“No,” Kim agreed. “She's one of the most amazing people I've ever met.” She looked down. “Thank you, by the way,” she said.
“For what?”
“You tried to help her. You were a better friend to her than I was.”
“I bet you'd like to change that, though. Correct?”
Kim nodded, anguished. “I can't let her think it was because of her,” she said. “And I definitely can't let her throw the rest of her life away on Drakken.”
“I could have you there in a couple hours.”
“Then do it,” Kim immediately said. “No, wait. Give me a minute. Open the hatch.”
She ran outside to her father. “Dad, I need to borrow Sappho. Shego's gone to Drakken, and I have to go after her.”
“Is it important?” he asked.
Kim nodded vigorously.
Dr. Freeman looked unconvinced. “She's been out all night. I really think Sappho needs to recharge for the day.”
“She's not the only one,” Kim's father added. “Sweetie, you've been out driving all night. No daughter of mine is going to infiltrate any evil secret lair of Drew Lipsky's looking like she's ready to pass out.”
“Dad, it's all right,” Kim said, although she did feel drained, especially after hearing Sappho play the recording of Shego's words. “I'll just catch some sleep on the flight…”
“Your father's right, KP,” Ron warned her. “If this is as important as you think it is, then you need to be prepared. Wade hasn't even given us the schematics for the lair yet!”
“I don't know, Ron - “
“Look, it's not like Drakken's going to DO anything to her, right?” Ron pointed out. “If he tried to hurt her, Shego would just put him through a wall. He's probably just going to do what he always did before - draw up a new plan, rant about it, Shego tunes him out, we both know the drill.”
“Last time they met, Drakken tried to mind-chip her,” Kim reminded him. “He might try it again.”
“And if that happens,” Ron replied, “how do we un-chip her? With a portable silicon phase disrupter, of course, just like we did the last time. And do we have a portable silicon phase disrupter with us? No, we don't.”
Kim realized he had a point. From what she'd heard before, Shego was emotionally unstable. Most likely she'd pummel Drakken into unconsciousness - which didn't exactly cry out for urgency - or he'd catch her in a weak moment and chip her. And if he DID, it wouldn't do any good to go there without some means of freeing Shego…
“The tweebs invented it years ago,” Kim said. “How fast do you think they could whip up another one?”
“Knowing them, about ten minutes,” her father said. “How about this? We drive back to the house, we let Sappho recharge her energy supply, you catch a couple hours' sleep while the boys create and Wade does his Internet thing, and then you can go on your mission.”
“I'm not a teenager any more, Dad,” she told him.
“You're still my daughter, though, and more importantly, you know I'm right.”
Kim was torn. The discoveries Kim had made that night about herself
and Shego made her feel compelled to track the former thief down and tell her how she really felt. On the other hand, charging into Drakken's lair uninformed and half-asleep was a good way to get herself captured and killed, and if Shego WAS in any danger, that would do neither of them any good.
Physically and mentally spent, Kim gave up and took the more sensible, cautious approach.
And that made all the difference.
To be continued…