Kim scowled deeply as she scanned the gathered crowd from behind the stage, she almost couldn’t believe she was as nervous as she was. Graduation was no big; she missed the valedictorian spot by a few points and the salutatorian by even fewer, yet much to the surprise of her family she showed more concern over the person she and Ron specifically invited than her spot in the line up. She accepted that minor deficit in her records with humble pride, her grades were always above par but her ‘missions’ kept her from the perfect score required to outperform the brains Middleton High cultured.
That she was so nervous surprised those who saw her pacing in agitation but if they knew the source of her discomfort, they would likely be more so. So distracted was she that Kim completely missed the approach of her mother, Dr. Kimberly Michelle Possible and her steady boyfriend Ron Stoppable. In the last two years things went surprisingly well between her and Ron, it had come near undone over a slipped admission on Ron’s part but Kim’s mom surprised her. It seemed now though she might be regretting her advice, if the look on her face were any indicator. Well it was too late for that now, she’d sent the invitation to Shego the day the print shop dropped off her order, second only to the one she sent her grandmother. “Do you think she’ll show Mom?” She didn’t want the small terror she felt escape on her voice but she knew it had anyway because Ron smiled and chuckled
Before Mrs. Possible could have the ‘little chat’ with Kim that she had just served him, Ron stepped up and kissed her gently on the cheek. “You know Shego KP, she’s probably sitting out where we can’t see her. If she is going to show it’ll be at the party after this where she can use the crowd to cover her.” Kim nodded, Shego was a wanted woman and it wouldn’t exactly be easy for her to believe or accept that Kim had arranged a day of ‘sanctuary’ so she could attend and they could talk. “Things have been different since then Kim, she is a lot more careful these days. She has to be.” In the time since the ‘Little Diablo’ incident Shego took her fight to a new level because losses for her now meant she might face extradition and execution in some foreign dive that Drakken’s robot monsters thrashed on their rampage. Officially, no lives were lost but in terms of damage, it rivaled the previous two decades of combined natural disaster damage, globally. The poorer nations that took damage found themselves even further in debt and were calling for blood at every chance.
Mrs. Possible shook her head and conceded to follow Ron’s lead, she already committed to help them and she could not really back out now. “Ron is right honey, if she were to come strutting in here now chances are someone would panic. She’s too smart to do something that stupid isn’t she?” She would never understand exactly how her daughter and Ron got things so mixed up over Shego but they had and she had encouraged them to talk and work things out. If she had known that her encouragement might lead to her daughters discovery of interest in bisexual relationships she thought she might have chosen her words more carefully. She would have given the same advice essentially but she would have made sure she were more of an influence, as it was they decided to get the older woman somewhere they could talk and Kim thought the graduation invite might be what they needed to get the ball rolling. She watched as Kim tensed then let out a small sigh and smile of relief. Whatever Kim sensed seemed to put her at ease finally.
Shego held her breath and cursed her luck, the only decent place she could watch Kim and wait for her chance to slip in just had to be on the east side of a setting sun looking west into the damned stadium. Sunlight reflected off the lenses of her field binoculars and danced quickly across Kims face drawing the anxious redhead’s attention. She knew she was spotted even at the distance that separated them because Kim tensed squinted then relaxed as if she saw her. It was next to impossible, Shego knew intuitively, but she also knew the red hairs last name. What she saw next radically altered her mood, it shocked her to read Kim’s lips, to understand what the young woman was saying. ‘She is right over there Ron, I hope you figured out what you want to say to her if you get the chance.’ Then Kim waved, Ron nodded and waved as well before adding, ‘I don’t have the foggiest Kim but if she will give me the chance I will say what I need to, will you?’ Shego nearly screamed in her skin as a footstep near her sounded off by snapping a large twig, she did not let the binocs budge however. Kim answered with a nervous ‘Yes.’
Drakken wasn’t the most subtle of people by any means which left him woefully disappointed every time he tried to sneak up on someone without Shego to lead him through it, it should have come as no surprise he would be unable to catch the mint green woman laying prone in the filth and debris her sniping spot afforded. He raised a gloved hand as was about to cough to get her attention when she lashed out and caught the front of his lab-coat, how she had turned so quickly he would never know. With a rude unceremonious yank he found himself sucking leaves and coughing up the soft loamy soil he inhaled with the leaves. He really hated nature, and dirt. “How did you know it was me Shego?” He asked angrily after spitting his mouth clear of contaminants, “I could have been a G.J. agent or a state troo …” He was silenced as the razors embedded in the ‘nails’ of her gloves pinched his lips closed.
Shego wanted to send a pulse of her strongest plasma out through her arm into her hand and out her palm straight down Drakken’s throat, the idiot had no idea the danger he had put himself in just by leaving the lair today. Kim’s invitation made it very clear that if she wanted to meet and try to work something out this would be her only chance. If they did not, then the next time it would be no holds barred and Shego was beginning to understand, in the end she would either have to surrender to or kill Kim and Ron. The latter was not something she wanted to do. “Ok first Drew, that aftershave … yeah it could stun a raging bull elephant at a quarter mile. Second for having such tiny delicate feet, Drew,” Shego emphasized that acidly, “You manage to find and step on every possible loudly breaking branch within that quarter mile the aftershave pollutes.” She nodded to her left and right, “If you make another sound the chances are any one of the three or four hundred G.J. agents they have here will hear and you will go to prison.” Casting a blazing look at the blue maniac Shego released his lips and flexed her hand into the tiger claw form making sure he could see the edges of the razors she kept meticulously honed. “Correction if you get us busted this time … I will kill you.” They were barely functioning as a team anymore as it was and yet the threat was just that a threat, Shego would not sink to such depths as to kill so weak an opponent. Of course, he did not need to know that. Without a second thought to the rattled scientist, Shego put the binoculars to her eyes once more and scanned for Kim.
Drakken scowled and slipped the long case he was carrying off his back and began undoing the zippers on it. A moment later and the soft black leather parted reveling a long black bit of wickedness. His black eyes gleamed as he quickly assembled his precious rifle, it was an m-nineteen-o-three-a-four, a parting gift from his deranged father who vapourized himself rather than be taken down by some nosey vigilante. “I have to admit Shego I am impressed,” He lay down just beside her and began adjusting the scope so he could see the target area. If Shego had bothered to look or even acknowledged the odd smell of gun grease, she might have been better prepared for what his was to say next. “When I found the invitation I never thought you would be capable of suckering her into such a vulnerable position.” With a slight wiggle, he got comfortable barely brushing Shego’s thigh which did finally dislodge her attention. “We should be able to kill that miserable little bitch easily enough and still get away from those piles of hired muscle G.J. is calling ‘agents’ these days.” He would not get much more out than that because he suddenly became aware that Shego was standing over him with her fists ablaze in that deadly glow.
“Where the hell did you get that!?” She demanded almost shouting, she detested guns. “Get up you piece of shit and answer me!” She reached down with a single hand and, grabbing him by the collar of his coat yanked him upright before making a grab for the rifle. “You know I don’t like those damned … things Drakken!” Something dark, frightening drove her disgust of the weapon. She could not explain it clearly but it was there never the less.
“I don’t give a shit what you like Shego! You work for ME!” With that, he turned to face down range again and sought his target. She was impossible to miss being one of only two people with so brilliant a colouring of hair. He saw her sitting in the front row just to the left of center of the fancy stage smiling and tearful in her happy moment, his finger slipped around the trigger and he could hear Shego warning him. Of course he knew the weapon would be loud but the people most affected by the sound would be too busy rushing to the side of their ‘fallen heroine’ to bother with him and Shego long enough for the master thief to get them safely away. He chose to ignore the ‘Don’t you dare do it Drakken … Kimmie is …’ His finger tensed as the perfect shot fell into place only to be ruined as the gun was slammed forcefully skyward letting out a loud crack as the round went off. The shot went high, Barkin fell clutching his leg and Kim found herself being piled on by G.J. agents from places she never expected all the while someone with the p.a. mic was screaming about an assassination attempt.
Ignoring the screams of outrage and violence Drakken spewed over her actions Shego hauled a fist back and decked him, just hard enough to stun him before she folded him over her shoulder and took off as fast as she could run. She should have just left the blue bastard but she could not, she owed him just a bit more and this last ‘rescue’ would cover that. It took every ounce if her strength and skill to avoid the swarms of well equipped G.J. agents scouring the small woods beside the school, she could only hope in her desperate flight that she would get her chance to talk with Kim. She was ready to put an end to all the crap she dealt with for the last eight years and no matter how dark it looked right now, she decided she still had hope. Kim wanted to talk to her, Kim wanted to tell her something and the blue bastard draped over her aching shoulder ruined this chance at peace. Pausing for breath Shego placed a hand against one of the tall pines dotting the route she chose for her escape, the idea that hit her was risky but she was used to taking bold chances. Working fast she used her plasma and tried to burn a very specific pattern into the bark, deep enough to last but not so deep as to set fire to the very flammable saps the tree was notorious for. If her guess was right only three people in the world could read what she wrote on the tree, she had done what she could the rest would be up to Kim. A heartbeat later Shego and her reluctant passenger were gone.