester, getting help from Ron's friends, Hank McCoy, Charles Xavier in learning about their now fully awakened mutations. It had taken them, plus a Russian friend of theirs, Piotr Rasputin, who was a mutant with a similar mutation to his, to teach Ron how to control his power.
It had taken him and Colossus two days of trying, before Ron was able to reliably activate and deactivate his behemoth form as he had heard Drakken call it. That was when they began to test his abilities. With the complete awakening of his X-gene and the manifestation of his powers, some things about his body had changed.
His skin no longer held traces of his unbreakable metal, he was now as susceptible to injuries as anybody else, when not a living metal man. His skeletal and circulatory systems were still composed of that same metal, which they decided to name, Ronium, but now his muscles were free of it. If he is injured, he has a Regenerative Healing Factor that can make him as good as new in a matter of minutes.
He met one of the new teachers during this time to help him test his healing factor. His name was Logan, they sparred against each other, and neither ever held back. Wolverine of course got the better of Ron, and practically savaged the boy, and his Healing Factor took care of all of it, it only stopped, because while Ron's body healed itself, if they fought for real, it would be a battle of endurance. "Kid, I want us to be friends, because I damn sure don't want you as an enemy," Wolverine said once Ron met him the next day, "your Healing Factor is just as effective as mine, maybe a little bit faster, because my body is constantly fighting my adamantium."
"Well, I would be honoured to consider you a friend," Ron answered, as he offered Logan his hand to shake, "just don't attack me or my friends and family, and we can remain that way."
By the end of the week, Ron's – to use the term Dr. Drakken muttered – behemoth transformation, became as instinctive as blinking an eyelid. Activation and deactivation become as quick as one inhalation and an exhalation of air, and when he was in behemoth mode, his physical capabilities grew to exponential heights. Ron, in behemoth mode, without his chains could lift in excess of 20,000-tons of dead weight, which was equal to a single chain of his, whether in behemoth mode or not, so in total, Ron can now lift in excess of 135,000-tons. That's as much weight as a giant sequoia or a majestic redwood. The muscle power also gave him outstanding agility and speed, allowing him to clear almost 4-miles with a standing-long-jump, and two-miles straight up with the high-jump. He and Scott had a race, Ron on foot and Summers in his Camaro, which topped out at 180 mph, even if Scott kept it at an even hundred for safety's sake, and Stoppable was easily able to stay even with the car. He was subjected to temperature and pressure extremes equal to a plasma cutter, and the centre of the Earth itself, and while in his behemoth form he was barely affected.
Ron wished he could say that Kim had been there for him every step of the way, but unfortunately, she had her own problems to deal with. Her mutant gene had also awakened on this mission, she along with the Doctors Possible were studying it to learn how it worked.
Kim cannot be here for me, Ron concluded in his mind, I will be there for her. Now that Ron had a handle on his power, he left his wing of the mansion, and went into the section where Kim was learning about her power. He was not worried about modesty, he was in a dark-blue, sleeveless V-neck t-shirt, with grey, knee-length athletic shorts, and sneakers.
On his way there, he noticed a couple of new faces among the staff, as well as the students. One of the new faces was a white-haired, African woman, talking to Jean (16), who looked to be about the same age as the red-head. He decided to go up and talk to his old friend, and introduce himself to the newcomer. "Hey JG, how've you been," Ron said as he approached from behind her?
This startled the red-head causing her to jump a little, "oh, Ron, you snuck up on me," she lightly rebuked him. Then she saw him in his athletic gear, her gaze lingered on his well-defined arms and the muscular calves coming from his shorts, not to mention his lean frame. He was not bulky by any stretch of the imagination, but bulky men have never been appealing to her, she likes them lean and toned. Ron normally wears baggy clothes whenever he comes to Westchester, so she has never before seen him this way.
"Sorry about that," Ron admitted while scratching the back of his head, "I forgot you can't detect me."
Jean jumped as she realised she had been staring at him, then just smiled, "That's okay Ron, it's good to see you." Then turning to the other woman next to them, who had not missed Jean's objectification of the boy, and was smirking at her red-headed friend, "Ororo Munroe, this is a good friend of mine, Ron Stoppable. He came here when he was eight to learn about his mutation, and he's been coming here off and on over the years to visit. He is one of the best chefs I've ever met, his food is to die for."
"Aw c'mon, it's not that impressive," Ron was blushing at Jean's praise, while scratching the back of his head, "there are tons of chefs in the world that could do a better job than me."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, young Stoppable," Ororo greeted him with a pleasant smile, "and I look forward to sampling some of your cuisine. Are you going to remain here at the mansion when you are finished learning of your abilities," she asked? Ororo did her own perusal of him, and could see Jean's appraisal was somewhat justified, if she were not eighteen, and already betrothed, she would consider pursuing him romantically.
"No, me and my girlfriend will be leaving as soon as we figure out how her powers work," Ron explained, then he became curious himself, "I noticed your accent Ms. Munroe, I hear the sound of Kenya in your voice, but I also hear the music of Egypt as well. Which part of Africa are you from," Ron asked?
If he were staying and not just passing through, Jean thought, and he was not dating Kim, I would have no problem dating him, even if he is two years younger than me. What I like the most though, is I can't read his mind, my telepathy doesn't work on him. We would have to learn everything about each other the way most couples do, by talking, I love that idea. It would be more difficult, but I think it would be more rewarding, and right.
Ororo's eyes raised in surprise at how well he could pick up on her accent, most adults were not so knowledgeable. "In actuality, Mr. Stoppable, I was born right here in New York, but I lived in Cairo until I was twelve, before moving to my ancestral home of Uzuri, Kenya."
Ron then took in Ororo's appearance, noting her white-hair and blue-eyes, and remembering what he learned about women with white hair and blue-eyes. He bowed to her formally, "a thousand greetings to you priestess, I feel honoured to meet you."
Now it was both Jean and Ororo's turn to be surprised, the former turned to her new friend, "I never knew you were a priestess."
"It never came up," the ivory haired woman explained to her friend, before turning to the young man as he regarded them. "I was trained as a priestess in the village of Uzuri, but how did you know that," she asked suspiciously?
"From time to time, Team Possible has been called upon by a certain nation in that part of the world, to retrieve certain contraband, from would-be smugglers," Ron explained to her. "We were once able to save the life of the monarch of a certain nation," he added, "we've been to that part of the world so much, we've learned the customs, and even the folklore there, almost as well as our own. Children born in this part of the world, with hair like the clouds, and eyes like the sky, are considered blessed by the Gods. Me and KP had even heard of a goddess in the region the last time we were there, who could control the weather."
"Well," Jean just smirked, ''it seems as if my introduction was not necessary, he seems to know you quite well, Roro."
"I guess so," Ororo admitted with a slight reddening of her cheeks, she turned to Ron. "This certain nation and its monarch you mentioned," she began cryptically, "what name did he give you?"
Ron gave it some thought about how he may answer with Jean present, he trusted her, but some of Team Possible's clients demanded anonymity. "Oba Amotekun dudu, T'chaka," he said, in only slightly accented Yoruba.
Ororo's smile lit up her face, as she leaned down to kiss Ron on the cheek, "Thank you, for saving my future father in-law."
"Well, well," Ron said with a blush on his cheeks, "what a pleasant surprise. T'challa, did send us an email, saying he had found his soulmate, but he never told us your name, or what you looked like. I can't wait to tell KP about this, she's gonna be gushing all over you."
"What are you two talking about," Jean broke in irately, while crossing her arms in a sulk, "who're T'chaka and T'challa? You know, it's pretty rude to have an entire conversation with three people, and exclude the third person."
"Sorry, Jeannie," Ron stated his apology, as he hugged her, "I would love to be able to tell you, but Team Possible confidentiality prohibits me from doing so, but if Her Highness wishes it, she can tell you."
"Mr. Stoppable, if you can so casually call the Prince of Wakanda by his given name, you can surely do the same with his fiancee," Ororo declared, "so please, call me Ororo."
"Fine, Ororo," he accepted with a nod, then looked her in the eyes, and added with a friendly grin, "as long as you call me Ron," then extended his hand, "and we can be friends."
Ororo took his hand, and smiled fondly at him, "now it is I who would be honoured, to call you my friend."
Ron left Jean and Ororo, and followed Kim's scent into the bowels of the mansion. He would know Kim's scent anywhere, and her parents' scent always felt like home to him, as much as his own parents' did. So he found James Possible leaning against the outside of an observation window, reading a printout of his daughter's latest tests.
"Hey Dr. P," Ron said, "have you made any progress in understanding Kim's mutation."
Jim was startled for a second when his surrogate son came to stand next to him. He had been so focused on a page readout that he had temporarily lost sense of his surroundings. He recovered quickly, and smiled at his daughter's boyfriend.
"Yes, Ronald, quite a lot actually," Mr. Possible answered excitedly, and upon seeing Ron become interested began to explain. "Kim's power comes mainly from neutrino absorption into her body," he said, "as I am sure you're aware, the Earth and everything on her has trillions of tiny particles passing through us every second of the day." At Ron's nod of confirmation, James continued, "Kim's body has adapted itself so that instead of passing through her, the neutrinos are collected by her."
"When that happens, Kim's body becomes incredibly powerful," James continued, as he passed Ron the sheet of paper he had been studying. "This is a readout of our latest strength tests for her," James told Ron, "take a look."
Ron read it, and his eyes bulged as he looked up at his surrogate father in astonishment, "really, she can lift this much, that's as much as me with all of my chains?"
James pushed his chest out proudly, "yep, she can deadlift 30,000-tons as easily as any other girl can lift five pound weights. Which is just the tip of the iceberg, she's as invulnerable as you are in your behemoth transformation. We put her through the same pressure and temperatures you were, and her reaction was practically the same. She can run at Mach 3, supersonic speeds," he exclaimed enthusiastically, "we think the different flavours of neutrinos help her with different aspects of her powers."
"I am going to assume that electron-neutrinos are what gives her the speed," Ron hypothesised, "and the other two, muon and tau particles give her strength and invulnerability."
"Precisely right," James nodded enthusiastically, well aware of Ron's intelligence, "and in that order. That isn't all either, while neutrinos do not interact with the objects they pass through, they do have enough mass to get a sense of volume, and if they come from the same source, they are still sympathetically connected to each other. Because of that some of the particles passing into Kimmie-cub give her an extra sense that her brain interprets as vision, and allows her to "see" the interior of an object," James put the term (see) under finger-quotes.
Ron nodded in understanding as he remembered the mission, "that must be how she knew there was no danger by going into that air-shaft." James nodded in confirmation, then Ron gave a depressed sigh, "this'll make hugging and kissing her a chancy endeavour."
This brought James Possible up short, he had momentarily forgotten that he was talking to his daughter's boyfriend. He debated with himself before divulging this next bit of information, "not to worry Ronald, one of the first things we figured out how to do was to get her to activate and deactivate her power. All she has to do is allow the neutrinos to pass through herself as they normally do us, and she reverts back to the strength of an ordinary teenager."
James saw the boy breathe a sigh of relief, before he went on, "listen Ronald, you know that I love you just as much as I do my own kids, right?" At the boy's nod the father of three continued. "Please understand what I'm about to say, because I don't want that to change, okay?" At another puzzled nod, James reached up and grabbed Ron's ear, "you are going to treat my daughter with the respect she deserves, when she tells you to stop doing things she's not ready for, you do as she tells you. I really can't control what you two get up to when you're alone, but as long as she's a consenting participant, I don't need to know about it, understand?"
"Yes, sir," Ron answered, "Kim's consent for all things intimate, I got it."
Mr. Possible smiled at his surrogate son's respect for him and his family. "Good, please and thank you," he said while letting go of Ron's ear, "I would hate to send you to a black hole for hurting Kim."
Ron was massaging his ear, more for the psychological aspect, because the pain had abated almost before James had released him. When the door near them opened, a man with blue-fur exitted, and was surprised to see Ron, "Well, Ronald it is good to see you, my young friend."
"Hello, Doc M," Ron greeted the hirsute man, "good to see you as well. I was just coming to show my support for KP."
"The young lady is doing very well, Ron," came the response from Dr. Henry Phillip McCoy, Hank to his friends, (aka the Beast), assured him. "I was on my way to collect you, there is one more test we need to run, to be sure we have all our bases covered," as he opened the door and ushered Ron inside.
Once through the door, Ron found that he was not in a lab, but more like a high-tech gymnasium. It was similar to the one where he trained with Colossus, the equipment looked just as durable.
Ron spotted Kim lifting what some people would call an elephant's worth of weight over her head. Mr Possible's comparison to ordinary people lifting weights was oddly fitting. Ron watched her doing her lifts, and was amazed at her strength. She barely appeared to be straining, meaning it was not her maximum weight. She, like him, was wearing an ordinary athletic suit. A dark-blue tank over a grey sports bra, with grey athletic shorts, showing off a lot of leg. All of that would be extraordinary in and of itself, but what really blew Ron's mind, Kim was performing these feats, thirty feet off the ground.
Doctors Possible and McCoy turned to see Ron's eyes nearly bugging out of his head, and just burst out laughing. "We wanted it to be a surprise, but like all neutrinos, they have a spin and a flight path," Hank explained, "it seems Kimberly can take control of those aspects and give herself a boost. She can fly as fast as she runs," he added, "and we even have a theory that she could reach escape velocity and survive in outer space."
Off to the side was Ann Possible watching her daughter work. Kim finished her sets carefully, returned to earth, and set the weight back on the ground. She stepped back, collected a towel from a nearby bench, and began drying herself of perspiration. Ron swore to himself, damn, if I hadn't just walked in here and seen her in action, I would believe that she was just finishing up her normal workout routine.
Kim turned to see them walk in, and seeing her Ron again after a week without him was like the sun coming up after a long night. It's been like Wannaweep all over again, she thought bemusedly in her mind, at least this time was only for one week, instead of three months. When Ron was ten, he was not able to come visit his grandmother because of some crisis in the Worthington family, but his parents were going to be doing a lot of travelling for work that summer, so they sent him to a sleep away camp. He was a last minute addition so he did not have a proper bunk, he slept in the only cabin they had left, Cabin 13, with a deranged chimp. Well, only for one night, Ron allowed a rare bout of sadism to leak out, as he used his chains to tame the savage brute. It did require some pain for the chimp, but nothing more than a lash or two if he displayed behaviour Ron did not like, he stopped throwing shit, piss, and jizz by the end of the first week, when Ron made him realise who was boss.
Kim knew what they were going to do next, so she did not release her power. Although it only took her a second to deactivate and activate her power, it was a pain to do it here and now. Even if she wanted nothing more than to fold Ron into her arms. Hank had refused to tell her anything about Ron's progress during the week, citing doctor-patient confidentiality. One thing he did say was that unless Ron was in his metal body, he could now be injured.
"Now young lady, this last test while you're here," Dr. McCoy began as Kim's parents joined them, "you've stated a few times that Ronald's chains can cut through anything. Is that correct?"
"Yes, we have not found anything that can stop Ron if he wants to go somewhere," Ann answered.
"Even adamantium and vibranium offer little resistance to his chains," James concurred with his wife.
"Well let's see if your supposition still holds water," the doctor ordered, "Kim, are you still at full power?"
"Yes, doctor," Kim answered. Then she turned to her boyfriend, and with a mischievous grin asked, "Say, Ron, would you like to renew our vows?"
Ron just grinned then began to chuckle, as he heard Mr. Possible's heart speed up, and blood pressure spike. "KP that's not nice to do to your dad, you very nearly gave him a heart attack," he admonished his girlfriend. Ron turned to James and explained, "we're not talking about those particular vows Mr. P, though both of us hold them to be just as sacred as marriage."
Ron walked forward and extended a single chain with a tanto-like blade at the end, as he approached Kim. "If it does cut you, I'm gonna have to be quick with mine, my healing factor is pretty fast."
Kim nodded and extended her hand, palm out, "carry on, Ronnie."
Ron took her hand and raked the tanto over her palm. It took a second, but slowly a line of blood began to trickle down Kim's palm. He did it once more just to get the blood flow they needed for the blood oaths.
Kim hissed in pain both times as they found yet another thing ronium could cut. Yes, he can stop me, Kim cheered in her mind, if my power makes me arrogant he could prevent me from going too far. Now for the new oaths, Kim stated in her mind.
Ron quickly slashed his palm, making sure there was a healthy blood flow, before grasping her hand. Before Ron could open his mouth, Kim took the lead and changed what he was about to say, "Ron Stoppable, we have been blessed with powers beyond any we have ever seen and based on the astonishment of Dr. McCoy and Mom and Dad, ("Logan too," Ron told them, to Hank's nonplussed gasp.). One of my dad's college professors once told him of a motto that his family lives by, with great power comes great responsibility, but we have both read the book that says, and forgive me for paraphrasing, Power, corrupts, and great power, corrupts greatly. Do you, Ronald Michael Stoppable, promise to stop me, even going so far as killing me, if I allow myself to become corrupted by the power I have been given? Do you swear it, before God, these witnesses, and for the sake of any relationship we have now and in the future," Kim asked in the most intense, and emotional voice he had ever heard from her, judging by the beating of her heart she meant every word she said?
They had blocked out everything but each other as they stared into each other's eyes. "I do swear, in the event that you willingly begin to use your powers to terrorize innocents, and if I cannot reason with you, I will do my utmost to stop you, even if I must take your life. I swear by the Blood of Jesus Christ, our saviour."
They stepped back from each other, both their palms were now blemish free. It seems that even if Kim is injured, she will heal just as fast as Ron.
Ann stepped forward, "I think we're done here, it's time to head home."
The teens nodded, "luckily when we could take breaks we've been keeping abreast of our homework," Kim put in.
"We should also keep our status a secret from the general population," Ron suggested, "only inform SHIELD and Global Justice's directors."
"Are you ashamed of being a mutant, Ronald," Hank wondered?
"Not at all, Doc McCoy," Kim answered for him, knowing how her best-friend thought, "but the less our adversaries know about us, the better."
The Caribbean Sea
In the waters of the Caribbean, a new predator was introduced into the local area. This creature had just recently been introduced into this new habitat by humans. First by a human who had captured him as a means to discreetly get rid of pests, that human had kept him fed only enough to sustain his life, but otherwise kept him in near starving conditions. Yet, it was the actions of other humans that had set him free from the first, the actions of a couple of humans, Team Possible.
After two field personnel of Team Possible waylaid Shego and Doctor Drakken, rendering them unconscious, they left them where they fell, went through the lair using stealth movements. In the case that there were other personnel on the premises, and there did not seem to be, it looked as if the place was only inhabited by the two unconscious inhabitants on the floor.
This was all captured on tape, which Shego watched in the security room. There were no microphones in the lab or anywhere in the lair, thus whatever exchanges were taking place between the teens, the videos were silent. Shego minimised the feed from the lab, then brought up the feed from the grotto, which was now empty of water and sharks. Their age doesn't mean anything, Michelle repeated in her mind for the millionth time, they're professionals, they're experienced. Every action they took, seemed so random, yet was a contingency that they had apparently run into in the past. The video feed from the grotto showed a huge gaping hole in the bottom of the pool.
Shego rewound the tape until just after the time in the lab. She saw Team Possible return to the grotto, have a small discussion where they seemed to nod in agreement, before Dire Wolf moved over to pick up her and Drakken and carry them out of the grotto. Just before following them, the redhead took out a cylinder, activated it and seemed to wait until a red-button at the top began blinking, slowly at first but with increasing regularity, before becoming a solid colour. Rouge pressed the button for a count of ten, before tossing the device into the pool and left. Shego fast-forwarded the video for ten minutes, and watched as a controlled explosion blasted out a hole through the bottom of the tank. The explosion, while powerful enough to blow a hole through the bottom of the tank, produced very little shockwave, as if something was suppressing them. The canisters Team Possible had dropped almost casually to the bottom of the tank, which was obviously meant to be used as a means of escape, if all their plans had failed. Since they did not, the only reason for activating them at the time, was to allow the sharks to escape from the tank.
They're professionals, and disciplined, they came for only one thing, Michelle concluded, the Swarm. They could've taken me in and collected the reward for my capture, any one of the bounties on my head, could set them up for life.
Shego closed the video of the grotto, then opened the video from just outside her own room. She knew that Team Possible had scouted the compound and knew where all the rooms were, so when she found Wolf waiting outside her door looking nervous, and making no move to enter, she did not understand. She was his captive; he could have done anything he wanted to her. He obviously knew there were cameras all over the compound, I saw him looking directly at a few of them, then ignoring them as if they didn't matter. Why not take me into the room, where she knew there were no cameras, he could have his way with me, and nobody but his girlfriend would have found out about it? Even if Dire Wolf was not that type of guy, or he was scared of Rouge stopping him, Michelle reasoned, there was plenty of time for him to cop a feel. The only parts of me he touched were the places he needed to keep me slung over his shoulder, Michelle concluded, he doesn't even appear to be straining with holding mine and Doctor D's weight. Doc weighs a good two-hundred pounds, I should know, I've lifted him myself, and in my more honest moments, I know I weigh at least a buck-fifty. So that means the kid's enhanced even when he is normal..
She watches his girlfriend join him, and the camera picks up on her confused expression. They converse for a second when Shego sees Rouge roll her eyes and take her from his shoulder, Rouge does not appear to have any more trouble lifting me than he did. Shego recognized the roll from her own features, it was a girlfriend needlessly humouring her boyfriend's request of her, which was when it dawned on her. He didn't go into my room because he didn't have my permission, Michelle concluded in shock and not a little bit of gratitude, he was respecting me, removing any hint of impropriety from the situation, by having a girl take care of me out of view of the cameras. When Rouge walked through her door to deposit her, Dire Wolf left the screen to go down the hall, likely to take Drakken to his room. Wolf, having returned to his normal appearance, had found Drakken's room, and changed into one of his outfits. Rouge and Wolf, found the lab which had only been recently used, and found the schematics for the Swarm. Rouge was checking over a recent work area when Wolf yelled to her telling her he found them.
Drakken has been in his room since his encounter with the boy, he keeps muttering about protective spirits, and living metal. He has not been in his lab since the attack. Which took Michelle Go, back to her fight with Rouge, the girl was as good in a fight as Shego, even if the teen was more agile than the green woman. Shego studied her fighting style, it seemed to have bits and pieces of several fighting arts, but they were so well blended, it was impossible to tell which styles were in it. Shego remembered Rouge moving around her lit hands with practised ease, as if she fought someone with lethal hands all the time.
What was with that last hit, Michelle wondered? Hego hit me like that once in training, he is the only person in the world that has ever knocked me on my ass. My body withstood it, but I could barely walk for a day or two afterward. Shego looked down at the calendar and clock on the monitor, it had been a week since Team Possible's visit and she had only been awake for two days. I'm still moving around here like an old granny, Michelle thought with a scowl, when I get done here, I'm going to go soak in a bubble bath up to my neck.
Shego sighed and stood up, returned the screen to stand by mode, and shut it down. She left the security suite and went down the hall to her room.
The interior was in the same colour motif as her Team Go uniform. The lair was never meant to be a luxury condo, but since coming here to work for Drakken, she has turned her accommodation into an oasis in the desert. Her full-sized bed, dresser-cabinet, and wardrobe, on one wall, were as elegant as any that could be found in any movie star's bedroom. On the other side of the bed leading to her private bathroom was a vanity. Michelle may not be a very feminine woman, but she is still a lady. She likes looking her best when the occasion calls for it.
Shego walked to her bed and began removing her uniform. I always hated it when newspapers called it a costume. Costume implies that we were a joke, just pretending to put our lives in jeopardy for the sake of our city. It's a uniform, as sacred to us or at least to me, as the uniforms of police officers or soldiers. I still wear it, for many reasons, it reminds me of where I come from, it reminds me to never go too far. I may not be a hero anymore, she declared in her mind, but I will never allow myself to become a murderer. It's my way of honouring grandpa. He taught me that my fist should be katsujinken, a life-giving fist. I am a criminal, that cannot be disputed, but I have never taken a life that was not capable of, or attempting to take mine. My hands are not clean, yet no innocent blood has ever been spilt by them.
Now in the bathroom which was more traditionally coloured, with white tile on the floor, a shower stall, and a wall-attached bathtub. Shego completed her normal ablutions to get her bath just the way she liked it. She sat back in the water with a grateful sigh. She thought some more about Team Possible, namely the boy known as Dire Wolf.
Whomever his mother was, she did an excellent job of instilling a strong respect for women. I'm a criminal, perhaps even a villain, she affirmed, but he still treated me with respect. I like that, I like him, she confirmed, doesn't mean I'll go easy on him when next we meet. I want to test him to see if he's as good as his girlfriend. I hope his respect for women doesn't make him reluctant to hit them, if they're his enemy. I would hate to lose someone I respect to this line of work, because of some antiquated tenet of chivalry.
Michelle was just relaxing in her bath when the wall mounted intercom buzzed next to her. She contemplated ignoring it, but she knew if she did, Drakken would just annoy her to death. So with a resigned sigh she pressed the answer button, "What do you want, I'm busy?"
"SHEGO," Drakken's irate voice blasted from the speaker, "what did you do with my tick?"
"What tick," wondered the villainess?
"The tick I made and placed a micro-explosive on," Dr. Drakken yelled, "before that girl and her sidekick broke in and attacked us? Did you take my tick, and for that matter, where are the schematics for the ticks themselves?"
If Shego was confused before, she was bewildered now, "what do you think happened to them," she asked in an irritated voice? "Why do you think those teenagers were here in the first place," she asked derisively, "they weren't here for you, or for me? They were hired to get the tick back from that Professor Akari-guy," she shouted as her agitation caused ripples to appear in her bath water!
"HOW DARE SHE TAKE WHAT YOU RIGHTFULLY STOLE," Drakken roared over the intercom, causing her to look at the device in confusion?!
"What are you talking about, Lipskey," Shego demanded, "I stole the thing and Professor Akari hired Team Possible to steal it back for him. That's how the game is played, Drew," Shego explained in a placating voice, "if you can't handle that then you need to get out of the life. I learnt that a long time ago," Michelle lectured.
"Fine, Rouge wins this round, but I also placed a global positioning tracker on the tick I constructed," Drakken explained, it was already built into the blueprints, but Shego doesn't need to know that, Drakken mused, "they're in Colorado of all places. You stole it from that hack in the Amazon…"
Shego's eyes widened as she began to understand what the Doc was getting at, "meaning they haven't returned it to their client, meaning the game is still fresh. We can still get it back," she finished in excitement, as she stood up from her bath, the soapy suds cascading down between her breasts and down her body! She looked down at herself, then at the intercom, "I'm gonna finish here and get some rest," Shego outlined, "once they begin to relax we'll pounce. Understand, Drakken," she asked?
"Why can't we go get it now," Drakken's voice whined over the intercom?
"Because I need time to recuperate," Shego retorted, then asked in a sing-song voice, "unless you want to be the one to fight them yourself?"
"Fine, fine, Shego, just don't forget who pays your salary," Drakken grumbled arrogantly.
"As long as you don't forget who has saved your hide, time and time again," Shego reminded him, "and remember I don't just fight for money, I fight because I like a challenge."
Drakken just cut off with a growl, as Shego settled back down into her tub, she used her power to reheat the water. She allowed the heat to relax her muscles and to clear her mind. Looks like I get to thank Wolfie for respecting me sooner than I realised, Michelle thought, too bad for him, my thanks includes molten hot plasma.
Tex-Mex Fury
Bueno Nacho:Middleton:after dark.
Team Possible have just returned from England, the Possibles had dropped them off so they could spend some time together. Ron showed Kim to a seat and went up to the counter to place their order. He was wearing his normal attire when not on a mission. A maroon hockey-jersey, over a dark turtleneck, tan cargo-pants, and sneakers.
After placing his order with Ned, he began to think about the blessings in his life. God has given him the best parents any kid could ask for, and allowed the Possibles to be in his life, whom he loves as much as his true parents. Now, Kim was his girlfriend, and it was becoming clear that his feelings for her were starting to deepen. He did not know where his life, as an adventurer, as a mutant, was going to lead him, but he hoped she was a part of it.
He knew that he was not ready to do anything serious with Kim and he hoped she felt the same. Someday, I will, someday I want to have a life with a wife and kids. I am going to take the lessons Dad and Mom have taught me, and apply them to my children. I will show them unconditional love, and make sure they know…
Ron's olfactory sense had alerted him to a couple of scents nearby, and one of them was unfamiliar, but at the same time he felt like he knew the scent. The other one however, he definitely remembered meeting. The other two were similar to his own scent, Ron was not wearing his gold shades, so he could not activate his Gold-Eyes to find out who the new scent was, or figure out where they were.
Ron began to practice his breathing techniques to relax his body. He received his order, and turned to go back to his table. His eyes scanned the room, but he could find no one that he did not know within the restaurant. Which he deduced meant the smells were coming from outside.
He walked over to Kim with a relaxed smile on his face, she was wearing her usual everyday clothes, a green crop top, capri-jeans, and her own pair of sneakers. "Here we go KP," he began with an upbeat voice, as he began to dole out the food. "A burrito with medium diablo-sauce, for you, and a taco grande platter for me."
"Thank you, Ron," Kim replied with a happy smile.
Ron placed his hand down on the table, palm up, which was promptly filled by hers. He picked up his taco and took a bite, and as soon as his mouth was clear, he began to talk. "You know, I'm so glad they no longer put beans in their beef mix. They have such an off putting texture when they're mixed in with the meat." Beans was a code word within Team Possible to discreetly alert each of danger. Ron hated beans, and Kim never ate them, because they caused some very unladylike emissions.
Kim squeezed his hand, "what kind of beans did they use again, were they bad beans?"
Kim had no sooner asked Ron, when the roof was suddenly ripped off the building. A yellow energy was breaking the roof into pieces and pulling it toward the beam, which seemed to swallow the pieces whole. It was obvious whoever built the thing had a devious mind.
They looked up and saw a rather odd aircraft. It was basically a flying saucer, with a silverish hull, a pair of jet engines providing thrust, but there did not seem to be any discernible means of keeping it in the air. No vertical thrusters like a VTOL engine, or rotors like a helicopter, it came to a stop directly above the Bueno Nacho, and that means it remained suspended in the air, by some unknown means, as stable as any of the cars in the parking lot.
On the top part of the craft, at what would be considered the centre of the circle, was an open air cockpit, and in the cockpit were Dr. Drakken and Shego.
Even in the midst of their astonishment they heard the whining, sulking voice of Dr. Drakken said, while crossing his arms, "I could've done that."
The green-woman looked back at him, smirking, and quipped, "Can you do this," as she jumped over the side? She landed on a table, and pointed a finger at them, "Team Possible has something that belongs to us!"
"If you're talking about the blueprints for the tick," Kim began, as she jumped to a table close to her enemy, "then you're wrong. They belong to us, until we turn them over to our client, Professor Akari, they belong to Team Possible. As per international salvage regulations, we retrieved them from you and therefore, until we are paid for the retrieval the tick plans belong to us."
"Other than that, we have no idea what you're talking about," Ron stated as he moved closer to Shego as well, though he remained on the ground.
"Unless you're referring to the tick we found on me while we were in New York," Kim wondered? "If that's the case then we don't know why or how you tracked us here, because we destroyed that thing as soon as we found it, and disabled the explosive."
"We followed the GPS signal in the tick," Shego answered, seeing no reason to keep quiet about the how's and why's. She took out a GPS device, and turned toward Ron, "this is accurate to within thirty-feet…"
Behind Ron, a figure leapt through one of the broken windows. It was a male in a yellow and red uniform, carrying a pair of sickles. He leapt at Ron, who had felt him coming, and recognised his scent. Using reflexes born of his skills in soccer and basketball, Ron pivoted right to avoid the blade.
"Akari-san, there's no need to attack me," Ron was saying, "we were going to contact you tomorrow to return your invention!"
"I am sorry, Stoppable-san," Ikari spoke in a hard voice, "but Professor Akari has been dead for some time now. I needed him, only to make the request on your website, afterwards, he was a liability, so I fed him to the piranha."
Ron was dodging a succession of strikes making every effort to stay out of reach of his sickles. The casual way this man spoke about murder caused Ron to momentarily hesitate, because he had never met someone with such a casual disregard for human life. That moment of hesitation cost him dearly however, because Ikari never stopped his hands from moving, until he buried one kama into Ron's flank.
Ron screamed in agony as he wilted to his knees. He looked up just in time for Ikari to loop behind him and slit his throat with the other sickle.
"I am sorry, Stoppable-san," Ikari said as he stood with his back to the boy, "but I was hired to finish you. As you are dying, I will tell you of my employer," Ikari stated in a placating voice, "he was the Ambassador to the United States from Greece, his name…"
Ikari felt the rush of displaced air a millisecond too late, the noise of the fight between the ladies was throwing off his sonar. Ron's fist crashed into Ikari's kidney, the ronium gave his already powerful punch the feel of a club in the older man's side. The next attack came at Ikari's knee, which felt like a hit from a baseball bat
That same knee was grabbed and pulled forward and up, dumping the blind man on his back. "Hu…go Nat…chios," came a raspy voice, his throat just finished healing? When the blind man stayed silent, Ron reared back and punched the downed man in the ribs. Ikari's perfect ears heard the cracking of his ribs, "talk you bastard, the man that hired you was Hugo Natchios correct?"
"Hai, Ron Stoppable," Ikari replied, "it was Hugo Natchios."
Ron looked at the blind man in contempt, he wanted to kill him so bad he was shaking from holding himself back. "You are under arrest, for the attempted murder of a Global Justice Peace Officer. I don't have any handcuffs with me at the moment," Ron stated while lifting Ikari up a little bit, then brought his fist around and into Ikari's face. He was out like a light, "that should keep you from getting away anytime soon."
Ron stood up to find Kim expertly dodging Shego's attacks and smirked, Kim doesn't need her powers against that woman, she's barely breathing hard.
"How are you doing, Kim," Ron yelled out?
"Fair," she replied as she landed in front of the main entrance to the restaurant. Shego landed shortly after Kim, sending a feint sweep at her legs. Kim, not falling for it, ducked below, just as Shego made her true intentions known with a spin-kick, which Kim intercepted with a grab and a spin of her own. Kim threw Shego at the door, which shattered upon impact, knocking Shego out cold,
Up in the strange craft, Drakken was beginning to panic, "Shego has failed," he shouted in disbelief, "but she never fails! No," he cried, as he banged his head on the dashboard!
This caused him to activate another device he had on board, "Oh no, the excavator ray!" He began punching buttons to make it abort its activation sequence, but in his panic, he forgot how to do it.
Ron saw the device point itself at the group by the door, which happened to include Kim. Ron began to move before he could think about it, at this moment, he forgot that Kim was probably the strongest being on the planet. His brain had switched to its default mode of protecting Kim, he also switched to his behemoth form, which had the advantage of accelerating his body, faster than a person should be able to run.
Ron jumped between his girlfriend and the beam. Whatever the purpose of the beam was, it became moot when it struck Ron, because nothing happened to him at all. Ron needed to conceal as much of his abilities as possible, so he could not use his chains, they would be too difficult to conceal.
His jump carried him out of Bueno Nacho, and into the exterior dining area. I need to disable that thing or it could hurt someone, Ron thought. Then he saw that he was standing next to one of the tables with umbrellas, with aluminium poles. Ron has always had a good throwing arm, even when he was six or seven, he always did better than average in throwing games.
Ron reached over and wrenched the umbrella from the table. As soon as he touched the metal pole, something happened to it. From the point of contact it began to darken, the darkness, he quickly understood, was ronium. He did not have any time to examine this phenomenon more thoroughly so he reached up to remove the cloth of the umbrella, which did not change.
He raised his new, makeshift javelin and took careful aim, looking for the weakest part of the craft. He found his target, and threw.
Up in the craft, Drakken was trying to find the shutdown sequence for the excavator ray. He was just about to figure it out, when a spear pierced the bottom of the hovercraft, just centimetres from his toes. The hovercraft began to wobble in mid-air, all systems suddenly shutdown. All systems except what was needed to maintain its stability, descended to the ground like an Angel coming to Earth.
"Dr. Drakken, you're under arrest for vandalism and assault with a deadly weapon," Ron declared.
"You think you're all that…" he began to say, but before Drakken could finish, Ron punched him in the face, knocking him out cold.
"I don't have handcuffs for you either," Ron stated. It was not long after that when the local police showed up, Ron had reverted to his base form with a surprise. Ron was pretty much indestructible, but his clothes were not, luckily the fight only seemed to have destroyed his upper garments.
Kim rushed out to meet him, only to be brought up short when she saw him. Ron was not traditionally considered muscular, and he is fairly thin, but he is a very active person. He can easily keep up with Kim on long treks through the wilderness, but until now, she never knew what that said about his physique. The phrase, Ron was ripped to shreds was a very succinct description of his body. He was lean and muscular, and if there was an ounce more the 10% of fat on his frame she would eat her Pom-Poms
Kim shook herself from her stupor and rushed over to her boyfriend. The police arrived in time to surround a comatose Drakken and Shego, as well as an out cold Ikari.
Ron began to wrap things up with, "Situation…"
"…resolved," Kim finished.
In the parking lot of Bueno Nacho a woman sat astride a motorcycle. It was a Black Kawasaki Ninja with a red hourglass laying horizontally over the headlight. Natalia had watched the fight unfold and would have helped her targets, but wanted to see what they were made of. It was a good first-impression, they did good against the Drakken and Shego, as I heard them being called.
She saw Ron pause slightly at the counter as she arrived. Romanova had deliberately put herself downwind of him as soon as she entered the parking lot. She wanted to test how acute his sense of smell was, and she was impressed. He was able to detect me and Ikari, even when we were outside, I'll have to be careful if I want to observe them without being detected, if it's even possible with him around.
She watched him relax himself as he turned to go back to his seat. Saw Ron scan his immediate surroundings as he moved to look for the threat that had triggered his senses. If I wasn't so skilled I would have thought he was just walking back to his table. I may not have known to look for it if I didn't see his shoulders tense up when he detected me and Ikari.
Possible is pretty good herself, Ron no doubt told her of his suspicions when he returned to the table, but she didn't give a single indication that he had. Hill is right, they're very good. I would rather not have them as enemies, I want them to be friends, but I really hope I can become family to them. At least to Ron and his parents, and I think me and Kim would get along quite well.
Natalia watched as local PD arrived to process the scene, then started up her bike, and drove off. Please God, let us become a real family, not just in name and blood, but in love as well. I am so close, don't take them away from me now.