Kim dropped her textbooks on the floor with such force as she entered the apartment that Shego's head should have leapt right out of the magazine it was buried in. But it didn't, of course. Very little surprised Shego, and the black-haired beauty went on with her reading, seemingly indifferent to Kim's arrival.
“High school is hereby closed,” Kim said.
“I thought these were college courses,” Shego murmured.
“It feels like high school,” Kim replied, dropping onto the couch near Shego and pulling her legs under her as she rested her weary head on the cushions. “Class all day, staying up late at my parents’ house working, putting up with the tweebs, lunch at Bueno Nacho with Ron…”
Shego held up a hand. “Three reasons this is not high school,” she said, at last deigning to look at Kim. She lowered one of her fingers. “One, you're old enough to drink.”
“Not that I do,” Kim pointed out, smiling lazily.
“Goody-goody,” Shego scoffed. “Two, your old room is currently occupied by, and I quote, ‘a pimple on the Earth's rear end’.”
Kim laughed out loud.
“And three,” Shego continued dryly, “you weren't dropping by my apartment in between classes and homework for quality time. You were trying desperately not to lose to me in various life or death struggles.”
“Oh, really?” Kim asked, smirking.
“It's a good thing I wasn't actually trying to kill you,” Shego observed. “Otherwise you never even would have graduated.”
Being insulted by a woman who didn't even look up when you came in normally wouldn't be considered “quality time”. But it was.
Kim didn't bother to complain about Shego's lack of greeting. The other woman would undoubtedly make some salacious remark about Kim being “pathetically starved for Shego's affection”. Besides, she knew that the only reason Shego was renting a crappy Middleton apartment by the week was to be near her. She could have known by the way Shego's eyes had looked into hers during their first date with an intense, embarrassed desire. Shego wasn't big on “positivity”, and sometimes she tried to hide her “mushier” feelings for Kim. The fact that Shego, when around the redhead she'd confessed she'd fallen for, was unable to still galled the former thief.
There had been too few of those moments, however. Determined to not only catch up on her junior year studies, but finish them completely, Kim had buckled herself in for twelve straight days of four-hour classes with Dr. Director and Wade, followed by three straight days in front of a computer working on final papers. She always stopped here before going home, however.
Ron and her family were generally clueless about the changing nature of her relationship with Shego, since Kim hadn't wanted to overly complicate matters at this stage. So she'd spent less time with the former evil sidekick than she would have liked. Their few dates had not been very physical, but the small gestures Kim made - the times she'd squeezed Shego's hand at the dinner table, or slipped an arm around her waist - were intended to remind Shego, still wary of rejection, that Kim's feelings were sincere.
Then there had been that one kiss after Kim and Shego had parted ways one night in front of Shego's door. Shego had told her later that it was as electrifying as any of their old battles. While Kim had never exactly enjoyed their fights in the way Shego obviously had, she had to agree that it was a brief emotional closeness which Kim hoped to enjoy again.
So when Shego appeared studiously indifferent to Kim's presence, Kim knew it was a sign that Shego was feeling increasingly secure around her.
“So, about high school over?” Shego prompted her.
“Final papers handed in,” Kim explained. “Wade and Dr. Director should get back to me with my grades in a day or two. Which means it's summer vacation at last.” She sighed contentedly, and then another pleasant thought occurred to her. “Fourth reason this isn't high school,” she added.
“What?”
“No Bonnie Rockwaller,” Kim said firmly.
“Who?”
“This girl I went to school with.” Kim groaned. “She was always trying to ruin my life. Bonnie was the bane of my high-school existence.”
Shego looked offended. “I thought I was the bane of your high-school existence.”
“You never wanted to be captain of the cheerleading squad.”
“Oh-kay,” Shego said, bewildered. “Wait, did you say Rockwaller?”
“Yeah.”
“I remember her.”
Kim stared at her. “You knew Bonnie?”
“Well, I never met her, but I knew of her. Dr. Drakken - may he rot in jail,” Shego said, a scowl briefly crossing her face, “wanted information on your daily routine, so he tried to bribe students at your high school for information.”
“Wait a minute,” Kim said. “You mean Bonnie sold information on my daily schedule to Drakken?”
“Hell, no. She gave it to him for free.”
Kim clenched her fists. “It wasn't enough that she tried to turn me into a social outcast? She had to help my archenemies too?!”
Shego chuckled. “I wish I'd met her. Sounds like she could have given me hints on how to beat you.”
“She wished,” Kim muttered, but while it was true that Kim had been the straight-A student, the cheerleading captain, and the world-famous heroine, Bonnie had always remained the queen of their high school, the girl who determined who was in and who was not. She could still remember a hundred petty instances where Bonnie had completely screwed her, and Kim had been powerless to respond. Even though Kim could have cared less about imposing her standards on everyone else, Bonnie had always viewed her as a prime threat, and constantly had sought to undermine Kim's standing. Evidently she'd also sought to undermine Team Possible as well. And after Kim had saved her from the Bebes!
Now Bonnie was studying ballet at one of the best arts schools in the country. Oh yes, and she was dating a boy Kim had once majorly crushed on. There truly was no justice in the cosmos.
“Could we not talk about her?” Kim asked.
“Sore spot,” Shego murmured. “I'll have to ask Oryx about her.”
“I'm sorry, what did you say?”
“Nothing,” Shego quickly said. Kim's friend Monique had asked her not to tell Kim that Shego was going to give her occasional fighting lessons. Kim was still less than entirely supportive of Monique's nighttime activities. While Shego didn't care if the Oryx wanted to fight crime or not, the African-American woman had the potential to be an excellent fighter. And there were few qualities Shego respected more than a good spin kick. She'd agreed, since her days were basically free. Besides, if she could teach Junior to hold his own in a fight, Shego could certainly succeed with the Oryx. “So now that you have all this free time…”
“Well,” Kim said, “other than tracking down any leads Wade can find on Monkey Fist and Killagan and all my other old enemies…”
“Assuming he does,” Shego said. “He hasn't found any yet.”
The Kimmunicator went off.
Kim pulled it quickly from her pocket. “Wade, what's the sitch? Um, is there something wrong with my paper?”
“I haven't looked at it yet, Kim. But I do have a hit on Professor Dementor.”
“You were saying?” Kim asked Shego, who shrugged. “What is it, Wade?”
“It looks like Dementor stole an experimental prototype from a research lab at Harvard University,” Wade explained. “No details on what it was, but apparently the inventor is someone you know.”
“Who?”
“Remember Justine?”
“Science genius?” Kim asked.
“Who the hell are you two talking about?” Shego asked.
“Uh, Kim, who was that?”
“It's just Shego, I'm at her place.”
“Just Shego?” Shego said, annoyed.
Kim sighed. “Wade, one second.” She looked at Shego. “Remember that time Drakken and DNAmy were working together? And they created that dragon-type creature? It was Justine's invention that made it disappear.”
“Mm-hmm,” Shego muttered. The mention of Drakken's name still bothered her. She wasn't too fond of the deranged female geneticist either, having been attacked once by one of her creations.
“Wade, could you arrange - “
“Already taken care of, Kim,” Wade assured her. “It seems there's a ship right here in Middleton that's eager to take you to Massachusetts.”
Shego grinned. “If he means what I think he means, I'm flying.”
Kim sighed. “Thanks, Wade. Have you contacted Ron yet?”
“He'll meet you there in about an hour.”
Shego's smile slipped. “Ron?”
“We'll be there,” Kim said before signing off. “Shego, promise me this time you won't fly Sappho like she's a fighter jet. You nearly gave Ron a heart attack the last time.”
“Ron?” Shego repeated. “Ron Stoppable?”
“What other Ron is there?” Kim asked, knowing where this was headed.
“Why would Ron be coming?”
“Ron's always been a part of Team Possible,” Kim replied. “If you want to come with us, you're going to have to learn to get along with him.”
Shego crossed her arms and grumbled to herself.
“Despite what you may think of him,” Kim continued, annoyed, “he's helped me in more ways than you can imagine. Not to mention the fact that he's my best friend, so you're going to have to learn to be civil around him anyway.”
“Oh, he's your best friend, is he?”
“He is,” Kim said. “You're - my girlfriend.”
Shego stared at her, surprised by the choice of words. It wasn't a word Kim had used before. “All right,” she said grudgingly, undoubtedly influenced by the sudden wave of pleasure she felt.
“Good,” Kim replied. Calling Shego her girlfriend had been a big step, but she didn't regret taking it. “We'd better pack.”
Shego stood up, went to her bedroom, and came back with a duffel bag. “Let's go,” she said.
“That was fast.”
“This bag has been packed for two weeks. I've been waiting for the call to come in.”
Kim chuckled. “I shouldn't be surprised. Then let's go over to my house.”
“You're bringing yours,” Shego told her, reaching into her bag and pulling out a sleeve of her striking green-and-black outfit.
“Oh, no I'm not,” Kim said.
Shego's grin said Kim was, and Shego's grin turned out to be right.
“KP! Team Possible, reuuu… oh, hey, Shego.”
Kim sighed. It would be easier if it was just Shego who didn't get along with Ron. But no, Ron had to not get along with her too. “Glad you could make it - on time, Ron.”
“No problem, I just had to stop on the way and let Zita know I'd be gone for a day or two. Think we could stop at a Red Sox game while we're there?”
“Baseball,” Shego sneered. “Grown men still playing the same games they played when they were seven.”
“Nice of you to help with carrying Kim's bags, Shego,” Ron retorted. “But do you think you packed a little much, Kim?”
“Those are Shego's things,” Kim told him. “She's coming too.”
Ron looked at her. “I'm sorry, I didn't catch that.”
“It's going to be the three of us, Ron.”
“Er, KP, could we talk in private for a second? Excuse us,” he said to Shego as he put an arm around Kim's shoulders and ushered her away. “Okay. Are you out of your mind?!”
“Ron, please, so not the drama.”
“That's Shego you're bringing along! As in, evil sidekick? Glowing green fists of death? Why don't you bring a monkey along while you're at it?!”
“First, she doesn't have green glowing fists anymore,” Kim reminded him.
“You're right - frosty blue fists of death!”
“Second,” she growled, “I already explained to Shego that you're my friend, and she's going to have to get used to it, and I begged her to be civil. If she can accept you coming along - “
“Accept me?” Ron asked, amazed. “Hello? I think I have seniority. My coming was a foregone conclusion. Her coming is not.”
“Please, Ron?” Kim asked. “Just try to get along with her? For me?”
“You're about to do the sad puppy dog eyes, aren't you?” Ron said helplessly.
She did in fact unleash her secret weapon.
Ron sighed. “At least tell me she's not going to be flying the ship.”
“She said she'd be gentle,” Kim promised.
“Shego! I've been cooped up too long in that stuffy hangar! Where have you been hiding yourself?”
“Just fooling around,” Shego told Sappho. She turned and smiled wickedly at Kim, whose cheeks colored slightly.
“So just how fast can you go, anyway?” Shego then asked the spaceship.
Perhaps the wicked smile had been meant for Ron, who whimpered and clutched at Kim's arm.
Kim put a hand over her eyes. “Please let Boston be easier than this,” she thought.
To be continued…