Shego rolled over. “You had that nightmare, didn’t you?”
“Shego – look – I – ”
“The one where you turn a corner and find your family dead. After you grieve for them for a while, guess who shows up declaring that they were the one who killed them? You. Am I right, Kimmie?”
“Shego, dammit, I already – wait…How’d you know that?” Kim inquired.
“I’ve been through all this shit before, remember? Wasn’t that hard to figure out. Let me guess: The You you talked to said they knew the “truth” – right?”
Kim nodded solemnly.
Shego sighed. “It’s your mind, tryin’ to find the easy way out. It doesn’t want to deal with the complex, even though it can handle it just fine. She shook her head. “I can’t believe you, Kimmie – you didn’t even try to fight? Even I was able to do that when it happened to me.”
“Shego – I – I saw you mangled – and – well, I’ve never killed anyone before, so when it seemed that I’d done that to you, and to Dad and the Tweebs, I – I –”
“You gave up. You let your mind win. Because you know best, and if you tell yourself that you know the real truth, then it must not be a lie.”
Kim, about to snap back at Shego for lecturing her, stopped from letting the remark out of her mouth.
“Well, sorry to burst your Disney coziness, Princess, but you wanna know the truth about the real truth? The real truth is the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. The three seashells in Demolition Man. The reasoning behind how Uwe Boll and Joel Schumacher can still make big-budget movies, or why people still listen to Bill O’Reilly or Lyndon LaRouche. Everybody’s got their ideas and opinions of what it is, but no one will ever definitively know the answer. All we can do is get as close to it as we can, and that’s it.”
Shego paused, then went on. “You can’t let one side of you win all the time. It just doesn’t happen. You gotta be able to handle the grey area, Kim. That’s what my mother taught me.”
Kim lifted her head. “Shego?”
“You asked about my mother, Kim. It’s only fair I tell you.”
Kim smiled hesitantly as she let her head fall back onto the pillow.
“Like I said, you gotta be able to handle the grey area, Kimmie. That’s what she taught me. That’s what my father taught me – and Grandmama Go, too.” Shego looked off. “That’s how they taught my brothers, as well. They loved us to death, but they didn’t let that love turn into sheltering us from the side of life that everybody hates to see. They weren’t exactly Army parents, but damned close. They were always there for me – at least, to the extents that their job schedules allowed. But they always found time for us to go to the beach, the park, museums, aquariums, art galleries-” Shego looked down. “By the time the comet shattered my life, I was pretty much already ready for the real world, anyways.”
Kim stirred. “What did she look like?”
Shego hesitated. “Beautiful. She was sarcastic, yes - but then again, all the women in the Go family have been…You think I’m scary when I’m pissed off – whoo! She was a fireball. She actually had the ability to scare me, honey – and she didn’t even need hands that could burst into green energy flames to do it, ether. Her eyes were all the signal we needed to know. Certainly kept all of us in line, I’ll tell you that. Black hair, green eyes, young…Wore her hair like you, even. Probably one of the reasons I fell for you.”
“What’d she work in?”
“She worked for a small travel agency. Not one of the best, but she had a rep for getting bookings in the, uh…more seedy parts of the world. More people toured Northern Ireland through her travel package than any other travel agent in Go City. We went to a company party once, and her boss said he’d never had more clients call back to thank an agent of theirs than the clients who called back to thank her.”
Shego smiled as the memories came back. “But that wasn’t her real love. Her real loves were sports, ballet, and gymnastics. Taught me all the flips and rolls I know herself. I loved how her eyes lit up every time I did a tumble properly. She got so excited…”
“What about your father? What’d he do?” asked Kim.
“Dad? Oh – he was a lawyer.”
Kim snorted. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“A lawyer who was also a black belt in 5 martial arts,” proceeded Shego. “Also loved every contact sport that ever existed. I was refereeing our family football games before most kids could walk. I could explain, in essay-like detail, the difference between a Rodman flop and an intentional flagrant foul. I was idolizing Andre The Giant while kids my age while kids my age were still fixated on The Muppet Show. Hell, Kimmie – I probably woulda’ ended up a person like you were it not for that comet…”
“No.”
Shego looked taken aback at first as Kim rolled over and wrapped herself around her. “You did turn out someone like me – you were a hero for most your childhood. You’re a hero now. You saved me today.”
“Kim – please – promise me one thing?”
“What?” Kim asked, running her fingers through Shego’s hair.
“For god’s sake, don’t you ever let me find you doing something like that again. It’s easy to let the darker side of yourself take over – trust me, you saw firsthand how that worked with me for 2 years – but you can’t let it consume your life. I love you, goddammit. I don’t wanna bury you so soon now, ok?”
Kim could feel Shego trembling as she said this. She pulled Shego closer to her. “I promise, Shego.”
They kissed deeply, then fell asleep just like that – in each other’s arms.
“Dammit, Ron – stop trembling,” said Monique.
“Sorry, Monique, but when you see your best friend trying to slit her throat like that – it’s a vivid image. Plus, does this apartment get any heat? Or did your landlord’s family come from Norway or similar ilk?”
Monique scoffed. “Are you still on about that trip with Kim? Get over it, man. She’s fine now.”
“I know, but still – it’s not like Kim to just give up like that.”
“She’s been barraged with a lot of crazy shit lately, Ron - you experienced some of it, yeah, but you didn’t go through near what she did. You didn’t have your lover turn out to be a synthodrone made by your archenemy as part of his master plan; you didn’t have to live with Shego while unsure of where she – or you, for that matter - stood; you didn’t get accused of murder; didn’t have your mother turned ev-”
“Okay, okay, I get the point, Monique,” Ron grumbled. “Sheesh.”
“I’m actually surprised this didn’t happen earlier,” continued Monique. “That woman is strong, man.”
“Waitaminute – I know that tone of voice you’re using,” said Ron, who had finally stopped trembling. He looked at Monique – who averted her eyes and looked down. “You tried that once, too – baby?”
“I’d -- rather not talk about it, Ron,” said Monique. “It definitely was not the smartest day of my life.”
“Alright.” Ron sat up. “Dinner in bed? I can have it done before GWA comes on.”
Monique smiled. “Yeah. Sounds cool.”
“Something in particular?”
Monique thought for a moment. “Anything but omelettes. And sweetie?”
“Hmm?”
“If you think the apartment’s too cold, the thermostat’s over the washer in the laundry room. Or you can always just use me.”
Ron raised an eyebrow. “Rufus? After dinner, you're sleeping in the hall.”
Rufus crossed his arms and grumbled.
“Did you find them, Wade?”
“Yep. And I happened to pick up something else while we escaped, too.”
“Oh. What did you find?”
Wade held up the ring. “Remember the Centurion Project, Mrs. Possible?”
Mrs. Possible gasped. “Wade! Oh, if I weren’t a villain, I would go out and adopt you right now!”
“I already know how it works. I just need a few months to train with it, so I’m able to use it to its full and utterly devastating effect. This thing is deadlier than a gamma bomb – if it’s on the proper wrist…”
“And I can use that time to draw up a plan surpassing even Dr. Drakken’s most brilliant one!” Mrs. Possible cackled, hugging Wade. “Thank you, Wade! A if you want, you can start calling me Mom.”
Returning her hug, Wade smiled to himself with evil satisfaction. He looked up at her. “Mom? One more thing – I told you about Betts, right? That little project of mine on the side? I need help with her.”
END CHAPTER TEN (REWRITE)