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

Kim Possible: Flirting With the Enemy

By LJ58

1

She stood alone at the virtually unmarked grave, staring at the plain marker that had only a date on it. Just that.

The stark inscription was due in part to the way the deceased had lived. It was also due in part to the fact that no one truly known her, or come forward to claim her. Not even her brothers, not that anyone blamed Kim for the fact that Shego had died, technically at her hands.

Still, Shego was dead.

The big D.

And it was Kim's fault.

In the end, no one truly blamed her. They did not need to when she blamed herself.

She had been furious at the time. Her adrenalin, and her raw emotions amped by both the treachery of Drakken's latest ploy, and an experimental battle suit that used her own emotions against her in the end. Those darker passions simply took over, and she didn't even try to stop herself in the end.

"Do you know what I hate," she heard herself saying yet again as she stared at that plain headstone with just that telling date on it.

"That your date melted," the sardonic quip hung in the air just before Kim snapped.

"No. You!"

The redhead sighed, remembering how she had smiled then. How she had been so smug as she had watched the older woman fall. Watching as she smashed into the crumbling transmission tower that literally buried the woman as both fell to the unforgiving ground far below.

She supposed some small part of herself thought it had to be a dream. Or a nightmare. Shego had always gotten back up. Always. She felt at the time that the woman would just pop up out of that rubble, dust herself off, and make some snide comment.

She didn't.

Not this time.

She was dead.

The really and truly dead.

And Kim knew that whatever anyone else said, it was her fault.

She had killed.

Yet they still called her a hero. Kim, however, couldn't call herself that any longer. Not now.

"I'm sorry," she murmured to the grave that was both unmarked, and unmapped, so neither friend nor foe might not find it, and use the woman's body in some mad science sure to only cause trouble.

More trouble.

It was her last favor, asking Dr. Director to arrange the woman's final resting place where she could at least rest in peace without anyone doing anything more to her. She turned, and walked away, the flowers she had brought the only ones on the grave as she walked toward her waiting car that had Dr. Director had arranged to carry her here for the private memorial.

Very private, since Kim was the only one present. She wasn't even trusting Ron with this secret. Shego would rest in peace, and only Kim would bear the burden of knowing where, since the burial had been in secret, with a closed casket so the workers thought she was just a homeless person no one had bothered to claim.

That somber end was better than what the wrong people might try if they had access to the comet-powered woman's body. Even Dr. Director knew that well enough.

Kim didn't look back as she rode away, heedless of the driver's comments, whatever they might have been. So she never saw the faint green aura rising from the cold earth under the grey skies. Or the glowing, green fist that abruptly smashed up through the freshly packed soil to open, and all but clutch at the open air.

KP

"I quit," Kim told her friend when Ron came over just one week after the very private funeral that only she had attended.

She was sure that Shego's 'villain' friends might have come had Kim let anyone know where Shego had been lain to rest. She just didn't trust them not to do something stupid. Either at the funeral. Or with Shego's body. Better to let the woman finally rest in peace, even if no one else would ever know who was actually buried under that simple grave.

"But, Kim….?"

"I quit, Ron. Don't you see, it's the only thing I can do," she told him curtly. "I killed her. Me. Kim Possible. I'm not a hero any more. I'm a….murderer."

"Kim," the sandy-blonde teen sputtered. "Everyone agreed it was self-defense. She was trying to take over the world. Again! She would have killed you. Us! C'mon, Kim, this isn't like you….."

"No, kicking a woman off a roof into a falling tower isn't like me. I was out of control, Ron. Whatever they said at that hearing, I… I was to blame. What if it happens again? And again? I can't take that chance. Not again. I…. I'm not a hero. Not anymore," she rasped, shaking her head.

"KP, Wade said he fixed the suit. It's not likely it will overamp your emotions again…."

"Ron. No. I'm….finished. Besides. I have enough ahead of me just now. Senior year. College. My whole future….."

She trailed off, suddenly feeling that her future looked a bleak, and cheerless thing to her just now.

"Well, what about GJ? I thought you wanted to make them your future," he argued helplessly.

She shook her head as they stood in front of her house, and she eyed the repairs still being made after the Lil' Diablos had almost killed them that night.

"I'll find a new one," she told him quietly, turning away from him. "One without…..death in it."

Ron sighed.

"Kim, you know I'll always have your back. Whatever you decide…."

"I'm done, Ron. That's my decision. Find your own way, because…..the mission sitch? It's done."

Ron could only stare helplessly at her as she went inside, unable to believe that Kim had just quit like that.

KP

She climbed out of the grave, coughing, sucking air, and feeling way past nauseous as her head swam wildly.

She barely heeded the cold droplets falling as she managed to finally climb to her knees, brushing the most of the mud off her pale, green dress, and looking around in confused horror.

They had buried her?

She saw a small bouquet on the gravestone, and frowned. When she looked, she noted the date that stood out on the simple, granite headstone. Only that was all. Just a date. Nothing else. No name. No epithet. Nothing.

"Jeez, you'd think I'd have earned a little something extra," she grumbled, rubbing her left side that still throbbed where the redhead had kicked her like a mule, breaking more than a few ribs at the time.

Forcing herself to her feet, she felt her power still working on healing her, but it was still lagging just then. If she were in a box, though, then they probably didn't even realize she had survived. Obviously, since they had stuck her in a hole, too. Still? Buried like someone's poor, unwanted cousin? What was that about? Surely she warranted a little more recognition than some vagrant?

Staggering away from the grave, still unsteady on her own feet, she leaned on a nearby stone angel, and looked down at someone's name on the far more ornate memorial near her own simple grave.

"Huh," she muttered, reading something about second changes in the next world.

She looked back to the grave where she had just woke, right before she went into full panic mode, literally tearing her way out of the coffin, and tunneling up through seven feet of clay before she paused to realize what she had even done.

She chewed her lip as she eyed the ragged hole in the center of her grave, and rubbed her itching nose as she did.

Then she started to smile.

Staggering over, she picked up a neglected shovel left at another nearby grave by someone earlier, and began to fill in the hole. She did not stop until the grave looked untouched once again. By then, the now steady rain had rinsed the mud from her long hair, and burial dress. A green gown she had to admit was quite pretty. At least they got that much right. Planting the shovel back where she had found it, she eyed the simple flowers left by her simple headstone, and reached down to pluck the card from the arrangement.

Despite the running ink, she could still make out the equally simple words.

"I'm sorry. Rest in peace. Kim."

"She's kidding," she drawled mostly to herself, but impulsively kept the card as she turned and walked not toward the road, but toward the nearby forest.

The last thing she wanted to do was let anyone know she had not only survived, but that her healing factor was far stronger than anyone had ever guessed. She had long ago learned that if she just gave herself enough time, she could recover from literally just about anything.

Just now, after Blueboy's latest fiasco literally blowing up in her face, she just wanted to go somewhere that she could relax, unwind, and forget she had just been buried, and left for dead. Maybe she'd come back later, and let Kimmie know just how hard she was to really put down. For now, it struck her funny that the redheaded nuisance must have actually mourned her.

Then again, that was like her. Little Miss Perfect to the end. She even had a soft spot for her enemies.

Doy!

Now, she mused, where to go on vacation?

KP

"Kim, they asked especially for you," Wade told her over the computer, having learned she had already deactivated the Kimmunicator, and refused to answer it of late.

"Wade, I said no. I've said no for five months. I'm still saying no. Now, if you don't mind, I have a test coming up that I really need to study for here," the redhead retorted, and closed the IM box he had opened.

Apparently, she was going to have to do something about her security if Wade was still able to get in that easily. He might be smart, but she was no slouch, either, and she was getting tired of him popping up every other week or so, trying to sway her back out into the field.

Frankly, her life had gotten much simpler since she had turned her back on missions, and simply lived her life like a real basic, average girl.

Less stress. More time for her own life and sitches. Surprisingly, even Bonnie wasn't on her back half so much of late.

No, only Dr. Director, and Wade complained these days.

It wasn't like she was the only hero in the world. There were lots of others, and they seemed to be handling the slack well enough from what she could tell. Her life was actually less complicated since she gave up the hero biz, and she liked it that way.

She was even learning to say no to a lot of others that once pressured her into doing virtually anything and everything for them, apparently seeing not a friend, but a lackey.

Funny, she had never seen that before.

She did now.

"Goodbye, Wade," she muttered, and switched off her modem this time so that she could keep working on her report without being interrupted again.

She paused, eyed the clock, and sighed. It looked like Ron missed another 'Naco night,' which meant he was off doing whatever he did since they had quit hanging out as much, or going on missions. He had made new friends, though, which she was genuinely happy about, and she had to admit he likely didn't miss being dragged into danger every other night by her former obsession.

Still, she had expected him to call if he wasn't going to make it. Usually, he called.

Oh, right. She had switched off the ringer so she could focus on her studying.

Rising, she walked to the door of her room, and called down, "Mom? Any calls for me?"

"No, sweetie," Ann Possible shouted back up. "Don't you have your own phone on?"

"Uh, not at the moment."

"Well, if you're expecting calls, you should turn it on. That is why you have your own extension," she reminded her.

"Right," she murmured, and closed her door, walked back to her desk, and just stared at the computer screen filled with words that meant nothing to her just now. Wade's interruption had distracted her from whatever she had been doing.

Six months now. It had been all but six months now since….

She sighed, and switched off the computer before falling onto her bed, and staring up at the ceiling.

Funny how she thought of that woman more now than when she had been chasing her and Drakken around the world. Funny how she only now wondered about how she had lived, and why she had become the sardonic creature she recalled when before all that had mattered was beating her. Besting her. Proving she was better. Proving she could…..

She sighed again, and shook her head.

Well, she beat her. She had put her into the ground. She had…..

Six months, and the tears still came.

She wasn't sure if they were tears of grief for Shego, or pity for herself.

"Jeez, Pumpkin," the sardonic voice drawled in her ears, sounding so very real to her just then. "You've really let yourself go."

She gave a faint laugh.

That was just how she would sound, Kim knew, wondering if she were cracking up now after everything else. Why else start hearing voices now?

"Hey? You in there," she heard in the same wry tone as something tapped on her brow, and her eyes flew open.

"Hey, Princess. What's up with you? Drew's tried two really stupid 'greatest plans ever' these past few months, and we never saw a trace of you."

Kim's eyes flared wide as she looked up at the pale green figure in a formfitting, black bodysuit.

"S-S-She….?"

Her eyes rolled up in her head just before Kim passed out cold.

"Doy," the green-skinned woman currently clad all in black groaned, sitting down on the nearby chair, and just eyeing the young woman sprawled on her bed, which was convenient since the redhead had passed out cold where she lay. "Right. Forgot. She still thinks I croaked."

Of course, most of the world still thought that, she realized. Even Drew almost had a heart attack when she finally came back from a four month vacation that had really recharged the old batteries. She was feeling pretty good by then, and had walked into his newest lair just in time to hear him shriek like always, and run headlong into a wall fleeing 'zombies.' On impulse, she decided to hide her return, and took to wearing the all black generic uniform to hide her identity for the time being.

The full body costume, complete with a hood, had most everyone thinking she was some kind of ninja, since she pointedly didn't use her plasma around anyone when working.

Only a very small handful of people in their community even knew she was back as yet, and she was rather liking the anonymity. It made stealing soooo much easier. Still, things had gotten entirely too easy, and boring. It didn't take too long to realize why, or to realize that her former cheerleading rival seemed to have faded completely from the scene.

After several of the usual loopy plans Drakken all but foiled himself, she decided to go hunt down her former sparring partner, wondering what was up.

Of all she expected to find, it was not a pale, too thin girl that was holed up in her room like a refugee. She hadn't been able to resist her little greeting, and when those green eyes flew open to stare up at her, she had seen the very real shock in them.

"Damn, Kimmie," she frowned, realizing the girl had really let herself go, "Don't tell me you've actually been beating yourself up over me?"

Then she smiled as an impulse struck her that was actually rather funny. At least, it was to her.

KP

"Hey, Mrs. Dr. P," Ron grinned as he walked into the house carrying several bags in one hand. "How's KP?"

"Upstairs studying, Ron," Ann Possible told him as she looked up from a medical journal she was studying. "I think she was expecting your call earlier."

"Well, you know how it is," he grinned. "I got held up doing…..things. I brought a peace offering, though. Nacos for everyone," he grinned, setting the bags on the coffee table, naming his unlikely creation conjured during a short work-experience at the local Bueno Nacho.

"That's nice. I think the boys are out in the garage again, but maybe you'd like to go up and get Kim. She so rarely comes out of her room any more except for school. I'm afraid she's in danger of becoming a real ghost around here."

"Still? Man, I was really hoping she would shake this funk off by now. I mean….."

"I know. But you know our Kimberly, Ron. She has to take everything to the extreme," Ann sighed.

"Yeah," he grimaced in turn, and glanced to the steps. "I'll go up, and drag her out of the books. Too much studying is unnatural," he said earnestly.

Ann only smiled at the still carefree boy, and went to the door to call the twins.

"KP," Ann heard him shout as she walked back into the kitchen. "Hey, KP?"

There was silence, then Ron all but flew down the stairs. "I hate to say it, but I think she's gone," he told the neurosurgeon as he headed for the door.

"Gone?"

"She's not upstairs, and her window is wide open," he told the redhead as she followed him outside to where he went to stand under her window.

"Ron?"

"Someone was here," he told her, kneeling to inspect the grass beneath the window.

"Are you saying…?"

Ron interrupted her gasp.

"I think…. Someone took her," he told the woman grimly as he focused on the ground.

"Are you sure? Maybe…?"

"Trust me, Dr. P. Someone landed here carrying…something. Someone with feet too big to be Kim's."

"Oh, my God," Ann gasped, looking around the quiet neighborhood.

"Wade," Ron spoke, pulling out a small digital device much like Kim's old Kimmunicator. "We have a sitch. I think someone may have actually snatched Kim."

"Whoa? Are you sure, Ron? I just talked to her not an hour ago….."

"Very certain. Want to scan these prints for me?"

"Sure. Scanning now," he said, and a faint yellow glow emanated from the device. "What about her room."

"I didn't see anything off. No sign of a struggle, but that doesn't mean anything. Still, her window was wide open, and she hasn't been leaving it open lately," Ron pointed out, proving he was still paying attention.

"Then, I'm betting they don't have more than an hour on us," Wade went on. "That was when I was trying to talk to her earlier."

"About what," Ron asked.

"We… That is, GJ heard Drakken was back again. I was hoping….."

"I take it she ignored you again?"

"She even pulled the Ethernet plug on her computer. I think she's serious about quitting."

"It has been over six months," Ron reminded him.

"Well, someone didn't get the memo," Wade frowned. "My calculations on the depth, and stance of the footprints suggest someone was definitely carrying a body that fits Kim's size and weight when they left. Unfortunately, the tread is too indistinct, and could have come from anywhere. But, get this, I found traces of volcanic soil in the prints."

"That just screams lair," Ron said as Kim's mother looked on anxiously.

"I know," Wade agreed.

"All right. See what you can track down. I'm headed for GJ. Maybe Dr. D knows something."

"You do know she doesn't like you calling her that," Wade drawled.

Ron only grunted as he glanced around.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Dr. P," he told her quietly after switching his communicator off. "We'll find her. You can count on us."

"I thought this was over when she quit," the woman sighed. "I thought they'd just leave us alone."

"Some people are sore losers," Ron told her.

"Ron….just…. How are you…? Are you still…working?"

"Let's say I've got my own mission-mojo going," he smiled, and headed for his nearby scooter. "Later, Dr. P. Don't worry, I'll bring her back. You can count on me."

Ann said nothing as he drove away on the small scooter that abruptly sounded like a jet engine was strapped under the battered blue frame when he started it up. She turned back to the house after looking up at the window again, but saw nothing. Had she looked a little higher, she might have seen a pale lights streak across the dark sky where none should have been just then.

To be continued…