The next hour and a half all seemed to happen within a blur. Soon after Shego collapsed, Ron found Kim and was greeted by an earful of manic yelling and commands. This led to him giving her a fully working Kimmunicator and quick call to Wade helped shut down the assembly line as well as call Global Justice in for clean up. Dr. McCoy offered to stay behind and wait for them while also making sure every piece of equipment and robot was switched off. Kim gave him a hurried thanks as she ordered Ron to bring Shego to the car then sped off to the Midtown hospital.
They were greeted by a full medical staff ready and waiting for them, again thanks to Wade. Kim watched almost helplessly as Shego and their baby were carried away from her to separate parts of the hospital with reassurances that both would be fine. Before she knew it, she was standing alone in the bright, sterile hallway, much like she had been left alone in The Queen’s thrown room. Though there were plenty hospital staff nearby asking her how she was doing, she didn’t seem to notice them and just kept staring blankly at the spot where her partner and daughter had just been.
“KP?” a familiar voice finally broke through.
It took her a second to recognize the voice as belonging to Ron and on instinct she spun around and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his shoulder as she finally broke down and started to cry. He was of course startled by this outburst as first, but quickly recovered and wrapped his arms around her in a warm and inviting hug. He then did the only thing he knew what to do in this situation; comfort her.
“Shhhh. It’ll be OK KP, just you wait and see,” he whispered. “The doc’s here are top notch and they’ll make sure those two are better in no time.”
She said nothing in reply, she only continued to cry on his shoulder as he gently rubbed her back. There was a tense silence between them as he finally brought himself to say what he knew he had to say.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise. I didn’t get them out in time.”
This provoked a reaction as Kim pulled back and stared at him as if he had insulted her family. The reaction only grew when she saw the shame in his eyes. A tiny smile spread across her injured face as she placed a hand on his cheek.
“Don’t,” she told him. “Don’t punish yourself of that. You kept them safe, that’s all that’s important. And I don’t know how I can even begin to make it up to you for that. But…maybe this is a start,” she leaned forward again and tightened the hug just a bit. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Well…that’s definitely a good start,” Ron said with a smile of his own as he returned the embrace.
Their tender moment was quickly broken up by a loud, piercing whistle that caused them to jump a bit. Though still in each other’s arms they turned their heads towards the source of the sound to find a doctor with brown curly hair and a name badge reading “Dr. Perry Cox” walking up to them.
“I really hate to break up this incredibly sappy moment but I feel I must remind you that some of our patients, and at least one of our surgical staff, have diabetes and this,” he made a wild hand gesture to them, “could cause them to go into shock.”
Thoroughly humiliated, and completely annoyed, the two teen heros pulled away from each other and straightened out their clothes as they looked at the rather rude doctor.
“That’s better,” Dr. Cox remarked. “Now then, Red, I hear you were part of that circus that came through here a little bit ago and looking at you now I can see you need to get a little patched up yourself.”
“It’s no big. I’m fine. Really,” Kim lied. And not very well.
Dr. Cox let out an irritated sigh that let them know he had heard that far too often.
“You know, I’ve been a doctor for much longer than I care to admit and yet I’m still amazed when people are dragged in here by their loved ones and claim there’s nothing wrong with them,” he remarked.
“This is nothing I haven’t dealt with before. I can handle it,” Kim insisted.
“Right and I told myself I could handle being around my ex-wife, but here I am not only remarried to her but also with a two year old son and another on the way, which means I’m gonna have to stay with her for a very, very, veee-rrry, long time and deal with all her insane behavior until the day I die. Which, honestly will probably be from a stroke after having to deal with everything here and then coming home to her. And before you ask the point of all this is that we don’t always know what’s best for us, so if ya will, follow me.”
“Look, I know my own body,” the redhead stated again, this time more determined.
“And I know the body too, and judging from what I see here, I’m guessing you have received a pretty bad blow to the jaw recently as well as several cuts and bruises, unless of course those red spots all over that white suit of yours is some kind of new fashion statement and with the trends nowadays who the hell knows? I also tell by the way you’re moving there that you probably nursing a few cracked or even broken ribs.”
Kim simply stared at him in amazement.
“Yeah, I’m just that good,” Dr. Cox replied. “Now let’s go.”
Feeling defeated for the second time that day, Kim followed him into one of the empty rooms where he began to treat her wounds as well as share his rather…unique outlook on life. She zoned in and out through most of his ranting and used most of her remaining energy to think about how Shego and the baby were doing. She hoped Shego’s collapse was do just to the exhaustion of giving birth and not something more serious. In that vein, she also hoped that being born like that didn’t have any adverse effects on her daughter. She knew she would find out sooner or later but she’d much rather it be sooner than later. Like right now soon.
“…and those are my 101 reasons why marriage is probably one of the worst things man has ever come up with. Right there below boy bands and the expression ‘My bad’,” Dr. Cox finished up and it was only then that Kim realized she was back in the main part of the hospital.
She was about to give him the most polite brush off she could think of, when she noticed the rest of her family as well as Dr. Anderson had joined Ron in waiting for her. They were deep in conversation and judging by the looks on their faces it wasn’t about anything good. They were looks of sorrow and regret that made Kim sick to the very pit of her stomach. They were foreboding looks for told the oncoming of bad news. This was strengthened by the slight upset groan Dr. Cox let out next to her. She slowly turned her head to find him standing there with his hands crossed over the top of his head with that same look of sadness though his was mixed with just a hint of frustration. When he noticed her looking at him he sighed and slowly slid his hands down, letting one of them on her shoulder.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered sincerely.
“Why? What’s going on?!” she asked forcefully, looking back at her family.
The outburst snapped the small group out of their conversation and caused them to look over at her. There sad expressions worsened at the sight of her and after a bit of debating amongst themselves, Ann was chosen to give her daughter the bad news. She walked up to the younger redhead and placed both her hands on Kim’s shoulders to hold her steady.
“Kim…something’s happened,” she started off softly.
“What? What happened mom? Where’s Shego and the baby?! Are they alright?!” Kim screamed, panic over taking her.
“The baby is fine.”
The feeling in Kim’s stomach worsened as she processed that sentence. Something about what her mom had said and how she said it sat wrong with her. Her lips moved wordlessly a few times before she finally found her voice again.
“And Shego?”
Ann closed her eyes and shook her head. “She’s…gone. I’m sorry.”
A numbness washed over Kim’s body. She couldn’t feel mother’s comforting hands on her shoulders or her legs give out or Ann and Dr. Cox catching her and helping her over to one of the chairs to sit. She couldn’t feel any of that. She couldn’t even feel her wounds. All she could feel…was empty. Although they had only started their relationship a few weeks ago, the baby had brought Kim and Shego closer together than they ever thought possible. Kim was actually looking forward to helping her raise their daughter and explore their relationship further. She had no doubt they could built a happy, if somewhat strange, life together and raise their child with love and respect.
But now, with only a single statement, all that was gone. She was a single mother. A single teenage mother. Even worse, the woman she had respected for longer than she ever loved her was dead. The woman who risked everything to give birth to her child. Just…gone.
“H-how?” she whispered.
“Whatever serum those Bebes robots gave her took it’s toll on her body,” Ann explained carefully. “She kept fighting to the bitter end, but eventually her body just wasn’t as strong as her spirit.”
Kim nodded absently. “That…that sounds like her.”
“Kimmie, before she died she gave me a message she wanted to make sure you received.”
Kim looked up at her mom for the first time during the conversation.
“She said, ‘Tell her to take care of her. This baby is the only good thing I ever did’.”
Though she knew it was her mother speaking, the redhead could mentally hear Shego saying those words and it was enough to jolt her feelings back into place. She let out an long, agonizing wail as she buried her face in her hands and cried uncontrollably. Ann sat down in the chair next to her and gave her the most comforting hug she could offer while the rest of their friends and family came over. The only exception was Dr. Cox, who cured loudly as he punched one of the nearby walls before he walked away in frustration.
Kim wasn’t sure how long she had been crying but it didn’t seem like nearly long enough. All she really wanted to do was run home, lock herself in her room and cry into her pillow until she physically couldn’t do it anymore. But she couldn’t do that. At least not right now. Right now she had other things she had to do.
“C-can…can I see her?” she asked between sobs.
“I…don’t think that’s a good idea right now,” Ann said softly.
“What about the baby? Can I at least see her?”
“Sure thing,” Dr. Anderson spoke up before anyone else could. “I’ll show you the way.” He reached down and took one of Kim’s hands to pull her up. “Come on kiddo, up we go.”
She stood with the assistance of her mother and Dr. Anderson and was practically pulled by them to the nursery section of the hospital. She barely registered that they’re moving at all though, because her mind was filled with so many confusing thoughts and feelings. What was she going to do now that Shego was gone? Could she raise their daughter all by herself? Could she keep helping people now that she had a child of her own to worry about? And how exactly could any beneficent god allow something like this to happen?
“Well, here we are,” Dr. Anderson said softly, breaking her from her thoughts.
When Kim looked up she noticed the large window in front of her. Though it she could see into the actual nursery were dozens of cribs were lined up into rows, most of them full. There are some people who think that all babies look alike, and that some first time parents have troubles picking their child out from the crowd. She didn’t have that problem. She could see her daughter right away because she was the only green baby in the place. Somehow, through her emotionally wracked mind, she noticed that the baby was actually greener than she remembered. Shego had always been more pale green than anything and while her daughter certainly didn’t look like a bag of broccoli, but she was definitely greener than her mother.
“What? How?” Kim tried to asked.
“We’re not sure,” Dr. Anderson replied. “We think it has something to do with that serum combined with Shego’s own unique physiology might have mixed up some pigments, but honestly we just don’t know. Which, I’m sorry to say, means we’re going to have to keep her here for a few more days for testing.”
“I can’t take her home?” the redhead asked, sounding more and more defeated.
“You can in a few day sweety,” Ann said, still trying to comfort her daughter.
“Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of her,” Dr. Anderson tried to reassure her. “There is just one thing though. We need a name.”
Kim didn’t respond right away. Instead she stepped forward and pressed a gloved hand against the glass as she continued to stare at the little miracle that had brought such bitter enemies so close. She was the prove of their relationship and how much Shego has grown as a person. One of those growths included a very specific name she wanted.
“Alexandra,” Kim said, mostly to herself. “She wanted her to be called Alexandra.”
Dr. Anderson nodded. “Possible for the last name?”
“Yeah. Alexandra Go Possible.”
“Alright. I’ll go get started on the paperwork.”
He turned to walk away, but paused and seemed to think about something else to say to her.
“Look I don’t want to give the standard doctor ‘I’m sorry’ speech, but…I am sorry. You deserved better. Both of you.”
“Thank you,” Kim said absently as she continued to stare at Alexandra.
She didn’t acknowledge when he walked away, nor did she acknowledge when her mother politely stepped back to give her more space. The only think she was focused on at the moment was her daughter and how she was going to raise her on her own. Well…that wasn’t exactly true, she did have her family who she knew would help her in anyway she needed, but the one person she truly wanted to be there with her wasn’t. It was going to make the situation even harder, but she knew she could pull through it…somehow.
“Tell her to take care of her. This baby is the only good thing I ever did.”
It was still Shego’s voice speaking those words and part of her knew that should have caused her some alarm, but the majority of her mind didn’t care. It was Shego’s last request and she was determined to honor it.
I’ll do my very best. I promise you, she vowed to Shego’s memory and to herself.
It had been nearly two months since Shego died. After a long and tenuous legal battle, her body was finally laid to rest in the Middleton Cemetery. While her parents didn’t seem to care what happened to it, her brothers, in particularly Hego, demanded that she be place in the cemetery in Go City to be near her family. Kim insisted that she was going to be near her family, her real family. The one that accepted her for who she was, regardless of her past mistakes. And in the end, it turned out she had much more powerful friends than even Team Go and had won the battle.
A simple headstone marked her grave sight with an epitaph reading:
Here Lies Shego
She Lived A Warrior
And Died A Mother
Again the inscription was Kim’s idea. She felt it stated only what everyone needed to know about Shego, which is exactly what she would have wanted. For the amount of work she put into getting her short time girlfriend laid in the yard, Kim had never once visited it. Not even for the funeral.
Today, however, she finally found the courage. She felt it oddly appropriate that it was an overcast day that threatened to bring a large storm with it. It seemed to fit along nicely with the blur of emotions going through her mind. She still wasn’t quite sure what she was going to do there, but she just knew she had to visit it. She approached the grave cautiously, as if expecting Shego to pop out of her grave and drag her down into the cold, damp ground with her. Kim took a deep breath to calm her nerves then gently placed the patch of roses on the headstone. She stared at the smooth, grey rock for a minute, trying to think of something to say or do.
“Um…hey,” she started lamely. “I’m not really sure what I’m suppose to do here. Mom says that talking to the headstone is suppose to be therapeutic but I don’t get it. I mean it’s not like you can respond to me, right?”
The rock proved her point by not saying anything in return.
“Riiight. So…I guess I should start by saying I’m sorry I haven’t come up here until now. I just…I don’t know really, haven’t been able to bring myself to come here. I guess…I was scared about it. I mean I know that sounds stupid, right? Me? Kim Possible, scared of something? I know you’d laugh at me if you heard that.”
She let out a sad chuckle that turned into a depressed sigh.
“The truth though is that I am scared,” she admitted. “Not just of visiting you but of trying to raise Alexandra on my own. It scares me more than anything I’ve ever done in my life. Including fighting you. But it’s a good kinda scared, you know? The kind that lets me know that while I might be challenged a bit I can still make it through this. I just…I wish you could be here to help.”
She paused as if expecting some kind of reply but still the stone nor the ground gave one.
“It would be nice if you could at least see her though,” she continued as a soft smile formed on her lips. “It’s amazing how big she’s gotten just over the past few weeks. She looks like you a bit too, so you can be proud of that. She’s a bit…greener though. Seems your unique body chemistry combined with whatever the Bebes gave you mixed a few things up in her. At least that’s what they tell me. Don’t worry though, she’s perfectly healthy just…well like I said greener. Her right eye is also brown somehow. But like really, really dark brown, almost black, so it just looks like her iris is huge. The doctors tell me she’ll be able to see out of it perfectly, it’ll just look weird. Which I guess is kinda fitting, huh? Not like she was a normal baby to begin with, right? Oh! She’s starting to get some hair in too. Jet black with just a hint of a green streak above her left eye,” Kim traced the spot in her own hair for emphasis.
She shook her head when she realized it was pointless. The shake also made her notice the tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes as well. She tried to hold them in but they threatened to over take her.
“Sorry,” she sniffled a bit. “Don’t mean to get all mushy on you, I know how much you hate that.” She swallowed a lump in her throat before continuing. “I’m gonna tell her about you, you know? I promised myself that a long time ago. I’m going to let her know who her mother was, the good with the bad. Probably not so much on the bad, but still I don’t want there to be any secrets. She has to know that…even if she was a villain for awhile, in the end her mother was one of the most caring determined people I have ever known who gave her life for her to be born. She’ll…she’ll…”
This time Kim couldn’t stop the tears. She placed a hand over her eyes and cried into it, not caring who saw her right now. Thunder rumbled overhead, as if the sky was about to join her in crying. She let out a slight gasp when she felt someone touch her shoulder and turned to find her mother standing there, giving her a concerned look.
“Kimmie I’m sorry but we have to get home now. There’s a storm coming,” Ann told her.
Kim nodded while wiping some of her tears away.
“I know.”
With that, she followed her mother back to the car while the thunder crashed louder and lighting streaked across the sky. Shortly after, rain began to pour down onto the earth below, in particular on a stone angel near Shego’s grave. Had anyone been passing by at that point they might have noticed two suspicious looking raindrops coming out of the angel’s eyes.
lightning crashes, a new mother cries
her placenta falls to the floor
the angel opens her eyes
the confusion sets in
before the doctor can even close the door
lightning crashes, an old mother dies
her intentions fall to the floor
the angel closes her eyes
the confusion that was hers
belongs now, to the baby down the hall
oh now feel it comin’ back again
like a rollin’ thunder chasing the wind
forces pullin’ from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.
lightning crashes, a new mother cries
this moment she's been waiting for
the angel opens her eyes
pale blue colored iris,
presents the circle
and puts the glory out to hide, hide
oh now feel it comin’ back again
like a rollin’ thunder chasing the wind
forces pullin’ from the center of the earth again
I can feel it.
The End.
Author’s Notes: First off I should start by saying “Lighting Crashes” belongs to Live and I make no profit off using their song. Secondly, you’d all probably be amazed how this idea came about. It honestly all started when I heard “Lighting Crashes” on the radio and though it could be a good song to use with an alternate ending to “Maternal Instinct” in which Shego dies. Don’t know why that thought popped into my head, it just did. So I tucked that thought away for later and honestly never really thought about it much since.
Then a few days ago another random thought crossed my mind, this time more of an image of Shego wearing a green duster over her usual catsuit. Don’t ask me why I just thought it looked cool and wanted to use it somehow. Unfortunately, I really couldn’t think of a way to use it that would make sense for Shego. She seems to me to be the kind who doesn’t wear things just for accessory’s sake and that’s certainly what that coat was. So then I thought, what if it was an alternate reality Shego? Maybe one who stayed a hero. Seemed like an reasonable idea to me and to make her stand out a bit more I thought I’d add a green streak to her hair in a homage to Rogue who I was obviously channeling a bit.
So you all got that so far? Good cause here’s what it get a little more complicated. As I started tweaking with her look I realized that she really was turning out to be a different character than Shego. That’s cool, I love making OCS so I started down on that path. The problem was I couldn’t explain how she had Shego’s catsuit or why she looked kinda like her. I came up with one idea that sounded kinda cool but the more I thought about it the more complicated it became and really demanded a lot more suspension of belief than I would have liked.
Then I went back to the alternate reality thing and somehow my mind crossed this idea over with the “Shego dying after childbirth” idea from earlier and…well somehow that just seemed like magic to my muse and boom! Out popped Alexandra Go Possible. And then the fic happened. So now here we are. I suppose you could call this the “Maternal Instinct B” universe if you want. I honestly don’t think I’ll be doing anything else in it other than showing Alexandra in her teenage years just to use that outfit. Yes, I will go a long way for things like that if they really catch my attention.
Now as for what kind of effect this might have on the “MI:A” universe…well you’ll just have to wait and see for that. But there are plans. Plans that won’t be fruition for awhile, but plans nonetheless.
So that is a little peak into my twisted mind. Hope it didn’t screw up yours too much. Thank you all for your time and I hope you could find some enjoyment in this story.