“Kim, wait!”
Shego ran out the bedroom door, grabbing her catsuit along the way. She bounced on one leg as she tried to get the other in her suit, trying to chase Kim at the same time. It’s a wonder she didn’t fall. She quickly got both legs in and zipped it up, bringing the clasp together just as Kim was about to walk out the door. Shego grabbed the doorknob just as Kim was turning it. The redhead looked up at her with teary, anger-filled eyes.
“Look, Princess, I’m sorry,” Shego apologized. “I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”
Kim’s voice was choked by the river of tears that now flowed down her face. “Yeah? Well what did you mean for it to sound like?”
“Well, not like that,” Shego admitted. Truth be told, she didn’t know what she was thinking when she made that remark. “I guess it was supposed to be a joke, but I got a little carried away. Please, just come back and let’s talk about this.”
“What’s there to talk about?” Kim screamed as tears and mucus ebbed down her face. She wiped both away with her forearm. “That I slept with YOU, my WORST ENEMY?!” She was quite distraught. The tears returned, but she did not wipe them away. “First Ron dies, now THIS!” She threw her arms up in frustration, then gripped her forehead with both hands and bent forward as her legs trembled and barely managed to support her. “MY WHOLE FUCKING LIFE IS FALLING APART!!!”
“Princess, calm down.” Shego tried to grab Kim’s arm, but the redhead jerked herself away.
“NO! Don’t touch me! DON’T FUCKING TOUCH ME!” Her eyes were bloodshot and filled with madness. She glared at Shego with unparalleled intensity.
“Kim, calm down.” Shego repeated. “You’re a bit freaked out about this, I know. But you’ve gotta stop yelling before the whole damn building hears you.” Her tone was calm and rational, whereas Kim was having a mental breakdown. The redhead fell to her knees as she gripped her head, trying to process the deluge of conflicting information that overwhelmed her finite brain. Shego was evil, but she had slept with her. Shego had tried to kill her, but here she was trying to help. Shego was evil. Shego was good. Shego was a girl. Shego was attractive for a girl. She had slept with a girl! It was all too much to take in at once. Kim began to feel light headed. Her vision blurred and spots began to form in front of her eyes. Her lungs were burning from lack of oxygen, but for some reason Kim had forgotten how to breathe.
“Breathe, Kim, breathe!” Shego yelled. The redhead was now on all fours, still trying to process the information. She tried to inhale, but she couldn’t. Her body wouldn’t let her. It was as if it was telling her to rest, to take a break from all the madness, to talk about this when she had regained her senses. She deposited her last meal on the floor and collapsed unconscious on the ground. She drifted off to sleep.
Wade couldn’t figure it out. He knew the murder weapon, he knew the murderer, he was pretty sure he knew the motive, but there was one thing he didn’t know. Why now?
Even though he had never gone into the field, Wade had seen plenty in his days as a support operative, enough to know that there was a certain way of doing things among villains. Things like disproportionate revenge. Whenever one of their take over the world schemes was defeated, all villains would try to come back with an even bigger one. This was not the case here. Hego had been retired for several years and attacked on his way home from work. It didn’t make sense to Wade that someone would wait that long for revenge and just kill someone in cold blood like that. It just wasn’t done.
Was The Reaper even looking for revenge? Or was he working for somebody? The latter made a lot more sense, though exactly why he didn’t drag it out eluded the supergenius. For all his advanced degrees and powerful neurons, he couldn’t crack it without the missing link. He was beginning to think such a link didn’t even exist. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something big behind this. He had to tell Kim if he found out what it was. For now he would keep looking. He wondered if Kim and Shego were making any progress.
Kim woke up to the sound of music. She opened her eyes and found that she was in a bar. She was sitting at a table of some sort. She blinked her eyes repeatedly to bring them into focus. She saw Shego sitting across from her. A scowl developed on her face. Shego’s expression was dead serious. The irony of the situation suddenly dawned on Kim. She had done the exact same thing to Shego the day before. Now the roles were reversed.
“Where are we?” Kim growled.
“We’re at a bar,” Shego answered, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
“Question: why?” Kim asked impetulantly, mimicking the action Shego had just performed.
“So you won’t make a scene like back at the house. We need to talk about this Kim, and I don’t want you flying off the handle.” Kim recognized the look in the older woman’s eyes. It was the same look her mother used to get whenever she and Kim needed to have a serious talk. Shego’s gaze was unflinching, boring straight into Kim’s soul. Kim had never seen this side of her. Normally the pale woman hid behind a shell of arrested development that kept her in a perpetual teenage state like she had this morning, but Kim’s actions had brought out this other side. Kim didn’t like this side of Shego. She wanted desperately to escape those eyes that saw past the façade she had put up to guard herself and into her very soul. But she knew she couldn’t. She steeled her face and formed a retort.
“You’re the reason I flew off the handle!” Kim nearly shouted, drawing several stares from tables around them. She blushed slightly and leaned in so as to be heard only by the woman across from her, her right forearm supporting the rest of her torso as her head crossed the midpoint of the small wooden table. She lowered her voice and spoke through clenched teeth. “I wouldn’t have flipped out if you hadn’t manipulated me like that,” she whispered harshly as she pointed an accusing finger at the woman across from her.
“Manipulated you?” Shego replied incredulously. “Princess I may have kissed you but you kissed me back. Not to mention you suggested we go even further. I was just receptive.”
“Oh yeah, you were receptive alright.” Kim commented sarcastically. She sat up straight in her chair and brought her hands closer together so that she could count off a list of counterexamples. “First you start a yelling match with me, then you tell me to hit you, then you kiss me, and right in the middle of all… that, you pin me and stick you hand in my—”
“Ah.” Shego raised her hand in front of her face to interrupt. “One,” she raised her right hand with her index finger extended to show that she was counting off a list just like Kim had been. “I admit I started the yelling match. But you were all too eager to jump in and start pouring out the feelings you’d been holding inside. Two,” She raised a second finger. “I never told you to hit me. I just said the old Kimmie would have. You,” She pointed her finger across the table. “chose to turn into old Kim and throw the punch. What happened from that point on was self defense. Three,” She counted off a third finger. “Like I said before, you kissed me back. Four,” She raised her pinky and smiled mischievously. “you did that first. I was just returning the favor.”
Kim leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms in a huff, turning her head away and staring at some random point in space with an indignant expression that looked as though it belonged on a fourth grader. Kim hated being wrong. She had just never gotten used to the notion of losing. She had become quite good at beating Shego in a fist fight, but in a battle of wits she was getting her ass handed to her. Shego was far more experienced and knew more. Kim was not thinking clearly. The pout on her face grew more pronounced the more she thought about it.
Shego put on her serious face and continued. “So let’s agree that what happened last night wasn’t as cut and dry as you think it is. It wasn’t just me, it wasn’t just you. It was both of us. We were both two consenting adults, and nobody forced anybody else to do something they didn’t want to.”
Kim looked at Shego with a serious face of her own. “Fine. But that still doesn’t change the fact that what happened last night was seriously wrong.” She leaned forward and put both her palms on the table. “I mean, you’re my worst enemy!” She threw her arms in the air to emphasize her point. “And you’re a girl! Like Ron used to say, that’s just sick and wrong!” She made a horizontal sweeping gesture with her arm to drive her point home.
“You’re bringin’ Stoppable into all this now?” Shego crossed her right leg over her left as she leaned back and hung the inside of her left elbow on the back of her chair. She looked up to see that the drinks she’d ordered while she waited for Kim to wake up had arrived. She took the green martini from the waitress and handed Kim an identical drink. She didn’t know what the redhead preferred, so she had just ordered two of her favorite drink so it wouldn’t go to waste if Kim rejected it. Unsurprisingly, the younger woman paid no attention to the drink, choosing instead to stare at Shego with a grim look on her face. Shego tipped the waitress and waited until she left to continue their conversation.
“I gotta admit, you and Stoppable were pretty tight.” Shego spoke up after taking a sip of her green beverage. “And I’m not trying to replace him. I know you loved him and you still do. But you’ve gotta ask yourself,” She leaned forward, looking into Kim’s eyes which were filled with curiosity, hanging on the older woman’s every word. “did you like it?”
Kim’s face didn’t so much as twitch, but behind that façade was a swirl of conflicting emotions and beliefs. The cognitive dissonance caused everything around her to fade away as she focused on that internal struggle, not sure which side of her she wanted to win. Her mind drifted back to Shego’s comment that morning and reflected on it in light of the green woman’s most recent question. The truth was that she had liked it. Only Ron had made her feel the way Shego did the night before. And it was a good feeling.
Her mind, her heart, and her body all faced off in some imaginary arena in her mind. Her mind said that what happened last night was wrongsick. Her heart belonged to Ron. But her body was stronger than the other two. Her animal side had enjoyed what happened last night. Shego’s question forced Kim to remove all the thoughts, beliefs, emotions, memories and history surrounding the event and focus on whether or not she liked it. She had one answer to that question.
“Yes,” Kim said confidently as she looked Shego straight in the eye. “Yes, I did.”
Shego smiled. “Then you have to ask yourself another question: why?”
Kim wracked her brain even further trying to come up with an answer to that one. Her hands gripped the sides of her head as she closed her eyes and focused in on the sound of her own breathing. Everything else drifted away and felt distant. She could hear her heart beating. Her mind searched and searched for the answer, but it was not there. She opened her eyes and lowered her arms, bringing her pupils into direct alignment with those of the woman across the table. Her mouth opened and she gave her answer.
“I don’t know.” She sounded uncertain. It was not a feeling she liked. For the girl who could do anything, she could not figure out why she suddenly found herself attracted to this woman who had killed her lover and tried to kill her on several occasions.
“You wanna know what I think?” Shego asked before taking another sip of her martini. Kim took the brief pause as her opportunity to nod. Shego put her now empty drink down on the table and grabbed the one that Kim had been ignoring this whole time. She picked it up and pointed it towards Kim in place of the index finger that she would normally have used to make such a gesture. “I think those feelings have been there a long time. You were just too afraid to act on them.”
Kim’s eyes widened with intrigue. She leaned forward and put her elbows on the table, resting her head on the backside of her hands as she continued to listen in wonder. She squinted her eyes slightly, trying to make sense of the pale woman’s words. Shego took another sip of her martini and continued.
“You see,” Shego spoke up, placing her drink back on the table. “You have to admit we feed off each other. Not as much as you and Stoppable used to, but the feelings are still there. And I think we’d be shortchanging ourselves if we didn’t see where those feelings led.”
“So what are you suggesting?” Kim asked, sitting up straight. “That we become ‘enemies with benefits?’” Her voice had a sarcastic edge as she punctuated that last part with air quotes.
Shego let out a chuckle and picked up her drink. “If that’s how you want to think of it,” she said before taking a sip. The song that was playing ended and a new one began. Shego’s face lit up. “Oh, I love this song!” Kim trained her ears on the speaker directly above the table. She was curious as to exactly what song it was that Shego liked. A strange synthesized voice formed a strangely enchanting rhythm and the lead singer spoke up.
Once upon a time
Not so long ago
Kim knew this song. Who didn’t? Bon Jovi was a world famous performer. She never dreamed Shego would be into this, though. The pale woman always preferred hip-hop. Then she remembered what Drakken had said that day, just before everything had gone sour. She also remembered Shego’s response. The way she was moving her body in time with the beat suggested that she really did like the song. The fact that she chose to vocalize this made Kim wonder if Shego was trying to communicate some sort of message to her that she couldn’t with just words. Kim continued to listen.
Tommy used to work on the docks
Unions been on strike
He’s down on his luck, Its tough, so tough
Gina works the diner all day
Working for her man, she brings home her pay for love
Ooh, for love
Tommy and Gina. Those were the two most mentioned people in Bon Jovi’s songs. Apparently their relationship was an inspiration to lead singer Jon Bon Jovi and he liked to sing about it. Whether or not they were real people Kim didn’t remember. She wasn’t the biggest expert on music, but their influence on the song was clearly felt. Perhaps the reason Bon Jovi chose to include them was that he thought of them as an inspiration to couples everywhere, heterosexual or not. Kim suddenly noticed the impeccable timing of the song. This is what Shego had been trying to tell her. She listened even more intently.
She says we’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got
It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot for love
We’ll give it a shot
The words seemed to be speaking directly to Kim’s soul. She had chosen last night to put aside the differences of their past and just act on what she couldn’t deny, and it was one of the most pleasurable experiences of her life. So why should it matter now? Because her feelings should only be confined to that one night and she would have to live with the consequences the rest of her life? That was, as Ron would call it, “quitter talk.” What would it matter if she just followed those feelings to their full extent and then just up and left when there was no more satisfaction to be gained? That’s what Shego was proposing. She had never been one to quit at anything, and she wasn’t about to. The confusion that had plagued her mind suddenly cleared up as the song broke into chorus.
Oh, we're halfway there
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand, we’ll make it, I swear
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
So what if Shego had tried to kill her in the past? She wasn’t trying to now, and that was what mattered. She and the older woman had made a connection the night before, and all the walls that had kept them separate for all those years had come tumbling down as their bodies became one. If Shego, a former villain, was willing to put aside the past to explore something that both of them were interested in, why shouldn’t she? The second verse began to play and Kim and Shego exchanged a glance. Kim’s eyes told Shego everything.
Tommy’s got his six string in hock
Now he’s holding in when he used to make it talk so tough
Ooh, its tough
Gina dreams of running away
When she cries in the night
Tommy whispers baby its okay, someday
For some reason, this song reminded Kim of what had happened between her and Shego rather than her and Ron. She still loved him, but she couldn’t deny that her feelings on this matter were much deeper than a crush. It wasn’t quite love, but it had potential. It was worth going after. Who cares what anybody else thought? This was the twenty-first century. Anybody who didn’t approve of this sort of thing was either too closed-minded or too behind the times. Kim had never been either, and she wasn’t about to start. She looked at Shego with sparkling eyes.
We’ve got to hold on to what we’ve got
It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not
We’ve got each other and that’s a lot for love
We’ll give it a shot
They didn’t speak any words, but the warm smiles that they exchanged spoke volumes. Once again, it took a song to get Kim to fall for Shego. Ron still had her heart, but Shego made her body tremble with excitement. She didn’t know what it was about the pale-skinned villainess that attracted her, but she didn’t care. She didn’t really need to think about it as it only happened when she let go of rational thought and acted on emotion alone. She moved her body in time with the beat just like Shego was, and the two women continued to smile, holding each other’s gaze. Both of them lip-synced the words of the second chorus.
Oh, we're halfway there
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand, we’ll make it, I swear
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Livin’ on a prayer
The song entered a guitar solo and the two women stood to their feet. They walked towards each other like strangers in the dark, paying no heed to the people around them. Their matching eyes were locked in a lustful stare. They wanted each other. And this time neither one was hesitant. They wrapped their arms around each other and brought their bodies so close that one couldn’t even slide a piece of paper between them. Their faces were inches apart. Each woman gazed into the soul of the other.
Ooh, we’ve got to hold on ready or not
You live for the fight when that’s all that you’ve got
“You really think we’ve got a chance?” Kim asked the older woman.
“I don’t know,” Shego answered. “But we’ll find out, won’t we?” Their lips met as the song broke into the final string of choruses.
Whoa, we're halfway there
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it, I swear
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Kim poured all of her emotion into that kiss, holding back nothing. Shego did likewise, thrusting her tongue into the younger woman’s mouth and fighting Kim’s tongue for space. The world around them faded away as they lost themselves in the moment. All the events surrounding that one kiss became meaningless as pure bliss spread through the bodies of each woman. They did not notice the stares. They didn’t notice the slack-jawed husbands who were receiving death glares from their wives. They didn’t notice the spilled drinks, wide eyes, and general stillness of the room. All they knew was that this kiss was forever.
Whoa, we're halfway there
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it, I swear
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
“Alright, break it up!” the bartender called. “This isn’t a gay bar! Take it next door!” He pointed towards the door.
Shego and Kim exchanged a glance and Shego seemed to ask Kim something with her eyes. The redhead nodded and smiled mischievously. Shego ignited her hand and flung a plasma bolt at the bartender, knocking him out cold. “Anybody else?” Shego called out to the rather shocked crowd of onlookers. Hands went up in surrender gestures and nervous mumbling was heard from all corners of the room as the occupants of the bar signaled that they wanted no part of this. Shego and Kim shrugged their respective shoulders and went back to lip-smacking as the song came to a close.
Whoa, we're halfway there
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
Take my hand and we’ll make it, I swear
Whoa-oa
Livin’ on a prayer
This is the longest song-based chapter I’ve written, running at just shy of 3,900 words. Of course, I had a lot to accomplish in this chapter. I hope you liked it. Wade’s cameo appearance may have seemed a little short, but it will play a huge role in the story. I have one or two more chapters in this act and then we move on to the home stretch. Thank you all for your comments and reviews. I honestly didn’t expect this story to get so much attention. I hope you all enjoy where I’m going with this. Please read and review. No flames, please.
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