Boilerplate Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. Any and all registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

This does not require reading Truce or Consequences, but it might help if you did. In the earlier story Shego and Kim sort of lost Drakken and Ron and agreed to work together until they found them. Kim and Shego actually worked together better than they had expected, even coming to regard the other as an honorary sister – if only for the duration of rescuing Ron and Drakken.

Stretching the Truce

It had been a loonnng day at Club Banana and Kim felt exhausted as she dragged herself home. Why did tweens feel a need to try on every color of every item in the store? This was the first day of her Spring Break, and it was worse than battling insane villains. Monique told her to relax – her constant fussing and straightening scared off customers – but Kim wanted everything to be perfect every second.

And at the end of the day Kim was simply exhausted. She needed to cancel her date with Ron. She wanted to eat dinner with her family, take a hot bath, and go to bed early.

"Kim?" her mom called as she pushed open the door.

"Yes?"

"Company. Family room."

Kim frowned. She wasn't expecting anyone. Her mother wouldn't have called Ron company, and Monique had left Club Banana at the same time as Kim. Who could it be? Kim was in no mood to see anyone. What if… "Please, don't let it be Bonnie," Kim thought to herself. "Please don't let it be Bonnie." Given how terribly her day had gone Kim was convinced of two things, she was facing the worst-case scenario, and the worst case scenario was Bonnie Rockwaller.

Kim was half right. Shego sat in the easy chair chatting with James Possible. The conversation with Kim's dad and sound of the television had apparently kept the green woman from hearing Anne talking to Kim. The thief quickly raised a stick with a white handkerchief tied to it and waved it over her head. "What kept you, Princess?"

"What are you doing here?" Kim groaned, she did not feel like the fight she feared she was about to have.

"Flag of truce."

"The truce was over when you brought me back, remember? And it doesn't answer why you're here."

"New truce. Lasts at least through dinner. Your mom asked me to stay."

Kim wondered if her mother had lost her mind. "And I still want to know why."

"Why what? Your mom asked me to stay to dinner 'cause she's polite. Unlike some people."

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, got a job offer for you."

"What?"

"Job offer."

"I don't rob banks, steal technology, or… What else do you do for Drakken?"

"Mostly tell him why his plans won't work. Not that he listens. I need you to help find a missing person. Seems like your kind of thing."

"I'm still lost. You're asking me to find a missing person? That's the sort of thing I hear from people asking for my help. You're asking for my help? Is Drakken missing?"

"Nope, I'm asking for you to be my assistant. I–"

"I'm not your assistant."

"Excuse me," James Possible interrupted, "can I listen to this game?"

"Sorry, dad."

"Take it to the kitchen," he suggested. "I think your mom wanted to hear more about this."

"How's he doing, really?" Shego whispered as they left Kim's dad to the baseball game. "He says he's fine."

"Pretty much," Kim confirmed. "A little kidney damage, but he's pretty much back to normal. He returned to work two weeks ago. Sitting around the house was driving him crazy."

"He told me that."

"Told you what?" Anne Possible asked as the two entered the kitchen.

"She was asking about dad," Kim told her mother. "Dad told her that he was back at Middleton Research."

"Yes," Anne agreed. "It's wonderful. Dr. Allen said there was some minimal damage, but unless he picks up some stupid habit like getting drunk every night his kidneys probably won't cause him any problems."

"Glad to hear that," Shego commented as Anne handed Kim a stack of plates and pointed to the table.

Shego perched on an open area of counter to watch Kim work and Anne demanded, "Now, what was this about a job offer for Kim. I don't allow her to do evil, no matter how badly she does it."

"Yeah, I'm curious too," Kim seconded as she finished putting out the plates and went to a drawer for silverware.

"Two thousand a day," Shego told her, "plus any expenses."

"Two thousand what a day?" Kim asked, the suspicion clear in her voice.

"Two thousand dollars. Oh, and a guarantee of two week's pay – even if it only takes a couple days."

Kim looked at her mom. Anne didn't look happy at the idea, but a minimum of twenty-eight thousand dollars, if it were real and honest, caught Kim's attention. "And it's legal?"

"Cross my heart."

"Like I can believe you," Kim snorted.

"Perfectly legit. I'm getting five grand a day for the job, but I'm not sure what I'm up against and I want someone watching my back. You're pretty good, Princess. So I thought, 'Hey, kid sister might need some college money for–" Shego stopped and looked at Anne, "See, when Kim and I were looking for Drakken and Ron we–"

"Kim explained when she got home. That's why I asked you to stay for supper and said you could make your sales pitch to her. But you still haven't exactly explained this job."

"Right. Basically Señor Senior, Senior, came up missing. Junior got worried and contacted me to help find dad. No ransom demand, but Junior figured it would be a lot cheaper to hire the best, and that means me, to get him back safe and sound."

Kim chewed her lip nervously. There was a chance of a trap. Oddly enough she feared it coming from the Seniors more than Shego. Not that she and Shego were actually friends, but Shego would try to take her head off in a fair fight rather than trap her. "Did you tell him you could hire me for the job?"

"Nope. Suspect that in normal circumstances either Senior wouldn't be happy with the idea of needing help from you. But this doesn't count as normal circumstances. I figure Junior just wants dad back. He told me I had a free hand to hire an underling and–"

"Partner. I'm not an underling."

"So, you'll take the job?"

"I'm not saying I'll take the job. I'm saying that if I take the job you call me partner."

"Hey, I lined up the job! I'm in charge. Me boss, you assistant."

"You want me? It's partners."

"Kim, you aren't thinking of agreeing to this, are you?" her mother demanded.

"I… I don't know… That would be a nice addition to my college fund."

"That's the spirit, Sis," Shego agreed cheerfully.

"And with Wade's help we–"

"Ixnay on the adeWay," Shego warned. "Junior hired his own techie before I agreed. And I'm not sure how happy he'd be with your boy genius snooping around on the Seniors' computers."

"But Wade could–"

"He could do a great job," Shego interrupted, "but I told you. Junior wouldn't want him – although if we don't get any leads in a few days you can suggest him to Junior. And I told you, Junior already hired someone… Although you'll probably be as thrilled about it as I am."

"What do you mean?"

"You remember Francis Lurman?"

Kim groaned, "Frugal Lucre? Of course… How do you know him?"

"He was cell mates with Doctor D for awhile. Came by to visit when he got out – and we couldn't get rid of the guy. He said you were the one who caught him. Anyway, he claims to be real good with computers and he works cheap."

"He does do computers. But the works cheap… I don't know."

"If he does a good job he hopes for full-time IT with the Seniors."

Anne Possible entered the conversation, "Kim, it sounds like you are really considering this."

"It's a lot of money, Mom. College is coming up."

"We have a college account for you."

"College is expensive," Shego reminded her. "And you've got the twin terrors too. I've always said; you can't have too much money."

"But you can have enough," Anne said firmly. "Kim, call your father and brothers for dinner."

Shego could tell Kim was interested, and decided not to press the issue during dinner. After the meal Anne went to watch television with her husband, leaving Shego and Kim to clear the table and load the dishwasher. "Well, Princess?" Shego demanded as Kim started the load.

"Sorry, not interested."

"Don't lie. Of course you're interested."

"Okay, I'm interested, but the answer is no."

"If you're interested, why in the hell say no?"

"First, I'm supposed to be working at Club Banana and–"

"Why?"

"Why what? I'm scheduled to work."

"Why do you work?"

"I want the money."

"They're paying you twenty-eight grand? Take out your cell phone, call and ask for time off."

Monique was number six on Kim's speed dial. "Girl, the manager was on my back over you today. She wanted to demote you to stockroom. If you want a few days off I'll see someone covers for you."

Kim frowned as she disconnected. "Okay, I could have time off."

"You look a little disappointed to find out they have other people who can smile and point to over-priced sweaters. What's your next problem?"

"Well, I think this is some plot to keep me distracted while Drakken tries some scheme. He's figured out he can't beat me so he's having you run me in circles while he does his plan."

The green woman stared at Kim for a minute. "Hey, that's not a bad idea. Are you sure you don't have a touch of evil somewhere in you? Drakken has nothing going on at the moment. He's still in a funk over that YouTube video. This is legit, I promise."

"Like I can believe anything you promise."

"Takes one to know… Hey, I've got an idea. Boyfriend busy?"

"Ron?"

"Unless you got another one. Yeah, Ron, he got a job?"

"Not at the moment. He got fired for–"

"Doesn't matter. You can have him watch Drakken."

"Ron? Watch Drakken?"

"Sure. They got on okay in Asia. And Drakken isn't plotting anything. Having Ron around will probably cheer him up." She reminded Kim, "Two thousand a day, and expenses." Kim hesitated. "Call Ron," Shego suggested. "Let me talk to him."

Ron was just behind Kim's mom and dad on her cell phone. The two chatted a minute, then Kim handed the thief her phone.

"Hey, Sport," Shego greeted him cheerfully. "You heard Kim say I offered her a paying gig. She wants it, but needs someone to do a big favor for her. This is your chance to be a big hero in her eyes."

In the background Kim protested, "I already think he's a hero."

"What do you mean," Ron asked cautiously.

"She wants the job, but is worried this is some plan by Drakken to keep her out of his hair. You watch Drakken. She'll see that you've stepped up and done the hero thing. Kim gets a nice chunk of change and she'll owe you big time. Maybe you'll get lucky–"

"Stop that," Kim hissed angrily.

"Whattaya say, Sport? Is you in? Doctor D is really in kind of a depression, having you around would probably be good for him."

"I don't know. I'm supposed to write a paper on New York City over break and–"

"Go to New York."

"What?"

"Take Drakken. You can have five hundred a day for expenses."

"Five hundred?"

"Yep. You in?"

"I'm in."

"Pack your bag and be here in thirty minutes."

The phone went dead as Ron rushed to pack. "See, Pumpkin, problem solved. I'll run the two of them to New York and come back for you, then–"

"Why don't I come with you?"

"A, you look like you need a good night's sleep."

"Taking them to New York and flying back will leave you exhausted."

"Yeah, but if you've had a good night's sleep you can do most of the flying to the Seniors' island. And reason B is that Drakken's got a new lair and I don't want you to know where it is until you need to crash in to bust up some plan."

"But Ron–"

"He'll be blindfolded for most of the trip. Sounds like you're in."

"Tell me again it's all legal and two thousand dollars a day."

"It's real. Get a good night's sleep – and pack light. We can write new outfits off the expense account."

"That doesn't seem fair to the Seniors. Why–"

"They're billionaires, and we're saving Senior's ass."

Kim sighed, "Okay, partner, I'm in."

"Uh-unh. Not partners. You're assistant, remember?"

"I don't do sidekick."

"I don't work with partners. Bad memories of Team Go. You didn't mind being assistant when we were looking for Ron."

"I begged you to take me along. I had to agree. You came here asking me to watch your back! At least I… Tell you what. One condition and I'm assistant."

"What's the condition?"

"First… Okay, two conditions. First, you don't ask me to do anything evil."

"I'm not planning to. I knew you'd never agree to that."

"Okay, the real condition. You have to do something good."

Shego frowned, "Doesn't trying to rescue Senior count for good?"

"It would if you were doing it for free. You're doing this to get paid so it doesn't count."

"You mean I have to do something good, for free?"

"Out of the goodness of your black little heart."

"I think letting you in on the gravy train should count for the good deed," Shego grumbled. "Fine. I'll be good for nothing – help some old lady across the street or something."

"And smile when you do it?"

"Don't push me, Pumpkin."

"Okay, you have yourself an assistant." Kim saluted smartly. "How high, Sir?"

Shego grinned. "This might be fun. I–"

The knock on the door interrupted her thought.

"Got here as fast as I could," Ron panted. "New York on expense account? Seriously?"

"Seriously. Hovercar is out back. I'm going to start it now, be out in thirty seconds. Give girlfriend a kiss. I'll have to blindfold you when we get close to the lair. "

Kim broke the kiss sooner than Ron wanted it to end. "Ahhh," he complained.

"Do you have your phone?" she demanded.

"My phone?"

"Yes, you got stranded in Asia because you lost your communicator."

"I have my phone."

"Show it to me."

Ron panicked briefly when it wasn't in its usual pocket. Or the next pocket. Or the next. "Maybe I packed it. Call me."

He breathed a sigh of relief when his bag started ringing. He broke the next kiss sooner than Kim wanted, "Got to run. I don't think Shego likes to be kept waiting."