“So what’s with the bike?”
Shego looked up from her staring contest with the lock on the gate, taking only a moment of her time to study Kim before returning most of her attention to the undeniably final statement declared by the iron box that encased the lock:
The museum is closed.
I could easily melt this gate to the ground. What are they thinking? “What deal would that be?” She looked back up at Kim and stopped entertaining the thought of breaking into the museum that way. It lacked a certain…finesse, and – more importantly – Kimmie wouldn’t approve.
God, I have gone soft.
Kim smiled knowingly as she glanced from Shego to the shut and locked gate, but she made no comment on her partner’s thoughts. “What I meant was – that bike looks pretty normal,” she gestured at where the vehicle in question was standing parked beside a fire hydrant only a handful of metres away. “I’d like to know what makes it so special that you’re so fond of the thing.”
Shego matched Kim’s smile and glanced back quickly at the museum building on the other side of the gate, her small smile growing a little smirk-ish as she entertained a new thought. Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all that they’d arrived at the museum too late to do a quick walkthrough – for Kim’s benefit of course; Shego had already memorized the layout of this building from the dozens of visits she’d made over the past seven years to just stand and stare at the ever-confounding armband.
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t so bad that they’d missed the chance to case the place, but Shego found she didn’t really mind so much. If she’d been alone, on the other hand…but no, she wasn’t alone, and better still – she was getting a chance to do some more Drakken-bashing. “You remember that snake I used to work for?”
Kim rolled her eyes at the question. Right, as if she could forget when you’re standing right in front of her as a reminder of the three years you spent fighting each other. “Of course I remember him. That’s a hard villain to forget; he’s the only thing I know that has blue skin.” She grinned suddenly, “His stupidity was always good for a laugh when I felt down, though.”
“Wasn’t it?” Shego chuckled along with the white-haired woman while taking her place on the bike, leaning back into Kim when she came and took the backseat. “Well,” she slipped her night-black helmet on and waited a few seconds for her partner to do the same, “as inept and useless as he was with death rays and hypertronic devastator drones, it was actually a little creepy how well he could deliver on little things. My climbing claws are just one example of his selective genius.”
“And the bike’s another?” Kim’s hands snaked around Shego’s waist as they rode off slowly. “Hey, if that’s the case, why didn’t he just start up a business and build super-bikes? He might have gotten rich enough to buy the world if he could build something that you find so great – what’s it got, laser cannons?”
Shego smiled only somewhat regretfully and ignored Kim’s rhetorical question about Drakken’s motives. I’m not always about the destruction, Kimmie – I hope you know that by now. “Sadly, the Ghost is unarmed, but she’s got plenty of other goodies to make up for it.” She caressed the handlebars lovingly for just a moment while they were stopped at a light. “Just under your seat is the nest for the nanodrones that can be used to modify and repair my bike.”
“Cool,” the redhead muttered as she glanced down at the leather seat below her. Then, after a moment, she looked up and pointed over Shego’s shoulder so the villainess would see, “hey – pull over there.”
Shego complied without question, surprising herself with her unspoken cooperation. “Alright,” she killed the engine, “what are we doing here?” She turned her head to face Kim as they pulled their helmets off.
“What?” Kim fixed Shego with a disappointingly unconvincing look of innocence.
Shego could taste Kim’s mischief and playful mood in the air, and inwardly cringed. Oh crap – here comes another joke that I just walked straight into…
“Haven’t you ever fantasized about taking me in an alley before?” Kim’s tone was playful but hesitant at the same time, as if she wasn’t completely sure she wanted to be playing games like this. Shego distantly remembered the girl behind her saying something about trying everything once. I had to fall for the wild one, she thought, thinking of all the other Possibles that fate could have paired her with instead of this sinfully adorable girl behind her.
Shego nodded to herself, having expected something along these lines, but she wasn’t going to play.
Keeping her expression frustratingly passive, Shego turned to regard her partner with a stony glare. “Kim Possible, I promise you our first time is going to be someplace a lot more special than some alley before a mission. I respect you too much to do anything less.” She felt her glare fade at Kim’s amused expression. “You tricked me,” she said suddenly.
Kim grinned unexpectedly, “just wrangling a compliment out of you – it’s really easy to do, by the way.” She leaned forward and planted a soft, brief kiss on Shego’s cheek.
Shego reached up to touch her cheek as she felt a blush starting there, forgetting that through her almleti-lined gloves she wouldn’t be able to feel the warmth, and then Kim’s words hit her.
“Only for you,” Shego declared honestly. “Anyone else would have a real fight on their hands if they wanted praise from me.” She pulled away from Kim. “Now, tell me why we’re really here?”
Kim giggled quietly, “what – am I not good enough company?” At Shego’s rather diluted death glare, she relented and raised her hands up. “Okay, okay – just look up.”
It was a simple request, but when Shego did so and saw what she had parked the bike underneath, she was momentarily at a loss. Directly above her bike was a long hanging ladder that led to the first in a series of fire escape balconies. “A fire escape,” she observed, mildly bored, “So what?”
Kim climbed off the bike, “It’s not just a fire escape, Shego.” She stared up at the long line of balconies and ladders and pulled off her helmet. “It’s a pathway to the roof of a building only a block from the museum you want to visit after hours tonight.
Shego looked slowly from Kim to the ladder and back, a devilish smirk spreading across her face. “I knew I’d love working with you,” she remarked, climbing off the bike with her grin undiminished. She motioned to the hanging ladder politely, “you saw it first, so after you, Princess.”
Kim smiled and backed away so she could make a running jump at the hanging iron ladder. “You’re such a gentleman,” she grunted offhand just before her fingers closed around the bottom rung and she started to pull herself up. “You should make sure your bike doesn’t get stolen; we might need a fast getaway later on.”
“I’ve got it covered,” Shego was surprised to not feel any resentment or anger at being ordered around like this – however gentle the orders were given. This is different, she thought as she pulled a small remote out of her backpack and pointed it at her bike. She pushed a single button, and a tiny blue LED in the centre of the console lit up, blinking once before staying on as the entire bike around it vanished out of sight, disappearing once the beautiful machine’s stealth package had activated and risen to full power.
“Coming, Shego?”
The villainess looked up to see that unfamiliar face looking down at her from above, framed with equally unfamiliar snow-white hair. “Yeah, I’ll be right up, but stop just before the roof.” She smirked as the disguised ex-heroine threw her a mock-salute and then whirled to take off up the fire escape, her feet falling surprisingly softly on the iron gratings. She turned back to look at the space her now-hidden bike still occupied. “Oh yeah,” she mumbled to herself, glancing up at the fleeing snow-maned superhero look-alike. She made sure her satchel was secure and that her almleti-lined gloves were still secured tightly on her hands, and then she leapt for the ladder, scurrying up to the first landing with little trouble. She glanced up to see a flash of white hair through the iron gratings of the fire escape.
“This is going to be fun.”
By the time Shego reached the top floor, Kim was lounging against the red bricked wall of the apartment building as if she’d been waiting hours for her. “It’s about time,” the mocha-skinned woman stood from her place right beside the last set of stairs – the ones that led to a locked gate that barred off the roof from the building’s tenants. “I was beginning to think you’d run off to find a new partner,” she brushed the dust off the back of her jean shorts and smiled to make it into a joke, but Shego could still smell the tiny drops of fear that ran off from Kim’s mind.
Oh, for crying out loud…Shego frowned. “I thought we had gotten past the whole doubting stage of our relationship.”
Kim looked away guiltily. “I’m sorry, but I just can’t seem stop going over the fact that you’re a criminal, a woman –and a very hot one at that – and you’ve hated me with every fibre of your being –.”
This has really got to stop, Shego stopped the girl mid-rant with a single finger to Kim’s lips. “Kim.” No pet names this time, she thought. This is far too serious for that. “Stop.” Stop worrying, stop looking for a hidden motive in my behaviour, stop second guessing yourself, and above all – stop thinking so little of yourself.
“I may be a villain,” she said finally, “but then so are you, now. Global Justice agents are supposed to be the heroes, but look at what they’re doing – it’s not so much about Justice as it is about money and making more of it. Don’t get me wrong, I like money, but I won’t bust my ass for it unless there’s some good incentive for it – like the chance to measure myself against a worthy opponent for example,” she fixed an appreciative look on Kim and smiled faintly when a blush overcame that artificially dark skin. “They’ve taken making a profit to a whole new, dirty level that I’d personally never touch.”
Shego watched with no small amount of relief as Kim paused to think about what she was hearing before surrendering to the urge to interrupt, “And so what if I am a woman?” She stepped back and leaned against the fire escaper railing, smirking at a sudden thought. That was some kind of kiss, Princess… “That didn’t stop you from stealing my first kiss,” she smiled genuinely at the memory even as she felt her pride crack at the admission.
Kim’s eyes widened at Shego’s last words, but the older woman pushed on before she could butt in. “And I know we’ve already discussed that last one, so get over it.” She paused uncertainly, knowing that wasn’t enough to assuage her girl’s fears or doubts. “I – it’s been a long time since I hated you, Kim. The memories of how I’ve treated you won’t stop playing in my head, honest – they haunt me even now, and if I could go back and change something I would, but I can’t so I’d like to start things over between us.” Shego turned so her gaze met Kim’s, “trust me, Kim – I don’t hate you, and I’m sorry I ever did.”
For a moment, Kim showed no signs of having even heard the pale woman’s words, but then she threw herself across the very small distance that separated them on the fire escape, enveloping Shego in an almost painful hug and almost tackling her over the railing and off the twelfth floor balcony.
Shego tensed at first and almost threw Kim off, momentarily forgetting who it was she was talking to because of her rather…effective disguise, but then she forced herself to relax for Kim’s sake. Damn, I hope she didn’t notice that. Shego reached out and wrapped her arms around the snow-maned girl, holding her close.
Kim shuddered once and then pulled Shego even closer, clinging desperately to the woman so she could whisper in a voice filled with emotion, “I love you, Shego.”
Shego pulled away, gazing at her partner with gratitude, relief, and a reflection of the younger woman’s own deep affection. “And I love you, Kim Possible,” she unwrapped her arms from Kim’s lower back. “Think you can open that window?” Mildly uncomfortable with all the emotion floating in the air, Shego changed the subject rather clumsily, pointing at the pane right behind Kim.
Storm nodded slowly where she stood in front of Shego and reached back without turning to raise the window with one hand. She shrugged at Shego’s surprised stare. “It wasn’t locked.”
“Ah,” Shego nodded as if she understood, but she really didn’t. How can you be so perfect, my Princess?
Kim blushed again as she climbed into the apartment through the window, following Shego’s cue, and Shego was surprised to find that she didn’t care as much as she should that Kim was privy to her thoughts. She felt no anger at the invasion of her mind because – strangely enough – she actually believed that Kim really didn’t have absolute control over her powers at all times. And, even more surprisingly, she trusted her partner to not speak a word to anyone about what she’d seen or heard in Shego’s head. What a strange turn of events is this? Kim was the enemy four years ago. Not an enemy, but the enemy. Four years ago, there was no one I despised more, but now…Not even eight years away from my idiotic and immature little brothers has made me feel like forgiving them and inviting them back into my life, but four years and one revelation are enough to make me fall for this girl and seriously consider jumping into bed with her? Ridiculous…
Shego shook her head at the realization that her world had just taken another step into the realm of weird and followed Kim into the quiet and seemingly empty apartment. “I hope,” she smirked minutely, “that you’re at least trying to stay out of my head.”
Kim turned and lowered her head so her long white hair was hanging across her face like a safe curtain, shielding her from Shego’s direct but gentle question. Instead, she changed the subject in a very soft and hesitant tone of voice, “was that really your first kiss?”
For the first time in a long, long time, Shego actually felt herself blush, not only at the question, but at the sudden thought of many other “firsts” she would love to have with the girl standing before her – the way she really looked of course. Dammit, she thought, eyes closed tightly. I hate that I’ve gone soft. “Yeah, it was,” she forced a smile through her embarrassment, “that’s one of my biggest secrets, Kimmie – surprised?”
Kim nodded, staring at Shego with wide eyes for only a second before stepping back and looking around the bathroom that they’d found themselves in. “Well, I can understand after joining Drakken, you know – because of the accident, but what about before then? I mean, you couldn’t have been more than what – twenty when we first met?”
Shego’s smile was far more genuine now, “nineteen, actually.” She leaned back against the window frame behind her, “look, thanks for the support, but I never really had time for a social life at all – not even before my accident.” She paused for a moment, smiling grimly but not regretfully. How could I have met you if I was stuck romancing some guy in some other time? “I went on a couple dates during my days with Team Go,” she shuddered once. “It’s been about fifteen years since that comet hit, so I clearly wasn’t ever dating before then, but the dates I did manage to go on were disasters,” she lashed out and lightly bounced her fist off her leg. “They were all guys that wanted to take advantage of the fact that, A) I was the only girl on the team; and B) I was the only member of the team that didn’t have a Glow or any kind of superpower.”
Shego snorted a cruel, evil smile crossing her brooding features. “Dumb jocks learned pretty quick that superpowers aren’t all that when you’ve got the best fighting skills of anyone on the planet.” Shego moved to sit on the edge of the bathtub, gently waving a hand at Kim as an afterthought, “present company excluded, of course.” She failed to conceal her ear-to-ear grin as a deep blush worked its way through Kim’s dark cheeks. Oh, she is far too easy, she thought. “That was the only thing that damn comet gave me, you know – a natural ability to fight, both armed and hand-to-hand but I prefer hands-on. It took some years to train my talent, because I didn’t instantly know everything; I just mastered the styles within a few weeks instead of years.”
“Needless to say,” Shego stared at her glowing hand as she lost herself in her past, “I got a lot of flak from Hego for liking the fighting so much. I mean, that overgrown monkey had the super-strength, so he loved to lift and break big things, Mego had shrinking so he enjoyed doing that…why couldn’t I be left to enjoy using my power – just because it didn’t come with a glow? Was it because it required a living being to be on the receiving end?”
Shego didn’t give Kim a chance to respond before moving on with her monologue. “So, no – I didn’t get my first kiss working with those jerks; they kept me busy enough saving the city because they couldn’t dredge a single brain from all four of them – Hego always dragged the group down six evolutionary steps. Mego and the Wego twins were all right, but they just couldn’t understand what the Hell I was going through. I mean, DAMN!” Shego lashed out suddenly at the wall, leaving a sizeable crack in one large tile. “My empathy had been around for a while, but I was starting to realize which emotions I liked to feed off best, so I was starting to take our fights with the bad guys and intentionally force them into a dark place to get some fear or anger out of the audience we’d always have. I was also getting fed up with Hego’s matchmaker act – always setting me up with the most misogynistic bastards I’ve ever met who wouldn’t be able to charm their way into their own houses.”
Shego looked around the bathroom again. “In the end, I left and took a little of Hego’s pride with me – I noticed he still hasn’t managed to settle down and have kids, but that could just be the fact that he probably doesn’t appeal in the slightest to any woman in existence.” Shego grinned maliciously, “on the other hand, it could also be the parting gift I gave him when I left Team Go.”
Kim grimaced, remembering on brief moment in the Go Tower, when the big blue-suited superhero thought no one was looking, when Hego had allowed himself to succumb to some kind of perpetual groin pain – as if someone had kicked him hard enough to leave a permanent bruise. Yeah, Kimmie – he pissed me off that much, Shego thought.
“So, between all of Team Go relying on me, the brainless idiots Hego set me up with, his yelling at me for being too into a fight, and everything else, I never did end up finding anyone worth more than a quick chat and a swift kick out the door.” She glanced briefly at Kim, “and then, in the year-and-a-half before my life was completely shot to Hell, I was just doing my best to stay out of Team Go’s awareness. I met some cool people – guys and girls –, but no one who was really worth more than any of the jerks I’d met in my Team Go days.” No one except Kaia anyway, but that is galaxies away from a romantic relationship, isn’t it? It’s just nice to have a fan for once.
Kim made a small noise of understanding when it seemed like Shego had finished her story, and then she looked up at Shego through that protective curtain of blizzard-white hair. “Well – how was your first kiss then?” She smiled faintly, hopefully.
Shego kept the grin off her face as she waved her hand vaguely through the air. “So-so,” she kept the normal insulting tone out of her voice, and just waited for the disguised redhead’s reaction.
Kim drew back, visibly deflated, “really?” Her voice was a mere whisper, broken – as if she was only a second away from breaking out into tears. “I’m sorry,” she offered quietly.
Sorry? Deciding to try and salvage the situation, Shego moved on quickly to the second part of her improvised joke. “You don’t have to apologize, Kimmie.”
“I do so,” Kim muttered, “you didn’t say it in so many words, Shego, but I got it – your first kiss sucked. Okay.”
Shego finally let a grin split her features. Oh, you are too easy, Princess; you fell for it hook, line, and sinker. “Oh, no, Princess – you misunderstand me.” She relaxed and let that grin shrink into that trademark smirk that she knew would get her Kimmie’s excitement going again. “See, there’s this girl I met a little while after I got my first kiss, and hers are just out of this world – makes whoever kissed me in that hotel room look like a kid.”
It took Kim a moment to realize that Shego was only talking about one “girl”, but when she did, her face broke out into the most adorable, grateful, and caring smile she’d ever seen. “Thank you,” she whispered. “That means a lot.”
Shego nodded, “I mean it, you know. Your first kiss might not have been the best I’d ever dreamed of having, but I’ve had much better kisses since; seems to me like you’re a fast learner.”
Kim chuckled. “Aw – thanks, Shego.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Shego waved the gratitude away but felt a little thrill of happiness all the same, “Just don’t cry in front of me.”
“Sure thing,” Kim looked around the bathroom carefully as the subject was so obviously dropped. “Shego – what are we doing here?”
Shego reached into her black satchel and withdrew two small empty glass bottles. “I didn’t ask you to join me so I could run around museums breaking the law with a comic book character.” She held the bottles out to Kim with one hand while she slipped her bag off and let it thump to the floor, knowing the apartment they’d broken into must surely be empty because no one had come to investigate the strange voices coming from the bathroom. “I don’t care if you want to wear this disguise in public, ‘cuz I’ll be wearing mine too until my hair grows back, but on jobs…” she studied Kim closely as she pulled her long black wig out of her bag, “We’re regular us.”
Kim smiled reassuringly, “don’t worry, Shego; I wasn’t planning on going into any mission like this,” she gestured down at her clothes and her artificially darkened skin. “I knew you wanted me beside you tonight – and personally, I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She smirked as a thought seemed to cross through the fringes of her mind, “I just didn’t realize you’d want to see me again this soon.”
Shego grabbed a face cloth from her satchel and started to wet it from the taps in the sink. “Well, what if I had plan for you between now and then?” She turned an amused and devilish grin on Kim. “I’ve had to go more than two hours without being able to hold you for more than a few seconds, and I’m not patient enough to wait much longer.”
Kim’s eyes were wide with surprise at first, but then a soft smile blossomed across her lips, matching Shego’s own in sincerity. “Well, when you put it that way,” an almost solid line seemed to pass from the top of Kim’s head to her feet, trailing behind it the transformation from flesh and bone to water, once again leaving her clothes draped around her watery form. “But I don’t need the bottles,” she chuckled suddenly, her mind broadcasting that same combination of playfulness and nervousness that Shego had come to expect whenever Kim was planning to do something for Shego, either in an attempt to throw the older villainess off or prove something to her.
Shego drew back a little, face cloth held to her face as she worked to scrub her carefully applied layers of makeup off her face. What on Earth? “What are you up to?” She went back to rubbing at her face, slowly revealing her own pale green skin. “What are you going to do with all that paint then?”
Shego couldn’t see it, but from the spike of pleasure from Kim’s mind, as well as the tiny dose of excitement, she knew that her partner was smiling. She could also hear it in her soft voice. “Well, I’ve been out of this game for four years, Shego – no sense in letting myself dive back in unchanged, is there?”
Shego grinned as her nose and left cheek were revealed by her vigorous scrubbing, “a tattoo?” She turned to Water-Kim as an almost visible ripple swept through her liquid form. “Now this I’ve got to see.”
“Just give me a second,” Kim muttered, her body shrinking just a little and filling out fractionally to make up for it as she returned her body to its normal dimensions. “Alright, here goes…” Shego watched another ripple sweep through her partner’s watery body as it quickly solidified back into normal-Kim. Her clothes were still different but that would quickly be changed. Kim started to pull her usual thin black mission shirt on over her red tank top, but then seemed to think better of it and just turned to face Shego, stuffing her rejected shirt back in her bag and pulling out a black tank top instead. Once she had dropped her bag to the dark tiled floor of the bathroom, she looked straight into Shego’s eyes, black garment in hand, and turned in a slow circle. “What do you think?”
Shego didn’t even pretend to not stare. Kim’s new tattoo job was obvious, but it wasn’t as hideous as many of the hundreds of tattoos that the hardened criminal had seen in her years on the outside of the law. “I like it,” she grinned, knowing she meant every word.
On the left side of Kim’s chest, just below her collarbone, she now bore a neat, thin-lined S that was traced out in a brown so dark and so concentrated that it seemed only a shade away from all-out black. The soft, smooth curves of the letter were quite simple, but seemed to be kind of fancy at the same time, as if they had been drawn carefully by a skilled calligrapher. The whole figure was no larger than a small plum. It would be obvious enough to anyone who looked her way, but it would seem very stylish at the same time – quite a lot more so than what the former teen heroine had drawn on her back.
On either side of her back, following the skin-covered contours of her shoulder blades and beyond, Kim had used her elemental ability to shunt her extra paint around and paint a pair of snow-white wings, their colour having obviously come from the paint she’d put in her hair. Each tattooed wing was a little longer than the distance between the tips of Shego’s thumb and pinkie finger, and each feather had been outlined by the excess brown colour that Kim had made for her skin. These wings, while more blatant than the S below Kim’s neck, still managed to maintain an air of grace and beauty that left Shego needing a moment to regain her tongue. The girl had even placed a small pile of white feathers between her painted wings, as if the white plumes had simply fallen atop each other.
Shego was quite surprised by how large and visible Kim had made her tattoos when she had never thought Kim would go quite that far. I guess you’ll just always be full of surprises, won’t you Princess? Shego felt her grin widen just a little at that thought. It just wouldn’t be Kimmie without surprises… “I have to say, I like it a lot.”
Kim blushed as she turned back to face Shego head on. Her voice when it came at last was a bare whisper, “thank you.”
Shego smiled a little at the girl’s discomfort. It takes so little to get you flustered. God I love it. “Now,” she gently pulled Kim into a loose embrace. “If you want to preserve your comic book super-heroine disguise, you have to do just one more thing.”
Kim’s eyes were closed, and she was slowly giving off the soft and fruity scent of contentment – like peaches. Now I find out why I came up with that particular name for you, Shego thought, remembering the many nights she had spent watching the girl in her arms sleep safe in her own home, made even more safe by the fact that Shego would not allow Kim to be taken down by anyone but Shego. The night-maned villain had berated herself so much for venturing to the Possible home so many times, but the sight of the heroine snug in her bed, letting off the light buzz of a content child…it was like an addiction…it wasn’t Shego’s favourite emotion, but it was a delicious one all the same, once again made more so by the fact that it was emanating from the fiery-haired girl who was now held in her arms, having unofficially marked herself as Shego’s – whether she knew it or not.
“And what’s that?” Kim finally spoke.
Shego’s smile became a little mischievous, and leaned forward to murmur softly into Kim’s ear, “Lose the clothes.”
Those words shattered Kim’s content and peaceful mood, replacing it instead with the sickeningly sweet taste of embarrassment. Shego’s grin widened just a little when she sensed the embarrassment beating a hasty retreat almost as soon as it had surfaced in Kim’s mind. This was probably one of the many larger, unforeseen benefits that Shego knew she’d be getting – the redhead’s ability to suppress her embarrassment so quickly. That emotion ranked pretty high among Shego’s favourites, but too much of it would always give her a headache from the unbearable sweetness of it all.
When Kim didn’t reply, Shego pulled away, her grin unshaken as she correctly guessed the source of her partner’s intense unease. “Look, Kim – if we’re going to keep working and living together like this, we’re going to end up doing a lot more than seeing each other naked.” She winked playfully in an attempt to lighten the mood.
The redhead’s eyes widened as if the thought had never occurred to her, but that was far too naïve an idea for Shego to believe. “Yeah, I know,” Kim was quiet, tasting of nervousness, apprehension, and a little fear that made Shego’s eyes widen as the last puzzle pieces fell into place in her own mind. “But not yet,” Kim continued hesitantly, “please, Shego – just…turn around?” When Shego didn’t move, staring at the younger woman as if seeing her for the first time, Kim’s voice took on a pleading tone, “Shego, please?”
Shego turned away slowly. I can’t believe I’m catering to her like this. “Listen to me, Kimmie,” She spoke in a low voice, and she wasn’t even sure if her partner was listening, but she pushed on. “I can smell your fear, and I’ve got to tell you – you need to know,” she swallowed uncomfortably, knowing exactly what she was admitting, confessing. “If you’re worried about not being good enough, don’t be – I don’t want you to be afraid for a second longer that you’re not good enough.” She felt the blow to her pride as she spoke in this quiet voice, but she realized now that she didn’t care – as long as she was hurting her own pride for Kim. My Princess is worth a bruised pride, she thought. She’d be worth a Hell of a lot more too. “You’re good enough, Kim – you’re more than good enough…” she trailed off and heard Kim stop changing her clothes, waiting to hear what she was going to say. “Kim, I’ve got to tell you,” she choked as part of her still rebelled against the idea of saying what she was about to say – of admitting defeat. The words she was about to confess were all true as far as she was concerned, but Kim wasn’t supposed to know that – was never supposed to know this. To admit what she’d held so close to her heart for so long would be to finally give in to her rival and admit that she was the better.
But your Kimmie’s hurting, a voice spoke from deep inside her, close to her heart. You could comfort her with this – it would be so easy…or do you want her to hurt until she breaks?
Dammit!
Shego felt like banging her head against the bathroom wall she was facing, but settled instead for just leaning her head against it gently. God – how she hated choices between bad things but, then again…a hurt Kimmie was far worse than a bruised pride. Her pride would heal, especially if she had her Kimmie to keep her company through it all. Well, here goes:
Shego opened her mouth to speak…
And a soft hand fell onto her shoulder, “Shego…?”
That voice was all it took. Shego felt her tears well up and a sob rose in her throat as Kim’s voice pulled at her heart, but she refused to let it out. Now was definitely not a time for tears. Without turning to face the young redhead, Shego clenched her fist and whispered out the words that she had held in for seven years, acknowledged the thoughts she’d despised herself for having, and finally admitted defeat to the woman standing behind her.
“You’re beautiful, Kim.”
There was a sharp gasp from behind her, and then the hand on Shego’s shoulder pulled, turning her around to face the woman she’d finally lost to after all the years they’d spent competing. “Really?” Kim’s eyes shone – but not with tears – and her lips were turned up into the most adorable smile as disbelief threaded its way through Kim’s emotions.
Shego could taste the wonder, contentment, and happiness rolling off of Kim in waves, as well as a new scent-flavour that she’d only begun to sense in the past day or so. It wasn’t as good as Kim’s excitement, being more subtle in its depth and richness, but it was quickly becoming one of Shego’s favourite three emotions.
Love.
So this is what love tastes like. Shego watched Kim trying to process what she’d just told her. “You are,” she placed her gloved hands on Kim’s arms and turned her so they were both facing the mirror above the sink in the bathroom they’d broken into. “Look at us, Kim.” It was so much easier to say now that she’d already broken the dam that had held back her words. “You and me – who is the more beautiful between the two of us?” Anticipating the shorter woman’s response, Shego clapped a hand over her mouth. “No you don’t, Princess – acknowledge what you are.” Shego looked away from the image in the mirror so she could gaze upon the real thing. “See what I see,” she whispered, moving her hands up to cup the girl’s face between both unfeeling, alloy-encased palms.
“I tried to hate you so much because of it.” Shego traced the fingers of one hand along Kim’s jaw. “Every damn time I saw you, I saw how unearthly your beauty was – and you didn’t even seem to know it.” Her voice raised a little as she grew more comfortable with what she was finally admitting. “And then, every night after we’d fought, I tried so much to hate you for all of it – for having the beauty I thought you’d stolen from me and showing it off in my face all the time; for having guys falling over themselves trying to win you – so many you could turn them down a dozen a day and you’d still be turning guys away on your death bed.” Shego touched a fingertip to Kim’s lip gently as she stared into her bright green eyes with her own darker forest orbs.
“Every guy on the planet wanted you,” Shego tapped lightly on Kim’s lower lip, “every girl was jealous of you,” she changed her movement to a light stroking from one side of the redhead’s lip to the other, “and I hated you so much for it.” She looked away, hands dropping to her side. “It worked too,” she laughed humourlessly, “I tried so hard to hate you that it actually worked, and even as I was falling in love with you, I still tried to hate you.” She closed her eyes, “until suddenly – I had nothing to hate you for, and I started to look at you as more than an enemy. I saw that I had hurt you so many times – too many times – with my misplaced hatred.” She opened her eyes and gazed into Kim’s face again. “I saw your beauty again, this time without my hatred…and I felt so plain beside you – so ordinary – so hideous because of what he did to me.” Shego looked back into the mirror, silently comparing herself to her Princess and seriously coming up short. “I see you for what you really are now, and trust me when I say you don’t need to be afraid of me turning you away, because I could never do such a thing to an angel like you.”
Reaching up to brush a lock of stray red hair out of Kim’s face, Shego cast her thoughts back to the last fight they’d had while she worked for Drakken. Kim’s instant of weakness in that ventilation shaft had given Shego the key that unlocked the chains that had bound her to that lying, scheming son-of-a-worm. Of course, Kim’s momentary loss of control had also been the first step in Shego’s worldwide retreat from her own heart, leading her all around the world to Kaia – the only fan she’d ever had – and finally back into Kim’s waiting arms, in spite of the fact that the redhead hadn’t known that they were open wide for the older woman in the first place. God, a thrill of emotion trickled up Shego’s spine as she finally realized what Kim had done in that single instant four years ago in that missile silo when she’d lost control of her telepathy for that single moment. You set me free, Kim…oh, God – thank you.
Shego drew back from her partner and just stared at her in wonder, awestruck by the sudden revelation of what her worst enemy had done.
“You really think I’m beautiful?”
Shego was jolted out of her silent worship of Kim’s now fully-realized beauty, and she looked down to see the girl staring up at her with a hopeful, vulnerable expression on her face. “You should know that I do…telepath,” Shego smirked to take the edge off her accusation.
“Thank you,” Kim breathed, her eyes closing for a moment before a shy smile of mischief came to her face, “but I should tell you that I’m getting better at controlling it; I haven’t been in your head for hours – I’m just good at reading body language thanks to constantly comparing thoughts to actions for seven years.” She smiled gently, “you deserve your privacy.”
“Thank you,” Shego offered, less brokenly than Kim.
Then, Shego was surprised to taste the mischief in Kim’s mind growing by leaps and bounds, as well as a complete resurgence of Kim’s contentment, and even a precious droplet of excitement as Kim carefully regained her…Kim-ness. “So,” she grinned deviously, “all this because I wouldn’t let you watch me undress?”
Shego stared at Kim for a second before bursting out laughing and shoving Kim backwards into the bathtub. “Oh – you…you…”
Kim looked up from where she’d landed in the white porcelain tub. “Beautiful?” She offered.
Shego leaned over to help Kim up, “damn – you heard that?” Well, I guess serious-time is over.
Kim nodded slowly. “And thank you again,” she paused, and Shego caught the scent of the girl’s quickly growing but well-controlled anger.
Oh crap…
“But next time,” Kim stabbed Shego lightly in the chest with one finger, “you don’t get to stop me from telling you what I see when I look at you.”
Shego reached up and laid one gloved hand on Kim’s cheek. “Deal,” she whispered, moving her hand slightly in a soft caress, but then cursing herself because all she could feel was the solid, unmoving smoothness of the thin almleti core of her gloves, heated by the warmth of her own hands. “God,” she breathed, “I wish I could touch you,” she pulled her hand away and curled it into a tight fist, “just for one damn second.”
Kim smiled gently and shot out one hand to catch Shego’s before it could retreat too far. “You want more than one second, don’t you?” At the older woman’s silent nod, Kim moved her hand away from the gloved hand to wrap around a cool, green-skinned wrist. “I don’t know about that,” she grasped Shego’s glove in her free hand, “but I think we might be able to get a second out of you.” Then, without warning or asking permission, Kim forced Shego’s fist open and started to pull the glove off.
Realizing what Kim was about to do, Shego stiffened and started to pull her hand out of Kim’s grip. “No, Kim – I can’t. Even a second is too much to go without hurting you.”
“Shego.” Kim’s voice was firm and she continued to pull Shego’s glove off, tightening her grip on the trapped wrist. “No – look,” her eyes closed quickly, “do you see it?”
Shego’s head swam as a vision overcame her senses, breaking through the barriers she’d built in her mind to block out everyone’s emotions – Kim’s in particular. She suddenly saw something so clearly in her mind’s eye.
Shego and Kim stood together in a white void without boundaries, Shego’s glowing bare hand raised and drawing closer to Kim’s unprotected cheek. Kim’s breath was coming in shallow, panting gasps and her eyes were wide as she watched Shego – but not in fear.
Never in fear.
Just as Shego’s hand was about to make contact with the redhead’s cheek, the hazy green glow that had surrounded it vanished, and then Shego was softly caressing Kim’s cheek without causing any harm at all. For a few seconds, they stood together like that, Shego’s hand rubbing across the cool smoothness of her partner’s cheek.
Suddenly, Shego’s other hand shot up and a bright green blast of plasma erupted forth, aimed away from them and streaking off into the endless white distance – lost to infinity…
For a moment, Shego’s heart leapt at the possibility the vision Kim was providing offered, but her hopes were dashed just as swiftly as they’d surged into being; a woefully quick death for Kim’s proposed idea. “God, Kim,” she whispered the words that would destroy this glimmering hope. “I wish it were that simple, but it isn’t.” Shego used Kim’s physical contact on her wrist to share her own image with the girl, knowing instinctively that her partner would not hesitate to use her telepathy at least this once.
This time, as Shego’s hand moved along the younger woman’s face, her dangerous and unstable power suppressed through sheer force of will, both women’s eyes closed as they lost themselves in these precious few moments of contact. A soft smile came to Kim’s lips as Shego’s cool fingers slid along her cheek to rest her palm flat against the smooth, warm skin.
Shego watched the soft smile cross Kim’s face as the image played in both their minds, and the redhead started to pull Shego’s bare hand closer in order to duplicate the image shown in the mental tableau they were sharing. Seeing what Kim intended, Shego stubbornly held her hand as far away as Kim’s grip on her wrist would allow. “No, Kim – look…”
A strained expression had appeared on Shego’s face as she became lost in the soft warmth of her Princess’ cheek and the taller woman’s lips quickly twisted into a grimace as she struggled to keep her volatile plasma-sphere contained. Finally, Shego’s free hand shot up like before, but nothing came out; the blast that Shego had struggled with and failed to contain exploded out of her other hand – straight into Kim’s face.
Kim gasped, her grip on Shego’s wrist tightening as Shego tasted the disbelief and horror coming off of her mind, but she held on, allowing the taller woman to finish her story:
The blast threw Kim away, where she landed in a heap several metres farther along the limitless white void, her left hand flying to her head and covering the smoking and charred remains of half her face. Horrified, Shego ran to Kim’s side and bent down to gather the broken form into her arms, her lips moving silently in what could only be a terrified apology, but Kim suddenly threw Shego away and rose to her feet, whirling on her and using her one good eye to glare at the villainess with an expression that she had only ever used once in all their years together:
Hatred.
It was true, pure hatred, and Kim used Shego’s shock at seeing it to dive at her and attack with a ruthless, merciless violence that could only come from blind, vengeful rage.
Unable to take anymore, Kim tore her hand away from Shego’s arm, cutting off the physical contact that had allowed Shego to so easily share the terrible image of what would really happen if Shego were to fall for the temptation that Kim was offering.
As unwilling as she was to prolong the dark mood of pain and suffering that filled the bathroom, Shego pushed on, speaking as she pulled her glove back on. “As much as I wished it worked that way, Kimmie, it doesn’t.” She raised her hands palm out, “When I’m charging up for a plasma blast, the energy that keeps me from touching people does die, but there are two problems. First, it takes a lot of concentration to hold it in for longer than a short blast and second, when the blast comes – and it has to come eventually – it has to come from the hand that I’m charging.” She chuckled bitterly, scowling as she stared into her hands. “The longer I try to hold it in, the bigger the blast’ll be when it finally comes out, so the longer I try to touch you, the more it’ll hurt you when I lose control.”
And I can’t hurt you, Kim.
Kim nodded her understanding, “I get it,” she reached out and took Shego’s wrist once more, raising it up so that the villainess’ now gloved hand was pressed tightly against her cheek. “And just so you know, Shego – I don’t care,” she pulled Shego’s hand away from her face and tore the glove off once more. “You need this, Shego,” she whispered.
Shego tensed and resisted as Kim started to pull her pale green, glowing hand towards her cheek. “No, Kim.” She pulled back and ripped her arm out of the younger girl’s grip. “I can’t.” She backed away quickly, shaking her head when Kim turned pleading eyes on her. “I don’t want to hurt you,” she looked away, lowering her voice to a bare, broken whisper. “I’m sorry.”
“You won’t hurt me.”
Kim’s soft and compassionate voice had Shego turning back to face her in surprise – she seemed so certain of the villainess’ ability to control her untameable, destructive energy. Kim didn’t try to take her hand again, but her eyes conveyed well enough the fact that she wanted to. “You’ve hurt me before, Shego.” Her voice held no hostility, no anger at their past history, and Shego felt an increasingly familiar flutter in her chest at the reminder that Kim had long since forgiven her for her hatred. “And I’ve healed every time,” she took a small step towards Shego, her voice remaining whisper soft. “I can see that you need this Shego – if you’re ever going to learn to work with any partner.” Another slightly larger step brought Kim to within only a single hand-span of Shego’s unmoving body. “I know it’s a big risk,” she reached up with one hand and rested it against Shego’s cheek, creating the contact she knew Shego wanted to make with her but wouldn’t allow. “But it’s not fair for me to be able to do this when you can’t.” Kim’s eyes slid down to glance at Shego’s un-gloved hand.
The touch of Kim’s fingers around her wrist caused Shego to tense again as she realised that her new ally’s determination couldn’t be matched by her own stubbornness. God, no Kim – don’t do this! I don’t want to be the one to destroy you…not anymore, not ever.
She pulled on her arm as Kim raised it towards her own face once more, but her efforts were thwarted by her own conflicted mind. Part of her refused to hurt Kim if she could help it and was more than willing to sacrifice this closeness being offered to her, but the other part of her still wanted – needed – to touch her – craved this closeness like a saving grace. That part of Shego couldn’t believe that this was real, refused to trust that Kim was actually here – had actually joined her – and she needed to know that this wasn’t all a dream…a really, really great dream that she never wanted to end. “No, Kim,” she tried to pull her wrist out of Kim’s grip, and Kim let her pull away only a little before stopping and drawing Shego’s hand back towards her soft, unprotected face.
“I can’t,” Shego pleaded.
Kim gently touched her fingertips to Shego’s lips to silence her protests. “You can,” she whispered defiantly. Then, she spoke four words that completely shook Shego’s world, leaving her mind paralyzed in shock and awe as the woman who had once been her most hated foe spoke the words that no one before had ever spoken – not her brothers, not Drakken, not even her parents.
The four words that had the power to completely crumble the hardened criminal’s resistance as if it was nothing:
“I trust you, Shego.”
Kim held her breath and waited for Shego’s answer.
It wasn’t all for Shego, of course, that Kim was so stubbornly pushing this issue. She too needed to feel the touch of her partner’s hand – on her face, on her arm, in her own hand – anywhere; it didn’t matter in the slightest. Maybe it was because Kim needed to prove to herself that that Shego was really here and that this wasn’t all a dream. It was one thing for Kim to feel that the beautiful and tragically handicapped woman was real, but the vision before her could just as easily be nothing more than a statue unless it touched back, unless Kim felt the cool warmth of Shego’s hand in her own or cupping her cheek, unblocked by the necessary evil of the other woman’s gloves.
Kim studied Shego’s face, feeling the taller woman’s fear and wonder rolling off of her mind in whole waves. It took a great deal of effort to keep her own mental blocks in place to stay out of Shego’s head, but Kim managed to keep her telepathy tightly reined in.
Thank God, she thought. It’s about time I learned finer control of that.
Finally, after an eternity spent waiting in silence, Kim was disappointed to feel the arm she held pulling away gently but firmly, refusing to be forced to do what Kim was requesting so stubbornly. She reluctantly released her hold on Shego’s wrist, realizing how afraid the woman was that she wouldn’t be able to hold her plasma ball in long enough to keep her from getting burned. “Okay, Shego,” she whispered. “I won’t push, but I want you to know that I do trust you and…” the younger girl trailed off as she realized that Shego’s hand hadn’t moved away after being released. “Shego?” She stared at the glowing hand that was still held out, hanging only a dozen centimetres from her unprotected cheek.
Then, she saw the tiniest of fond smiles creeping onto Shego’s face as she stared at Kim – a smile so miniscule that the villain would probably deny that it had ever existed. It was so small a smile, Kim was certain that it couldn’t be anything but genuine, and she couldn’t help the shy grin that twisted her own lips by way of reply. Curious at the woman’s lack of response, Kim’s head tilted to one side. When Shego’s fear was suddenly blown away by a tidal rush of wonder and affection, Kim’s smile grew even more self-conscious. “What?” What could you possibly see in me that’s so great?
Shego stared into Kim’s eyes for another few seconds before replying in a voice that almost shook with amazement and nervousness, “do you have any idea what you look like when you do that?” She tilted her head and mimicked Kim’s expression as closely as she could. “It’s beyond cute.”
Kim looked at the way Shego had set her expression. God she’s beautiful…Closing her eyes lightly, she tried to commit the image to memory. “Shego,” she breathed softly.
“Hmm?” Kim could still feel Shego’s eyes on her, studying her.
Kim waited a second to regain control of her voice. My God, Shego…just the sound of your voice… “Shego,” she repeated, her voice still trembling form the effect of the other woman’s voice on her higher brain functions. “Either touch me or take your hand away from me.” Kim went for confidence and determination, but her voice was little more than a breathless mumble when it emerged from her lips.
Shego’s gloved hand came up to rest against the base of Kim’s neck and Kim found herself leaning into the contact. “Why should I do either?” Her tone sounded curious but playful at the same time.
Kim’s eyes opened and she turned her eyes to the glowing green hand that still hadn’t moved for a good minute-and-a-half now. “Because,” she began,” if you don’t make a decision I’ll make it for you and we both know what I want.”
Shego grinned knowingly, “Yeah, I know what you want.” Her gloved hand stroked up and around to hold the back of Kim’s head, causing Kim’s eyes to close once more at the inexplicable pleasure she was getting from what her partner was doing. It wasn’t even the skin of her hand, but the thought of how close Shego’s bare hand was to her neck had Kim almost whimpering, but the sounds died before they could leave her throat.
Then, she felt Shego’s breath in her ear. “And it’s a good thing it’s the same thing that I want most in the world.”
Kim smiled. “What?”
“To touch you,” Shego answered with an equally breathless voice. Her face was so close to Kim’s ear that the apprentice villain could feel her lips moving as she spoke, moving so lightly – a phantom of contact against her ear while her hand still cupped the back of head, buried in Kim’s long, soft, and bright, bright red hair.
Kim leaned her head back into Shego’s hand, tilting her face up until she could stare at the ceiling 0 if her eyes had the power to stay open. She released a loud, hissing sigh of sheer pleasure as Shego’s breath continued to pass by her ear and her hand started a gentle massaging motion at the back of her head. Oh my…Shego… Kim felt like her heart had stopped for just an instant, she was in so much pleasure.
And both of them were still fully clothed.
Suddenly, Kim’s eyes snapped open as she realized that there was another hand buried in her hair. A bare hand.
“Shego?” She whispered, staying still so Shego’s soft, cool hand would stay where it was.
“Shh,” Shego’s gloved hand moved around to press two fingers to Kim’s lips. “I’ve never done this before, Kim, so please don’t say anything; I don’t want to mess this up.”
Shego slid her bare fingers through Kim’s hair, whispering something too softly for Kim to hear. Kim could feel Shego’s wonder just rushing out of her mind like water down a river. “God, Kim…” Shego’s hand slid through Kim’s hair one more time before moving to gently stroke Kim’s cheek and her lips.
But no sooner had Shego’s cool hand moved to caress her partner’s cheek then Kim felt that miraculously soft hand – miraculous in that, with all the work, fighting, and the accident, that pale-green skinned hand was still so soft – start to heat up, and Shego’s breathing quickened as the strain started to pull at her. No, Shego, Kim thought. Don’t give in – you’re strong, Shego. You’re so much stronger than I am, strong enough to fight this, and never forget that you have my trust…my love…
Shego gasped suddenly a moment later as the heat in her hand returned full force, and she tore her hand away from Kim’s face just as a plasma ball the size of a large child erupted from her bare hand and blew a hole in the wall right behind Kim, whose expression had grown only a little frightened.
You won’t hurt me, Shego…
As soon as the wall exploded with a shower of broken and flaming tiles, Kim wrapped her arms around Shego’s waist to keep her from retreating after having almost blown Kim’s head off.
“It’s okay, Shego,” Kim rubbed her hands in slow circles at her lover’s lower back. “I’m here; I’m all right. I’m safe.”
Shego wrapped only one arm around Kim, her glowing bare hand still just held away from Kim’s body. “I almost burned you again, Kim.” Her words were spoken into Kim’s hair in a soft, innocent-seeming voice. “I wanted so badly just to touch you, and you almost got hurt because I held it too long.”
Kim drew back a little and stared into Shego’s eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ve been wanting to touch you too.” She raised one finger to trace abstract designs on the other woman’s cheek. “To prove to myself that you’re real and that this isn’t the best dream I’ve ever had.”
Shego smiled nervously, “if this is a dream, don’t wake me up.” She shifted in Kim’s arms a bit as she pulled her right glove back on, fastening it into place. “I asked you for one second, Kim – one damned second.” Her eyes gained a little sparkle of some unfamiliar emotion, “but you almost gave me half-a-minute.” She tightened her hold on Kim, using both arms now. “You could never know how much it means to me that you’ve given me so much trust.”
Shego raised one of Kim’s hands in her both of her own gloved ones and softly kissed the palm.
“Thank you so much, Kim Possible.”
A/N: Okay, So I’ve finally broken into the double-digit chapters – and what do you all think so far? I’d really love to know your thoughts, suggestions, predictions…
Next Time: Yes, Shego and Kim actually do break into the museum (finally), and we find out exactly who Neo-Kim is (for clarification of who Neo-Kim is, read some previous chapters…).
I’ll be around for a while, so e-mail me, hunt me down, threaten me…Lord knows I’ve threatened the rest of you enough to deserve it…