The wind was carrying it. “SHEAGHEN, DON'T DO THIS!”
Kim! Shego jumped from the platform without even a thought.
It was a good two-hundred feet down to the water, give or take an extra twenty feet due to the waves. A precise entry was a requirement under such conditions - but Shego was up for it, and entered the water like a knife.
She surfaced and listened, but heard nothing. She yelled Kim's name, several times, to no avail. It was growing dim as the sun neared the horizon, turning the water deep red from light's reflection off the hurricane-clouds. But the waves cut off her vision, she could only see to the next crest, no farther.
Looking back at the platform above to get her bearings, she guessed from which direction she'd heard Kim's voice, and swam.
It was hard going, even for someone in her peak condition, swimming through twenty-foot seas and against 45 knot winds. From the top of each wave, the wind blew the crests back into her face, pelting her with needles of water. But she swam on. She would swim until she'd dropped, if she had to. Her reason for living was out there somewhere, and she would not go back without her, because there would be nothing worth going back for.
After Sheaghen sank, Kim felt more alone than she ever had in her life. She was in an abandoned part of a lake in South America; no one knew she was there, no one knew she was coming. And Sheaghen, her life-line, was gone. She swam toward the promise of the platform looming so large yet so far away. She swam with one arm only, kicking with one foot only, as her right leg didn't seem to respond anymore. It was so cold, that leg… she was cold all over, but that leg felt like ice.
After about fifteen minutes, she realized she wasn't going to make it.
She didn't know it, but she'd only put twelve yards behind her. She swam on anyway, regardless of the thought about how hopeless it was, because that was just the kind of thing she did: Kim Possible did not give up! She went on – semi-conscious - her head usually in the water, not looking where she was going, not paying attention to the waves, breathing when she could. She would swim until her arm and leg stopped working of their own accord. By that time, she probably wouldn't even know it.
Shego was making good time, even against the wind and waves. At the level of the water, the waves themselves cut the wind, except at the very top. She learned to dive through the crests. On the other side of each one, she would stop,look, and listen.
She had done this twenty-three times, so far. But no Kim.
After dive twenty-four, she saw something. In the shining water, she saw something black. And green. And pale face coming up for air. Thirty yards away, in the same trough as herself. A surge of adrenaline coursed through her system, and she was holding onto her lover within a minute.
She held Kim from behind, but the girl didn't seem to notice; she kept stroking with one arm, kicking with one leg, and squeezing her thigh at the groin.
“Kim! KIM! It's me! Kim!” Shego grabbed at the still-stroking arm, and locked both of Kim's legs within her own, keeping her head – both their heads – above the lake with one hand only treading the water. Still Kim struggled to swim, to move, to keep going… just a little further…
Kim realized her limbs were not doing what she wanted them to, and prepared herself, as much as she could in her not-quite-conscious state, to take her first breath of water. But all she got was air: each breath – air – air - air… she opened her eyes.
“Sheaghen?” she mumbled, uncomprehending.
“Kim! No, it's me! Shego! Can you hear me?” Shego yelled.
“Sheaghen… Sheaghen… don't leave me… please… Sheaghen…” Kim said between gasps. She was beginning to feel so tired, she could just go to sleep, in the cold and wet… so easy to go to sleep…
Shego didn't argue. “Kim! Can you hold on to me? Hold on to me… Kim! HOLD ON!”
Shego felt Kim stop resisting her embrace, and wrap one arm around her waist. Not very tightly, but it would have to do. She began to swim back toward the platform.
With ten yards to go to the stairway, Kim's arm slipped off. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing shallow, hardly there. No time. There was no time for… anything.
Shego took Kim's limp arm and brought her hand to her mouth, clenching the material of the teenager's sleeve in her teeth. Then, getting her body under the other girl, she resumed swimming as best she could, for the stairs.
The stairs were supposed to lead to a landing for supply boats, and in a way they still did - but that landing was ten feet under water half of the time as waves washed across it. To get to the stairs, she would have to cross that landing, five yards wide. After that…
One thing at a time, Shego. Worry about that later.
There was no time to pick and choose, she would take whichever wave she happened to be riding as she got close to the edge, and hope it didn't ram her headfirst into the side – or drop her onto the top - of the steel landing.
As luck would have it – and it was pure luck – Shego's face missed the edge of the dock by only half a foot as the wave picked her up and threw her over, onto the stairs. She grabbed onto the railing with one hand, and swung Kim in front of her with the other.
Now, the problem would be the next wave. She got to her feet and climbed the stairs as quickly as she could, before it hit. She'd made only five steps before it came - flattening both girls against the metal grating.
Kim's other hand finally let go of her groin and hung free, limp. Blood spurted from both sides of her leg almost instantly.
Shego saw, and did nothing. She resumed climbing the stairs, carrying Kim by pressing her together, stomach-to-stomach, with one arm. Kim was finally unconscious. Still breathing, but un-awake.
Another wave rose up under them, and Shego splayed out her feet, using them as hooks on the railing, while she held on to Kim with one arm and covered her mouth and nose with the other. The wave submerged them and tried it's best to dislodge them from the stairway. It scraped Shego back and forth, but didn't pull her off. Before the water even fell past her on the way down, she was climbing again.
Climbing to safety. She had made it above the reach of the waves, and still had Kim. She climbed to the next landing, laid Kim down, and began stripping off both of their outfits, throwing the boots and gloves to the side, and making a bed of sorts out her own suit. She picked Kim up, then laid her back back down – naked on the green/black fabric - and then laid with her, also nude, face-to-face.
When we Join, I'll probably go unconscious too. I could sure use your help, Comrade… I hope you find us…
The two of them began to glow.
Ron made Ko as comfortable as he knew how. He wasn't sure how hard Shego had zapped her, so there was no way to know if she would wake up in minutes, or hours. He hoped it would be hours, because he feared that as soon as she woke up, she would start the awful screaming again.
Poor Ko. Poor Shego. Poor Kim too, yes… but – not to be too cold about it – what was done was done. If Kim died saving the world, well, it was a hazard of the job. They all knew that. She would have wanted it that way, anyhow.
He tried to imagine how he would feel, if it had been Josh, but couldn't. He tried to imagine how he would feel in Shego's place, but couldn't. Not much I CAN do, apparently, he thought. Well, there is one thing. I can at least keep her company. Where is she, anyway?
He expected to find her by the railing, but she wasn't there. He checked inside the CECS, but she wasn't there, either. He yelled her name, he tried the Communicator. No Shego. He stepped out of the CECS into the night wind and glare of sepia-tone floodlights. Where WAS she?
He looked at the railing again, remembering how apathetic and distraught she'd been, standing there, looking out at the water and the waves.
She wouldn't. Shego? Not Shego. No… she wouldn't… He walked to the railing. Even if she had jumped, he wouldn't see anything. Her body would probably never be found. He looked out at the same water Shego had, wondering. What did she see?
The last of the sunset had faded, the once golden-red waves turning ominously black-on-black, invisible. Looking down, he could hear them crash against the platform, but couldn't see them, even in the green glow of the lights.
Green glow of the lights?
Those weren't lights! That glow he knew!
He ran to the stairway, and slid down by holding on to both rails, letting his weight carry him down. At the end of that flight, on the landing, he turned the corner and did the same thing again. And again. Twelve times.
There they were, but he could hardly see them, the light was so intense. Heat radiated from their bodies. Shego was healing Kim, they were Joined. He knew that. He knew exactly what that was like. What he didn't know was; how long had they been like that?
He had been Joined with Shego for what, five minutes? Ten at most? And that was almost too long. He remembered the panic of wondering if the Joining were already becoming permanent, the desperation and pain of trying to Separate. The incredible loneliness – no, not loneliness. emptiness – afterward.
They may have been lying there for… an hour. Maybe more. He squinted through the blinding light. Neither of them were moving, there was no sigh of any attempt to push apart. For all he could tell, they might have been asleep.
But he knew there was more going on than that. Very well: if they were unable or unwilling to Separate, he would Separate them!
He reached for Shego, lying on her side, nearest him. Putting his hand on her shoulder, he felt and heard his skin hiss as it singed. His reflexes drew back his hand before he could even feel the pain.
NOW what? Calm down, Ron. If they've been that way for an hour, another half a minute isn't going to make much difference, one way or another. He looked around for ideas. If he could find a lever, of some sort… would it just melt? But all he saw on the landing were two pairs of boots and gloves; two each green and black.
GLOVES! SHEGO'S gloves! They had to be plasma-proof, didn't they? But would they protect his hands from the heat?
Only one way to find out.
He couldn't quite get his hands into the gloves – too small - but they were long, with gauntlets, so he used them more like mittens. Steeling himself for the pain, if it came, he grabbed Shego's shoulder again. No pain, no burning. Boo-yah! He began pulling Shego away from Kim.
The intensity of the light flickered but did not go out. Instead, if formed into a series of concentric circles, vertical and thin, around the two unconscious bodies. It looked like a green version of Saturn's rings, in orbit abound the center-of-mass of the two girls, who were still largely in contact, only their heads and chests apart.
Using his other hand too, now, Ron wedged his right hand under Shego's hip, and put the other hand on top, so he could pull Shego away.
But the glove on his left hand – the one on top of Shego's hips – was Sheaghen's glove, not Shego's. Fireproof, maybe. Not plasma-proof. His left hand began to burn immediately.
He let it. He pulled anyway.
The individual ring-lets began to coalesce into globules of light, looking like zero-gravity, brightly-luminous green water. As Ron pulled, he could feel some kind of force trying to pull back, trying to keep the girl's bodies together. He hadn't counted on that. He had thought that Shego's body would just roll away. He didn't know he was going to have to fight to get them apart.
With his left hand feeling like it was boiling. He pulled harder, bracing his feet and putting his back into it. He grimaced as he pulled on Shego's hips.
The globules of liquid light began to split apart, the two halves orbiting each other, some of them spiraling in to re-join. Thousands of them, each pair orbiting around the part of the girls still in contact. Ron felt the force's power fluctuate, like a living thing. If he let go now, Shego's torso would just snap right back against Kim's. He kept pulling. Their thighs started to separate. But Shego's upper body began to bend toward Kim, and Kim's likewise toward Shego.
It was going to be like pulling apart two flexible magnets. He repositioned his feet in order to continue backing-up.
As the girl's legs came apart – thighs, calves, but not feet, yet - their heads touched, and the ring split into two parts, one centered on their feet, the other on their heads. Still the blobs of light fought to rejoin, but some of them spiraled even farther apart, until they intersected with either Kim's or Shego's body, whereupon they flashed before leaving a green, quickly-fading spot on the skin.
Shego was almost doubled over on her side now, Kim a mirror-image. Neither women ever made a voluntary movement, or sound, or opened their eyes. I wonder why they're both unconscious? Maybe it's a good thing, though. I bet this would hurt, if they were awake.
Ron was still keeping Shego's hips at arm's length away from his own body, for fear of burning even more of himself than just his left hand. He could still control his burning hand, but he couldn't feel it. Now he decided to take a chance. He would jerk them apart, hoping the strange force wouldn't simply drag Kim across the grating and into Shego again. To do that, he would have to pull hard enough that – when and if the Force let go – Shego's body would collide with his.
He only hoped that with the Separation, the heat would die instantly. Otherwise, he could look forward to third-degree burns on about a quarter of his body.
“AaarrrggghHH!”
Shego tumbled into his arms across the landing. The Rings collapsed. The light, finally, went out. And Ron… Ron was steaming, but not burned. He laid there, panting, holding a naked Shego in his arms, looking at a naked Kim on the other side of the landing. He held up his left hand, tempted to see if he could still move his fingers. The glove was partially melted, showing the form of his fingers beneath. Better not. They might break off, for all I know. At least it doesn't hurt. Hope THAT'S not a bad thing.
It occurred to him, as he sat there getting his breath, that he ought to think of something funny to say about this moment, when and if he ever told the story. Him and two naked Lesbian women. He smirked at his own thoughts. Ain't the time, Ron. C'mon. Still work to do.
He carried Kim up the stairs first, correctly assuming that she'd been the injured one of the pair. He put her in the same room he'd previously put Ko, but felt guilty about taking the time to cover her naked body with a sheet. Leaving Shego lying by herself on the stair-landing had been a very hard thing to do, but he couldn't carry them both at once. He went back for his Comrade.
Yeah. First time I heard her say that, I could feel it was the truth. Maybe it was a premonition of some kind,he thought as he slid down the flights of stairs a second time, Comrade, I'm coming… I only left you because you would have wanted me to.
On the way down, as he came to empty landing after empty landing, the couldn't help but wonder if something had happened while he was away… some rogue wave had washed her away. Maybe she woke up, and - finding Kim gone - had jumped over again. Anything could have happened. But apparently nothing had. When he found her right where he'd left her, it was the second greatest relief of his life – the first had been when he'd heard the news of Kim's miraculous remission from cancer. He closed his eyes and thanked God, literally.
By the time he'd carried her to the platform floor, his knees were buckling from the strain. He carried her on into the Habitation Module anyway. Anyone watching him would have thought he was carrying three-hundred pounds of cement, he was so shaky.
He laid her on a table while he let his knees recover. He had been planning to simply put her in the room with Ko and Kim. But was that a good idea?
When she wakes up – and who knows when that will be – she might want… she might want REALLY BAD – to ReJoin with Kim again. That Force pulling them together was… weird. I bet if they HAD been conscious, the would've resisted being Parted in every way they could. So maybe I need to keep her and Kim… away from each other for awhile. Just until I see what happens. It might be that I won't be able to keep them apart at all. How am I going to stop Shego if she uses her powers? Or even Kim, for that matter…
The best I can do is hide them from each other.
So, despite the fact that his legs felt as if they were going to fall off, he carried Shego up two more flights of stairs inside the Module, and picked a random room in which he finally laid her down and covered her up. NOW what do I do… I can't be in two places at once. And I REALLY need to be there when either of them wakes up! Geez. I wish Josh were here…
JOSH!
He tried to whip out his Communicator, but it was on his left hip, and his right hand – the un-injured one – wouldn't reach. Gawd, if it isn't one thing… So he unbuckled his utility belt one-handed, laying the whole thing on the table. Finally, he pressed the hotkey.
“About time, Ace! What's going on!”
Ron let out a deep breath and slumped down in his chair, closing his eyes. Josh…
“Ace? Ron? You there?”
“I'm here, Josh. We're okay. Just… just keep talking for a minute, okay? Tell me anything. Just talk.”
Josh could feel what it was Ron needed, so he talked. He told him about Lee coming to get Ko, about how he SO appreciated the training Ron had insisted he do on parallel-bars, about the hurricane. Ron never said a word. For half an hour, Josh just talked.
“Still there, Ace?”
Ron opened his eyes. He felt like a new man. “I'm here, Skeeter. I love you.” He didn't feel the slightest embarrassment about saying it, out-of-place as it may have been.
“Uh, I love you too, Ace. But I'm dying here! What's been happening! Last thing heard, Kim and Sheaghen were going to blow up the platform they were on…”
“Yeah? How?” There seemed to have been a lot of things Ron had missed out on, too, as he'd crawled his way through the refrigeration-ducts to find himself, eventually, in a wine-chiller. A wine-chiller! How out of place was that, here? He looked over at the still-sleeping Shego. She liked wine…
FOCUS, RON!
“Wait. Tell me later. Look, Josh, I'm here in a room with Shego… she's unconscious. Never mind why, right now, she'll be all right. I think. But, I have Kim somewhere else. She's unconscious too, and I can't be both places at the same time. So I'm gonna leave this Communicator here, with you on the line. Maybe I can find Shego's… but anyway, you listen for her to wake up, okay? She may be… confused, and she might panic, so try to keep her calm. And try to keep her from leaving the room… That's really important. Tell her I'm coming back. Got it?”
“I got it. Go.”
Ron set the Communicator on the table beside Shego and got up to leave. He turned back to it, though, as he opened the door.
“Josh?”
“I said ‘go', already. I'm on it.”
“I know. I… I REALLY miss you.”
“Same here. Go on now, Ace.”
Ron looked at the door, making a mental note of it's number, and left.
Kim and Ko were still out. Ron rummaged around the lockers and found a bath-robe, which he laid beside Kim. Save her a little embarrassment, anyway. He smiled to himself. She's gonna freak when she finds out I carried her up here naked.Then, more seriously, Although that probably won't be the first thing on her mind… how much time do I have before one of them wakes up?
He left them there and went back outside to try and find Shego's Communicator. It SHOULD be in the thigh-pouch of her suit. But if it was, it was probably a molten mass of plastic and silicon, by now… No use going down there to find out. Let's look up here first.
The CECS was the first obvious place to look, and there it was, on the floor. He hot-keyed Josh again.
“You back?”
“No, but I found Shego's Communicator. Heading back up to her now. Heard anything?”
“Not yet. Still snoring away.”
“I wouldn't tell her that, if I were you.” Ron said, heading back across the platform towards the Habitation Module, “You know how girls are about that…”
“As a matter of fact, I do. I'll buzz you if anything happens.”
“Check.”
Two hours later, Ron had filled Josh in on all the events of the day. While he'd been doing that, he'd found a towel and wrapped up his hand, so that at least he wouldn't go around bumping it into things. He still couldn't feel a thing from that hand, although there was some burning sensation just above the wrist. He didn't dare try to take the glove off. Besides, it was melted on. That would be a job for an Emergency Room, somewhere.
“Shego?” The softly-spoken question didn't come from Ron; it came from Shego herself.
“Shego? Are you there?” she asked again.
Uh-oh,Ron thought. Don't panic yet… she might just be confused…“She – uh… Can you hear me? It's Ron” he said. Then, having another idea, he added “It's Comrade… remember?”
Shego opened her eyes, wide. She snapped her head over to him, pain evident in her expression. “Where's Shego!”
“She… she's okay, uh… she's sleeping. Just relax, Comrade…”
His words weren't registering. She looked around herself, panic stricken. “Ron? Where am I? Where's Shego? Where's Sheaghen? What happened?”
He got up to sit on the bed beside her, thinking he'd take her hand, calm her down, soap-opera style. But he didn't have time. Shego jumped out of the bed, still naked, and headed for the door. Ron, already up, blocked her way. She tried to pull him away, but he took the opportunity to get her in a bear-hug, lifting her off the floor and backing her toward the bed as she struggled. Luckily, the martial-arts skills of - of whoever he was holding – weren't coming into use. At least, not yet, he thought. He sat her forcibly on the bed.
“Ron! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO FIND SHEGO!”
Ron shouted right back, “LISTEN TO ME! LISTEN!” he took one of her hands in his good hand, as she tried to hit him hysterically, and held it in front of her face. “YOU are Shego! See! This is YOUR hand! LOOK AT YOUR HAND!”
Perhaps because it was such a simple thing to do, something she could grasp, she did. Her struggling ceased as she stared. She gawked at her own hand in open-mouthed amazement. She turned it over, looking at it from all sides, and wiggled her fingers as if to make sure it really was her hand. Then she looked down at her naked, greenish body. She stood. One of the lockers in the room had a mirror on it. Not full-length, just a shaving-mirror, enough for her to see face.
Ron made sure he stayed between her and the door as she walked to the mirror and looked at herself. She reached up and pulled a mass of long, black hair in front of her face.
“I'm Shego?”
“You're Shego. Try to remember. You Joined with Kim, a few hours ago. Like you did with me, yesterday. She was probably injured somehow and you healed her. Remember? Down there close to the water? On the stairs?” He tried to give her as many clues as he could think of.
“The water… she dove off… to save me… no. No. Wait…” Shego shook her head vigorously, trying to clear her thoughts.
Ron didn't interrupt. He hoped it was the right thing to do.
“It was me… It was me. I zapped Ko…” she turned to him for confirmation, and he nodded, “I zapped Ko, then I went to look at the water again. I thought I'd killed her. I thought she was dead… then, she heard me.” She paused, her eyes squinting, “No, Iheard her. I heard her out in the water, and I dove off… to save her.”
She was quiet a long time, after saying that, replaying the events in chronological order in her head, and almost in real time.
“She found… no, Sheaghen found… who… no. Me! I found her! I found her! I FOUND HER!” She looked at him in happy excitement, as if it had just happened.
“Yes, you found her, Shego… And you brought her back to the platform. You carried her up the stairs. It must have been hard, with the waves…”
“Yes! The waves! I remember the waves… we were completely underwater, when the waves went by. I remember. And she covered my mouth so that -”
“You covered her mouth -” Ron interjected, putting the bed sheet over her shoulders.
“Yeah, yeah. What did I say? I covered her mouth so she wouldn't breath any water. Then I stripped her – I was – I mean, she was so cold… then I… what did you call it? I ‘Joined’ with her? Yeah. I Joined with her, so she'd live. So she'd live…”
Now a different panic hit her. “Where is she? Did I… is she…”
“She's all right, Shego. She'll be fine. You did good. It worked.” Ron tried to tell her what he thought she'd need to hear.
Now that her Comrade had told her that Kim was alive, and that her healing had worked, she was overcome with the same emotions she had been before, when she'd thought she was Kim Possible.
“RON! TELL ME WHERE SHE IS! NOW! Or I swear to GOD I'll -”
“She's here. We're still on the platform, y'know. She's just in another room.” Ron knew that this was the moment of truth: either Shego would fight him – very possibly to the death – to get to her, or she'd calmly, rationally, ask him why Kim was put in a different room.
For now, though, she just glared at him. He tried not to let his worry show.
“You're keeping me from her? On purpose…?” she asked menacingly, flexing her fingers unconsciously.
“Yes. You were Joined for a long time, Shego. I… I wasn't sure… well, what might happen. I was afraid -”
Shego glared a minute longer, and then her eyes turned from what looked like outright hatred into melancholy resignation, “You were afraid that I'd just rejoin with her again, right?”
“Right” he admitted. “So… would you? How do you feel now?”
She sighed deeply and went to sit on the edge of the bed again. “Up until just now, I probably would have. Yeah… I feel… you remember?”
“I remember.”
“The emptiness. Lonely. Alone, inside. The way we usually are… You know?” She looked up at him for understanding. Ron was the only other person in the world who could understand. Well, and Kim, now.
“It passes, Shego. Remember? It kind of fades like a dream.”
“I don't want it to fade, Ron!”
“I know.”
Two minutes of silence passed between them.
Finally, Shego said, “I'll be okay, Ron. You'd better go check on her. Maybe… maybe she shouldn't see me, either, until she… gets over it. Was that what you were thinking?”
“Exactly. You won't…, uh, you'll wait here? You must know I'll bring her as soon as I think I can, right? You know I want you to be together…”
She closed her eyes and her chin sagged down to her chest. Ron had a point, as usual. She would depend on his judgment. Again.
“Whatever you think is best, Comrade. In your hands. I'll be here.”
Ron breathed a sigh of relief. That wasn't so bad. No fighting, no flaming hands… But his heart broke seeing Shego like that, head down, absolutely dejected and… lonely in a way no one should ever have to feel, a way for which there was no cure. He didn't remember how it felt, but he didremember how badit hurt. Hopefully it would fade fast. If only he could stay… talk to her… keep her mind off it…
“Uh, listen, Shego… Josh is listening on the Communicator here. Why don't you talk to him for awhile? You still there, Josh?”
“Right here, Ron” came the voice from the little box's speaker.
Shego looked over at it. Kim wasn't here, and Ron was leaving, so Josh – long distance – was better than nothing.
“Hi Josh” she said unenthusiastically, “I guess you've missed all the fun.”
“To hell with ‘all the fun’. When are you all getting back here? I've got room-service all ordered an’ everything!”
Shego leaned back on the bed. “Do tell. What are we having for dinner? Oh, and get me some wine. Strike that… Get me a bottle of scotch.”
Ron thought, Now I'M leaving HER in good hands. The best, in fact.
Still one floor up from where Kim and Ko were, Ron could hear doors slamming. Kim was up, too, apparently.
“SHEGO! Are you in there? SHEGO!” Kim was fairly screaming as she ran naked from door to door, whipping them open. She didn't even notice Ron come down the stairs.
“KP!” he shouted.
Near the far end of the hall, she turned to look at him. “Ron! Have you seen Shego? I can't find her!”
“She's okay, Kim. Everything'll be okay.” At least she knows who she is.
Seeing Kim walking around – and talking to him - stark naked was a little un-nerving for Ron. He'd known her since pre-K. They'd been sort of boyfriend/girlfriend from back before they knew there was supposed to be anything special about boyfriends and girlfriends. But by the time they did, Kim seemed too busy to pursue the notion, and the best Ron could do was stay on the fringe of her life. Hence his role as “sidekick”. A fringe.
And that was okay, with him. He didn't want that to change, even now that they'd each found someone besides each other.
He ducked quickly into the room where he'd left the bathrobe, thinking he'd just hand it to her. Maybe realizing she's naked will shock her out of it a little. Enough to give me some time. See how she's doing…
“Kim, here.” He said simply, waiting for her to realize why he was holding it out.
“Oh, come on, Ron! Help me find Shego! You've seen me naked before! We don't have time for this!” She ran for another door.
I have?
“Uh… Kim… when have I ever seen you without any clothes?”
“Doy! How about yesterday before dinner? You were in my body, for chrissake! Now hurry! You try that side, I'll take this one!”
Uh-oh. Not good. Think fast, Ron…
“Kim… KP… hold on a minute” she was almost through all the rooms on her side of the hall, “maybe… maybe if you'll think back, you can, uh, remember where… where you put her?” Focus, Ron! You're confusing YOURSELF now… Lying is a tricky thing…
“Where I put her?” She looked at him questioningly, “What do you mean, ‘where I put her’ ?”
“I mean… well, we're the only people here, on this platform. And I didn't put her anywhere… so you must have… uh… when you carried her up here. Don't you remember?”.
Kim appeared to think about it. Then she looked at him as if seeing something new – something new she didn't like.
“No… I went unconscious when I Joined with her. I was depending on you to find us. To take care of us… and I think you did, Comrade. You! YOU put her somewhere! WHERE IS SHE, RON!”
Kim raised a hand threateningly, apparently preparing for a punch. “YOU TELL ME RIGHT NOW OR I WILL BURN YOU, ‘COMRADE’ OR NOT!”
Ron looked away from her eyes at the upraised fist, almost expecting to see the green liquid-like energy surrounding it. But it was only Kim's fist, after all. Only. Don't get cocky… she's still Kim Possible, even if she doesn't quite know it. Well, it worked once…
“Kim… are you sure you're okay? What happened to your plasma?”
“Allow me to SHOW you, Comrade!” and she swung. Ron caught her hand before it got to his face, and deflected it to the side. He kept his grip on her wrist, though, and brought it up before a surprised Kim's face.
“Where is it, Kim! And why aren't you green?”
“I'm NOT green, you idiot! Shego's green!” then she did finally look at her fist. Her face seemed to deflate.
“I… I don't understand… I feel okay… why isn't it there? Why won't it come?” She looked back at Ron for help, “Ron? Why won't it come? Is it gone? Did Joining with Shego make it go away?”
“I think I may know, KP. But… it's a long story. Look, Shego's okay. You have my word on it, alright? She's sleeping. She… she was injured pretty bad…” Don't take this too far… might do more harm than good! All you need to do is stall for time…
“She's okay? Promise me, Comrade! PROMISE me she's okay!”
“She's okay, Kim. I promise” he said, releasing her hand.
She peered into his eyes, as if seeking the truth. “Well… okay. She'd better be. Now, what's going on with me, Ron?”
She seemed calm enough. Should he tell her? Shego felt the emptiness twice: when she thought she was Kim, and again after she realized she was Shego. Was this going to work the same way? Oh, hell, I can't keep lying, anyway…
“You're a little confused, KP. It happens… getting confused, I mean. it happened to me, too, and you were Joined with Shego a lot longer than I was.”
“Confused about what?”
“Uh… Kim, could you put the robe on first?”
“Doy. Fine. I swear, sometimes you really do act your age, Ron…” She slipped on the robe and closed it up. “Better now, little boy?”
Yup. That's definitely Shego in there…
“Thanks. Okay, here goes: you're remembering Shego's memories, you're acting like Shego, you seem to think you are Shego, but you're calling yourself ‘Kim’. I don't quite get it either, but KP… you have never had the plasma. That's Shego's ‘Comet Power’. SHE was hit by the comet, not you. That's why SHE is green, not you. You following this?”
Kim was silent, her face perplexed.
“I know who I am, Ron…”
“Please, Kim, Think about the comet. You remember it?”
“I don't like to talk about the damn comet. You know that” Kim said glowering at him.
“I know, Sheg – uh, Kim. But…” this doesn't seem to be working, he thought, if she was going to realize the contradiction, she would have by now. Instead she changes the subject. She's protecting herself. Herself AS Shego. She's protecting Shego! Why didn't I think of that before! Gah! You're SUCH an idiot, Ron!
“ ‘But’ what? And it had better be good.”
I should just take her to Shego. But what will she do?
“Kim… do you feel… alone, inside? Now that you're not Joined anymore. Y'know… like you did after you Joined with me?”
“I NEED Shego, Ron! Yes! Yes I do! And I intend to do something about it! And you… you're just STALLING ME!”
“So, you're going to Join with her again, right?. And the two of you will be stuck there like that, like I found you, unable to move, unable to speak, unable to do ANYTHING, but by God, you won't have to feel alone, will ya! Eventually, you'll die like that! Kim… I know how it feels, I know how much it -”
Kim's voice took on a chilling seriousness, “Take me to her, Ron, or I will start breaking things, starting with that hand you have all wrapped up.”
Ron could feel it. She meant it. She would. She could, and she would. But to let her see Shego in this state… what kind of friend would he be, then? For that matter, what kind of Comrade to Shego? Kim might snap out of it any minute, the way Shego had. He needed more time!
“I guess that's what Best Friends are for” he closed his eyes and held his arms out, defenseless, “You do what you have to do, KP.”
He felt a lightning-quick pain in his left upper arm, and heard a snap sound – oddly loud and sharp – as the bone broke. It was over almost as fast as it had happened. Opening his eyes, he looked over to see his arm hanging down and swinging on it's own, cartoon-like - the white bone sticking up through the skin and cloth. A clean break. Well, thanks for small favors. He knew there would be more coming. He closed his eyes again.
But nothing happened.
Cautiously, he peered at the confused girl opposite him, expecting to see a fist coming at his face as he did so.
Kim was covering her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide open, staring at the bone sticking out of his bicep. He could hear her whispering, “Oh my… oh my god… oh my god… oh my…”
“Kim?” he ventured.
Her eyes shot to his, “Oh my GOD RON! I'M SO SORRY! OH MY GOD!” she screamed behind her hands.
He felt strangely elated… but for the seriousness of the matter at hand, it reminded him of how she had acted when she'd believed she'd “turned him gay”. Now THERE'S something she ought to remember!
“You sound like that time you thought you'd turned me gay” he smiled. It was such a surreal sight, him standing there, dripping blood, bone-end sticking out of his still-upraised arm, smiling at her knowingly.
THAT was the shock that did it. She only kept looking at him, but a new expression showed in her eyes. Along with the horror, and concern, and shame, there was hurt now, too.
“You PROMISED you'd never mention that!”
Kim was back.
Shego could hear them coming down the hall, but she couldn't move. Kim was coming. Pumpkin. Pumpkin was coming down the hall. Why couldn't she move? She couldn't even blink - until the door opened.
And then she moved so fast, and Kim too, that all Ron could see was a blur, as he stood in the open door applying pressure to his latest wound.
Kim and Shego flew into each other's arms, smacking together audibly, fitting together as if they'd been machined by a Swiss watch-maker.
Ron was watching for any sign of a glow, but none came. The girls stood like that, unspeaking, eyes closed, for twenty minutes.
“Ahem.”
“I said, ‘ahem'!”
Shego, facing him over Kim's shoulder, opened her eyes.
“A little First-Aid?” he said, nodding towards his left arm.
“The hell happened to you?” She asked. “Is… is that bone?”
“Yeah. Bein’ around you girls is… tough on a guy…” he said, smirking.
“Wait!” Kim yelled, after strapping Ko into her seat. She'd suddenly remembering something, “I gotta go get Sheaghen!”
Ron and Shego looked at each other, then looked at Kim, already running toward the helipad stairway. It was too late to try and stop her, apparently, or even ask what the hell she meant by that. They looked at each other through the open helicopter doors and shrugged.
The hurricane had veered back out to sea, and it was a clear, red, partly-cloudy pre-dawn on Lake Maracaibo. Ron climbed painfully into the co-pilot's seat, treating his makeshift arm-sling gingerly. Shego got in the other side, flipped on the battery breakers, and began checking her indicators.
Ko had awoken several hours before, while Ron was in the Infirmary getting bandaged up. Her eyes were open, but her mind was blank. Well, not quite blank. She was imagining a flower with seven petals, each petal having nine jewels on their tips, each jewel having six facets, reflecting the other petals, and jewels, and facets. It was an exercise. An exercise designed to prevent her from remembering… something. She didn't know what. That was the point of the exercise. She was – for all intents and purposes – paralyzed.
The engines were still warming up when Kim appeared and climbed in the cabin. “Okay, we can go now.”
Kim sat with Ko in the cabin. Her desire to try and comfort the poor girl in some way was overwhelming, but she knew that anything she did might break her concentration, and she'd probably start screaming in pain again. We'll try to help you, Ko, when we can. I wish I could tell you that. Just hold on. She tried not to look.
Instead, Kim took the little black ball out of her utility-belt pocket and held it in her hand. I promised you, Sheaghen. You can count on me.
“How you doin', Ron?” Shego asked without interrupting her pre-flight checklist.
“I've had better days. But I have to tell ya, those pills Kim found are good stuff! Wow!” Ron was slightly stoned. His arm still hurt… it was just that he didn't really care.
“That's my little addict. You take it easy on that stuff, Ron… your boyfriend's not gonna be happy with Kim and me if we bring you home high as a kite.”
“Fuck ‘im!” Ron said, and immediately erupted into peals of giggles and snorts so hard that tears ran from his eyes.
Shego couldn't help but laugh with him.