I do not own any Disney characters named herein, and am only borrowing them to tell a nonprofit tale meant for entertainment purposes only.

Kim Possible: Stranger In The Mirror

By LJ58

10

For just the slightest tick of a second, the green-skinned woman seemed to just stand there clad in rumpled sweats that were charring, and burning away as her body flamed from within, seemingly unseeing, but the screaming now dropping to a low, ominous rumbling sound from deep in her throat.

Then, her lips parted as the green fire around her seemed to fade slightly, flaring here and there, and then Shego growled in earnest.

"I'll kill them all," she roared, and charged forward.

Slamming face-first into the boy's combined security shields.

"Let me have him," she screeched at them, banging on the invisible walls around the once self-aggrandized Professor Dementor who had been hiding for some time. "You don't know what he did to me! What he was going to do…..!"

"Sounds like you're back to yourself," a quieter voice murmured from behind her as a small hand risked reaching out to touch her.

Shego spun around, fists raised, and glared.

"Princess," she almost growled again.

"Sounds like her," Jim declared.

"Sure acts like her," Tim added, though neither was dropping their shields.

"Listen to me? Please?"

Shego glared, but finally sighed, and nodded.

"Do you really want to come back like that? Tearing apart an unconscious man?"

"He's not a man, he's…"

"Yeah?"

"I'm thinking," Shego snipped. "What's worse than a slimy, backstabbing, cowardly toad?"

"I could think of a few things," Kim nodded. "Trust me, I'd love to see you barbeque this freak myself. Or worse."

"Then why…..?"

"Shego, you can't know how I would love to tear him apart myself. Trust me, I understand. But we can't stoop to his level," Kim told her.

Shego just glared at her now, her clenched fists now the only part of her body wreathed in her distinctive plasma energies.

"So, you're going to trust him to the courts? The same ones that always did such a great job with people like us in the first place," Shego demanded in a seething voice.

"Oh, no," Kim smiled. "No nice, cushy cell, and soft life for the Professor," she said with more than a hint of malice in her tone that belied her smile as she eyed the fallen man Tim was now trussing up in a very snug fashion. "Not this time."

The lanky teen had first bound the man's hands and feet with his special flex-ties. Then he wrapped those ties in thick layers of duct tape. After that, he put a band of tape around the man's thick waist to keep his arms bound behind him even if managed to somehow free his hands.

"So, which did you decide," Jim asked, only then dropping their shields. "I know you have been planning this one for years. How do we make him suffer," the twin asked with an expression that made even Shego wonder about him.

"I have thought about it. And I decided I'd give him one last chance to reform."

"Kimmie," Shego growled again.

"Operation Fly-Trap," she told the boys.

"No big," Tim said, and pulled a device that looked like a small TV remote from his belt's equipment pouches. "Can't wait to watch his reception."

"Reception," Shego frowned as a sickly, yellow beam shown over the captive man, and he began to shrink.

"What are you planning on doing with the freak," Shego asked, now visibly calming as the last traces of her plasma faded away by then. "Because no way is getting off light this time," she swore, eyeing Kim, then looking back at the rapidly shrinking poser.

"Trust me," Kim smiled. "DeMenz is about to learn all about Karma," she told her. "Now, calm down. You okay? Do you….still think you're me?"

"What? Hell, no," Shego sputtered. "I can't believe…. I mean, what they were doing…."

"Tell us," Jim and Tim said as one as Tim carefully picked up the unconscious felon the size of an ant with a pair of tweezers, and dropped him into a glass tube he secured in his equipment belt.

Shego scowled, then shook her head.

"First, let's make sure nothing is left that can be used on me, or Kimmie, again. Nothing."

"Oh, we can take care of that," the twins smiled coolly, and Tim now pulled out a small, black box the size of a matchbox.

"Boys, we need to download any important files, first, and make sure there is nothing else in the works that might come back to bite us," Kim reminded them. "And I want to make sure that digital brain of mine is gone, too."

"Consider it done," Jim declared.

"All of it," Tim nodded, and plugged the apparent matchbox into the nearest console.

The computers, and machines around them all began to switch on, humming with life, and the small box chirped only a few seconds later.

"We have everything they had," Jim nodded to Kim as Shego simply eyed them. "Deleting their files now."

Shego only scowled as she watched the pair work, and an instant later, Tim pulled the box from the computer as the machines all went dark in the same instant.

"Done," the twins gave a curt nod to the two women.

"Then that just leaves the freaks that tried to play me," Shego growled. "After I make sure you do punish Dementor…."

"We will," Kim told her firmly, holding tightly to her cane, her face looking pale just then.

"Overdid it again," Tim sighed.

"Need the hover disk," Jim asked.

Shego turned, and frowned at Kim.

"Okay, what's with the….? Wait. Princess, are you hurt? What happened to you?"

"You don't remember….? What do you remember, Shego," Kim asked.

"I….."

She paused, looked around, then eyed the twins.

"Let's just say I suddenly have no clue how I got here, or why the twin terrors there are so old. They are your brothers? Right?"

"Yep," the twins grinned. "And we should be going. Now."

"I've learned to listen to them," Kim told her. "Come on, we'll talk on the way. It looks like you burning out the last of my digitized memories left you without any recent memories."

"When you say recent…..?"

"Talk later. Move now. It's not over yet," Tim reminded them.

Shego followed, but kept glancing at Kim, and taking note of the cane she leaned on.

"Just tell me I saw you shrink that freak Dementor. That wasn't a dream, was it?"

"You remember that?"

"I remember starting to get knocked out, and then….. Then Dementor was there, and you guys…..popped in. What the hell is going on here," Shego demanded.

"Shego, what's the date?"

"What kind of question is…."

"Date," Jim and Tim echoed Kim's question.

Shego told them.

"No," Kim said, limping after her with a grim expression. "That was over six years ago."

"Six…..years," Shego frowned.

"Let's get back to the transport, and we'll talk on the way back."

"Back where?"

"Our place," Kim told her. "Don't worry, you'll be safe there."

"I'll be safe," Shego sputtered.

Kim nodded as they headed up the hall for a still open elevator.

"You have a lot to catch up on, Shego. Don't worry, though. You're with friends."

"Friends," Shego said, giving her an odd look.

"We're going stealth again. Just in case. Don't worry, we're right beside you," the twins told Shego. "We'll be your ace in the hole if someone tries to stop us. Kim, you, too. Just in case."

"Hey….!"

Shego stopped, and looked around, but all three Possibles had just vanished.

"We're here," Kim told her, one hand on her shoulder. "Now, back to the lift, and we'll get to the roof, and get you out of here."

"Someone had better have one damn good explanation," Shego grumbled as she headed for the open doors. "Because all I remember is….."

"Shego," Kim asked, her voice still close as the green-skinned woman froze, and stared at herself as best she could.

"I just realized," Shego sputtered, holding up her hands, and eyeing the charred sweats she wore. "What the hell am I wearing."

"Part of that long story," Kim chortled. "Let's go. We don't want to get cut off now."

Shego couldn't argue with that one.

She loped for the open lift, and considered bolting, just in case, but even as she paused, someone else pushed the floor button, and the lift began to move.

"You weren't going to leave us behind, were you," a snide Possible tone asked.

"Yeah. Even Kim's not that slow, even with her injuries."

"About that? What the hell happened? No way could anyone I know hurt you that bad, Princess. Who….?"

"Dementor suckered me on a solo mission," Kim admitted. "My last mission, technically. He almost killed me. We've been looking for him since. Only this is the first time any of us have seen him in some time. I suspect something big was up for him to risk coming out of the dark like this."

"We'll find out. We do have their whole database," Jim crowed.

"Well, I can tell you part of it," Shego told them as she glanced around the seemingly empty car.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Dementor, and some other eggheads were trying to put alien DNA in me. They thought it would make me stronger. Tougher. I don't know the endgame, but I got the feeling some mind-control was involved," she spat in disgust.

She didn't know the three Possibles shared a look via their IFR visors.

"You could say that. So, someone in the military wanted a super-amped, mind-controlled Shego," Kim frowned unseen.

"Bio-weapon," both twins said as one.

"Likely," Kim agreed. "But that implies they had a specific target. I'd like to know who, or what it was if they only….shelved the project, and Shego, for so long."

"Good questions," Jim pointed out.

"Don't worry," Tim said as the elevator stopped, and the doors opened. "We'll find out."

"This way," Kim said, an unseen hand tugging at her sleeve as they left the car.

They didn't see anyone as they came out into the hall, but stayed quiet all the same. Shego stopped when Kim stopped her, and Kim reappeared to point up.

"Oh, you are kidding me," Shego growled, eyeing the open grating over an air duct.

"Fastest way in, or out. Some things don't change," Kim grinned at her now before leaping up by using her good leg to boost her high enough to grab the duct.

"Apparently not," Shego muttered.

"Go on. We're right behind you," Jim told her.

Shego glanced around, the twins still invisible, and muttered, "That's what I'm afraid of," with cool ire.

KP

"Have you heard the news yet," Will Du asked as he walked into Dr. Director's office holding several files.

Betty yawned, reaching for the fresh cup of coffee recently filled, and lifted it.

"What now," she asked.

"It seems the President moved swiftly on your….suggestions last night after it was reported that Kim Possible had returned to Middleton, and has holed up again with her family. And Shego."

"Our teams haven't reported in?"

"They're in place, but they never saw the boys arrive, or depart. Guess they went for discretion this time."

"Has anyone gotten inside?"

"No. But no one is reporting any movement, either. They have kept the usual workers out, though. Just in case."

"Send in a sweep team now. Full armor, and eyes open. I want to know what is under that building, and yesterday. If Possible is already out, there's a good chance they already have anything of value, but let's not take chances," Dr. Director ordered him.

"Understood. The news," he went on. "The President has named Hardgrave personally responsible for the orders to activate regular army troops on U.S. soil to take down Shego for undisclosed reasons. He's being stripped of his rank, and courtmartialed without delay."

"That might be credible enough to calm down those involved. All the same, the senior commanders on the field still hold some culpability in this. I don't see them getting out of it that easily," Betty surmised. "Especially when the Henchco angle is inevitably exposed."

"The President hasn't mentioned that one as yet," Will admitted.

"If he doesn't, I will. Anything from Team Possible?"

"No, but the local governor, and the Middleton mayor are both demanding a full Congressional oversight committee to investigate the situation," Will nodded. "I'll just go get those orders passed on now. With luck, we'll have this one settled within the day."

Dr. Director looked doubtful, but set her nearly empty mug back down to eye the steady stream of reports still coming in.

"Keep me informed."

"Shouldn't you get some rest now that….."

"Not until we know everything is settled. Everything," Betty told him. "The last time I relaxed too soon, Possible ended up blindsided by Dementor, and we already lost her. That won't happen again. Not again," Betty stated curtly.

"Well, on the positive side, she did survive. And Dementor has been running scared since."

"Yet someone claimed he was involved in this project. So where is he, Will," Dr. Director asked.

"I….."

"Don't you think it behooves us to find out? Soon?"

"I'll get on it myself," Will nodded.

Betty just waved him out as she opened the new reports he had brought her.

KP

Shego watched as the truly tiny Dementor was dropped into a covered dome that was, in fact, a sealed bio-sphere the boys had created.

The, to them, four foot wide specimen tray, was actually a penal farm of sorts that the Possible boys had created when they took displeasure in the rotating doors at the usual Federal Pens where most super-villains and major felons were barely contained. If at all.

Kim explained that so far they only had six occupants. The worst of the worst that refused any hint of rehabilitation.

At their size, they had no choice but to remain in place, since escape was not only next to impossible, it could be lethal at their size. Especially as only her brothers could restore them to size. The occupants were shrunk down, forced to work, and work together, for their survival, or they got very hungry.

It rarely took long for the newest members of their 'farm' to learn that rule.

As she saw Dementor confronted by the six prisoners on a monitor to better watch them, she smirked as the biggest of the lot, a burly brute that called himself Bulldozer for his insanely amped strength, and nearly impenetrable skin thanks to Jack Hench's science, walked up to confront him.

Bulldozer had been the boy's first prisoner.

The six-six felon had quickly established himself as leader of the motley group, and ensured they all worked. The labor on the genuine working farmstead was easiest for him, but he ensured everyone pitched in. As he eyed the smaller man dropped into their bio-sphere, the burly, bald man merely smirked coldly.

"Oh, should we have pointed out that Bulldozer hates Dementor," Kim smiled less than innocently. She then lowered her voice to speak to them, conscious of their size as she used the single opening in the dome to declared, "Okay, guys, break's over. Bull," she called him, "Fill in the Professor, and put him to work. Remember, we're still watching you. Keep up the good work, and you might even earn parole yet."

Shego eyed the dome, the layout of the farm that was mostly fields with real crops growing at a diminutive size, and the single barracks to one side, with three smaller buildings obviously used for tools, or whatever.

"Suddenly, I'm very glad you guys weren't around while Doc and I were working. Speaking of which, what happened to…..?"

"He's actually trying to adapt his mad science to help the world these days. Sometimes, he even gets something right."

"Okay. So, what now," Shego asked. "Because it occurs to me that I'm sitting here with a six year hole in my freaking head, and still don't know what's really going on, Kimmie," she grumbled.

"Come with me," Kim nodded, and turned to leave the lab where the 'Farm' was kept.

Shego grumbled, but followed her.

"Dare I hope you are taking me to some decent clothes?"

Kim chuckled.

"Well, I did think you'd like to clean up," she said, and led her to the lift that carried them back up to the living quarters in the actual apartment building above the ground.

"You sure this is safe. The last time we were here…."

"The army has always been shooed," Kim grinned over her shoulder. "Trust me, right now, they have more to worry about than us. Dr. Director is now reminding them why attacking her, or us, is a very bad idea."

"Damn," Shego frowned. "So, Cyclops is actually standing up for me? Never thought that would ever happen," the green-skinned woman frowned as Kim led her out of the lift, and into her own apartment. Then out into the hall.

"In here," Kim told her, unlocking a door.

"Is this….?"

Kim gestured. "Your room."

"My….? My room," she frowned, eyeing the apartment that was decorated in greens and black, with an occasional splash of white.

"Remember Miss Go," Kim smiled now.

Shego groaned.

"You left quite a lot behind when you took off that day. Part of me always hoped you would come back. Or visit. I did get the feeling that we were…..friends at the end," Kim told her.

"Wait. Wait. You sit up this entire place on the chance…..?"

"Your clothes are in the closet, and the bath is furnished with the things you favor. I kept it cleaned myself, so all you have to do is move in," Kim smiled. "Although mom made sure everything was ready for you while we were on our way back."

"Why would you….?"

"Three reasons, Shego," Kim cut her off.

"Uh, okay."

"One, I still help people that need help. Let's face it, right now, you need help."

Shego started to scowl.

"Two, remember, you do have a six year gap in your memories now. We need to find out exactly where they end, and catch you up. Now, who else do you know that is going to be willing do that without just shoving you in another cell? In spite of the fact you were technically pardoned years ago," she cut her off when Shego started to protest.

"Okay. Okay, fair enough," Shego grumbled as she eyed the apartment, and found it….tolerable. "Third?"

"Third is the best reason of all. You're my friend, and I'm not going to leave you when you need me most," Kim smiled at her.

Shego just stared.

"Friends? Us? You think…..?"

"Tell me I'm wrong," Kim demanded, and walked over to stand in front of her. "Besides, Drew told me the real reason you ran away."

"Drew….told you," Shego now looked pale again.

"You don't have to run anymore, Shego," Kim told her. "I'm not forcing anything here, but….if you do want to be friends, or more, we can figure it out together. Besides, you're safe here. You have my word."

Shego swallowed hard, and looked at the redhead.

"I always knew you were…..something. But now…."

"Yes," Kim asked.

"Okay. Okay. For now. But I still owe some eggheads some serious….."

Kim put a finger over her lips.

"The only man still alive from that project is DeMenz. I'd say he's taken care of already. Wouldn't you?"

Shego chortled, remembering the squat man's face as he was dropped in front of the bigger men in that lab farm.

"What the hell," she said. "This could be fun. So, where's the shower," she demanded.

"Right this way," Kim lead her. "And, Shego?"

"Yeah," the other woman asked, eyeing the place as Kim led her through it.

"Welcome home," she grinned.

Shego found she didn't have a word to say to that one.

End…?