“Was all of that really necessary?”
“What?” Shego asked, irritated. Ron Stoppable had never struck her as anything more than a mediocrity trying to be special, but he had rubbed her every last nerve wrong today. Perhaps it was because Kim wasn't here to intercept his foolish rambling…
It was because of Kim, but not because she was a buffer between Shego and the sidekick-for-life. It was because Kim had lied to Ron, denied any trace of feeling for Shego that the raven-haired warrior knew to be there, because she was afraid of losing his friendship.
If losing Ron was more important than losing her, Shego thought Kim could frigging have him.
“We searched his apartment, and he wasn't there.”
“And?”
“You froze his books.”
“I was marking my territory,” Shego said, sniffing. “If he ever goes back, he'll know it was me.”
“And his bed!”
“He shall know no rest until I hunt him down.”
“And then you broke into his college office, and when we couldn't find any sign of where he's hiding there, you froze his office walls!”
“He's a fugitive from justice. I doubt the university will complain.”
“Shego, we were still inside when you did it. You had to kick out a window before we could leave,” Ron said dryly.
Shego growled. “Are you disputing my methods?”
“Oh, uh, no, of course not,” Ron replied, laughing nervously. “Perfectly proper and sane methods.” He leaned down and put one hand in front of his lips. “She's nuts,” he muttered to Rufus.
“Mmm-hmm,” Rufus agreed.
“I can hear you,” Shego said angrily.
Ron's cheeks turned red. “Sorry. I guess you have a right to be mad.”
“You're goddamn right I have a reason to be mad,” she retorted.
“I mean, I guess I didn't think about it before, but thanks to Dementor's little home invasion, Bonnie was spreading lies about you too.”
She stiffened. “What?”
“Well, it was obvious that you were the ‘other girl’ Bonnie was talking about.”
“Have you EVER known me to care what other people think of me?” Shego snapped.
“What about your villainous reputation?” he asked.
“Obviously that's no longer a concern of mine,” Shego said. “And what is this a concern of yours? Would YOU care if I was a lesbian?”
Ron thought about that for a moment as they continued walking back to where Sappho was. “Not really,” he replied. “It's your life. Although you'd break a lot of guys’ hearts.”
“I'd break a lot more if some guy asked me out,” Shego muttered. She looked at him. “What about Kim?”
“What about her?”
“What if she told you she really was involved with another woman?”
“With you? Uh, did you know you can't spell ‘Shego’ without E-G-O?”
Shego's hand visibly shook as she restrained herself from tearing his face off. “Someone else then,” she said tightly. “Like the Oryx. What if Kim told you that she and Oryx-”
“You mean Monique.”
“Whoever. What if they told you they were dating?”
“But she likes boys.”
“What if she changed her mind?” Shego almost shrieked. Did he have to always be this dense?!
Ron scratched his head. “If this were some sort of freaky alternate world, and Kim told me she was dating another girl? I guess…”
“You'd label her a freak and push her away?” Shego said in an accusatory tone of voice.
“No! What, are you kidding? I could never do that to KP! Sure, it'd be a big surprise - I remember all those days in high school that she was crazy about Josh-”
Shego nearly bit through her tongue when his name was mentioned.
“But I'd have to support her decision, if that was what she really wanted,” Ron continued. “I think she'd need me more than ever.”
“Need you?”
He nodded. “I saw a couple kids who never knew a moment's peace in high school after they came out of the closet. People like Bonnie, or Brick - they'd never let those kids hear the end of it. Kim, she tried to help, but she had so much else on her plate.” Ron sighed. “And of course, Mr. Barkin, military man - he thought it was a warped lifestyle. He let those kids fend for themselves.”
Shego stopped him. “But she's not in high school any more.”
“Shego, do you ever read the papers? When your name isn't in them, anyway? It wouldn't just be that way in high school. It'd follow Kim her whole life.” Ron frowned. “And as for her parents…”
“What about them?”
“Look, Shego, I realize I don't know anything about you and your parents,” Ron began.
Shego was stunned. She assumed Kim had told Ron. They were best friends, after all. All right, so Kim had promised she wouldn't tell anyone, but - why hadn't she believed her? Didn't she trust Kim yet?
Why should you?, a voice in her head said. She betrayed you last night, didn't she?
Her heart hardened, and she almost didn't hear the rest of what Ron had to say. “But by now, you must understand how much her parents mean to her. There's no one in the world she admires more. All right, there was this period for a couple years where they embarrassed her, but what teenager isn't?” he asked rhetorically.
Shego only nodded, having never had parents to be embarrassed by.
“And I knew kids in the English program at college who were disowned by their parents after they told them the truth,” Ron said. “They left their homes, and suddenly they weren't their homes any more because they weren't allowed to live there any more. Personally, I think Dr. and Mrs. Dr. P would support her, but Kim can't know that for sure. I know if I had a secret like that, I'd be terrified of losing my parents. Which, as I was trying to say, is why she'd need me to be there for her.”
He looked into Shego's eyes. “She'd need you too, Shego. She's told me more than once how she depends on you.”
Shego trembled and looked away. “I'm only here to stop Dementor,” she mumbled.
Ron shrugged. “Then it's a good thing she's not gay then, huh?”
She lowered her head, hiding her eyes behind her hair. “Yeah.”
They walked on silently for a minute. “Hey, I think I see KP,” Ron said suddenly as they made their way through the campus, shading his eyes with one hand.
“What?” she asked, looking up. Maybe, just maybe, she was being a little too hard on Kim. She knew how Kim continued to labor under a host of expectations and responsibilities…
“So much for doctor's orders,” Ron muttered. “Hey, is that Josh with her?”
“Josh?” Shego asked, stopping in her tracks. She squinted in the direction Ron was looking.
And there was Kim, sitting across from her old flame.
Holding his hand.
Obviously sharing a personal moment.
Shego's heart lurched in her chest. “No,” she whispered.
“Maybe he's thanking her for last night,” Ron said, not bothering to look at Shego behind him. “Or maybe he took one look at Bonnie and Kim and remembered who the real catch was. Way to go, KP,” he added quietly. “That would help put an end to the - rumors?”
He had turned around, and Shego was gone. “Shego?”
Rufus tugged on his pants and agitatedly pointed in the direction they'd been headed. Ron looked and saw the familiar blotch of green and black shrinking in the distance. “Shego!”
“I'm going back to the ship!”
Ron looked perplexed. “You know, Rufus, I don't think she likes Josh.”
“Uh-huh.”
Shego stormed up the ramp into Sappho's interior, hot tears running down her cheeks. Life with the “other woman” was obviously just too hard for Kimmie. Why disappoint your parents when you can bring home the hunky guy?
“I can't do this any more,” she whispered dully. “Dementor goes down for what he tried, and then I go. And I don't need Drakken. All I need is myself.”
“Shego? Where are the others?” Sappho's voice became concerned. “Shego? Is something wrong?”
Shego didn't reply. Why was it this spaceship was the only thing that seemed to care about her any more?
“Is this because of Ron?” Sappho now asked sympathetically.
“What? Ron?” Shego raised an eyebrow. “Well, I guess, sort of, but it's more about Jo - hey, why would you say Ron?”
“Well,” Sappho said cautiously, “you know, you, Kim, this secret you're keeping from Ron?”
“We've been keeping it from him for weeks, Sappho. Why would you think it's bothering me now?”
“Because of what Kim said.”
“And what did she say?”
“I wouldn't want to say I was eavesdropping,” Sappho told her, “but I overheard her conversation earlier with Monique.”
“Um, that IS eavesdropping.”
“Perhaps, but I wouldn't want to say it was.”
Shego blinked. Computers were really strange.
“At any rate, Kim was telling Monique about how she'd lied to Ron, and how she couldn't lie any-”
“Ah-bubuhbuhbuhbuh-uh,” Shego said, interrupting her. “Hold on. Kim told the Oryx what exactly?”
“I believe Oryx is only her-”
“I know it's just a code name!” Shego retorted. “I just want to know what they said!”
Sappho didn't answer at first. “Shego?”
“Sappho, please,” Shego said. “What - did - Kim - say?”
“Well, she told Monique - Oryx - that you and she were having a relationship, and that she had lied about it to Ron, and that it was tearing her up inside.”
Shego stared at the viewscreen of the ship, which was for all intents and purposes the face of Sappho. “She said what?” she croaked.
“Kim told Monique,” Sappho said gently, “that you and Kim were involved. With each other.”
Inexplicably, Shego's knees buckled and her legs gave out from underneath her. She landed on one hand and didn't even feel it.
“Shego!” Sappho said anxiously.
“She told. She told,” Shego whispered.
“Yes, she told her, Shego. And she was considering telling Ron, but she was afraid of how he would react when he learned she had lied to him. Monique was of the opinion that Ron ought to be told.”
Shego looked up, her eyes round. “Monique - are they still friends?”
“Well, yes, I believe they are. Why wouldn't they be? Kim also told Wade the truth, and he was also quite supportive. They were surprised, but supp-”
“She told the dweeb too?!”
“I really don't think that's appropriate, Shego. From what I'm told this Wade knows a great deal about computers, and as you might imagine, computers like myself are quite fond of that kind of person,” Sappho corrected her.
Shego shook her head. “I don't understand. Why did she tell them?”
Sappho sighed. “She seemed to think that when she lied to Ron, she hurt you very much. If this is true, then it was very wrong of her to treat you so, but it appeared to have hurt her just as much.”
“But - but Josh! I saw them together just a minute ago! She was holding his hand, sharing a tender moment!”
“Josh contacted Wade with urgent news. Kim agreed to meet him, hoping he knew the whereabouts of Professor Dementor,” Sappho informed her. “As for their holding hands, I may only be a spacecraft, but it is my understanding that people hold hands even if they're just friends. Perhaps you saw romance where there was only affection? Perhaps because she hurt you once before?”
Shego sat there, open-mouthed. Was that it? Was it a friendly gesture, nothing more?
Didn't she trust Kim yet?
Why should you?
Well, if what Sappho said about Oryx and Wade was true, then that was a big fricking reason right there!
“Sappho,” Shego said, hating the pleading tone in her voice. “Everything you just told me - it's true, right?”
“I never lie,” Sappho replied, sounding slightly offended. “Well, all right, when Dr. Freeman asks if he needs to lose ten pounds, then I lie. But I can't help it, he'd be so sad if I told him it was more like twenty…”
Shego didn't hear the rest. She dropped her face into her hands and softly wept.
Sappho waited for a few moments when she observed this. “Shego, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, I just - I think I just finally started to trust Kim,” she said, in a tone of near wonder.
“Well, she's going to be here any second.”
Her head snapped up. “Kim?”
“She appears to be approaching at a high rate of velocity. I thought she was injured?”
Shego staggered to her feet. “Uh, shit, I need a minute.” She raced into another room.
Kim banged on the hull outside fifteen seconds later. “Damn it, Sappho, let me in!”
“You don't need to be rude,” Sappho said.
“Sappho!”
“I am having a problem with the door mechanism. I shall have to ask Dr. Freeman to look at it when we return home.”
Kim's pressed her palms tightly against the ship. “Is Shego - she's inside? Is she making you keep me out?”
“No, it's just - ah, there we are!” The door slid open, and Kim stumbled through to find Shego sitting calmly, eyeing Kim without emotion.
“Shego, I-” Kim began to say.
Then the adrenaline seemed to leave her body all at once. Suddenly exhausted, she almost fainted.
“Kim!”
Shego caught her before she hit the floor.
“Nothing was going on,” Kim mumbled, her eyelids fluttering. “Ron - he said you saw-”
“I believe you,” Shego whispered, all plans to put up a pretense of anger vanishing. Damn it, was she always going to turn to mush like this around Kim Possible?
Kim opened her eyes fully and looked up at Shego. “I told Josh about us,” she said. “He was trying to be nice, like he always does.”
Shego didn't really care. Josh would always be beneath her notice. “Look, Kim-”
“I'm going to tell Ron,” Kim said softly. “If he hates me, fine, but-”
“He won't hate you,” Shego said.
“If he hates me,” Kim went on stubbornly, “I'll still have you. But I never realized I could be as cruel to you as I was last night. I'm - I'm a selfish, horrible person, Shego.”
“You were scared,” Shego countered. “It even happens to me sometimes - albeit very rarely. And I think you should wait until after we catch Dementor to tell Stoppable. Fewer distractions means faster pummeling.”
Kim stared at her. “You want me to wait?!”
Shego nodded.
“Then - can you forgive me?” Kim whispered.
“I think,” Shego murmured, “I forgave you before you even crashed through that door.”
Kim turned her head and cried into Shego's torso. One arm came over and clutched fiercely at Shego's waist.
Shego didn't say anything at first. It was appalling, really, that they were both turning into such bawling weaklings over this. I mean, hello? Losers!
And yet it seemed to be worth it.
Besides, she was the wronged party here. She could get something out of this.
“Kimmie,” Shego said when Kim had calmed down, “you're going to have to do something for me.”
Kim looked up. “I'll do anything,” she promised.
“Good.” She leaned down and whispered something in her ear.
Kim's cheeks had been red, but now the color drained from them. “You're not serious!”
“Deadly serious.”
“But what's Ron going to say?”
“Well, if he's like any other guy on the planet, I'm thinking, ‘Thank you, God’?”
“Shego!” Kim got a crafty look in her eyes for a second as she sat up, and then her eyes became round and woeful as a sad expression appeared on her face.
Shego just stared at her. “What,” she asked, “is that?”
“It's, um, my puppy-dog face. My mother uses it on me all the time when she wants me to do something.”
“All right, stop it. You're starting to remind me of Drakken now, and that is a very, very disturbing thought.”
Kim groaned. “What do I say when Ron asks why?”
Shego smiled triumphantly. “I gave you a cover story.”
“So you and Josh aren't getting back together?” Ron asked a half hour later.
“Nope,” Kim said. “I might have even talked him into giving Bonnie a chance to explain what she did.”
“Ugh, why?” Shego grumbled.
“Hey, that was my line!” Ron said. “Ugh, why?”
Kim smiled. “Because he loves her, that's why.”
“His taste in women stinks,” Shego muttered. Unlike yours, she thought. A grin played across her face.
“But we're still no closer to finding Dementor now,” Ron said.
“Incoming transmission from Wade,” Sappho interrupted.
“Put it on the big screen,” Kim said. “Wade, what's the sitch?”
Wade looked at the three of them. “You guys all right?” he asked hesitantly.
Ron was the only person there who didn't know what he was talking about, and the blank look showed it. “Why wouldn't we be all right?” Ron asked.
“Wade, have we found the Professor?” Kim's expression suggested quite strongly that he talk about Dementor and nothing else.
“Maybe,” he said quickly. “Believe it or not, we got a hit - from Bonnie.”
“I'd like to give her a hit,” Shego snarled. “Several, in fact.”
“Mmm-hmm, mmm-hmm,” Ruby piped up.
“What does Bonnie want?” Kim asked sardonically, folding her arms. “An apology?”
“Actually, she says that Dementor called her with grandiose promises to save her from the attack he was preparing to unleash on the city,” Wade told them.
“By what, shooting a million people with a laser, one person at a time?” Kim asked.
“Beats me. But she heard some loud noises in the background, and Bonnie says they sounded a lot like animals.”
“What kind of animals?” Shego asked.
“The big kinds. Lions and tigers and elephants.”
“Is the circus in town?” Ron asked.
“I checked. No circus.”
“But there IS a zoo,” Kim said.
“Does that time ray work on other animals beside humans?” Wade asked.
“Justine told us they've tested it on animals, and it turned them into their evolutionary ancestors,” Kim told him.
“Then maybe he's going to turn the zoo into his own personal Jurassic Park,” Shego realized. “Let's get him!”
“No, we wait until nightfall,” Kim decided. “If we go while the zoo is open, people could get hurt. Lots of people. Better if the only one who gets hurt is Dementor. Thanks, Wade. Get me all the data you can on the zoo in Boston.”
“I'll get right on it,” he assured her before signing off.
“Well,” Shego said calmly, “I guess we'd better suit up.”
Kim sighed and headed for the room where they kept their bags.
A few minutes later, they heard an outraged shriek from that room. Shego thought it not entirely convincing, but then she knew the truth. Ron didn't, and he seemed to believe it as he leapt to his feet. “KP!”
Kim stormed back out. “Where are my clothes?” she demanded as she glared at Shego.
Shego looked quizzical.
“I was wearing my mission clothes last night.”
“And they got torn during your transformation,” Shego reminded her.
“Which is why I always bring a spare.”
“So?”
“My spare is missing.”
Shego shrugged. “Maybe you should have asked your mother to pack for you.”
Kim glared at her. “You hid them, didn't you? Just like you hid my bathing suit on Senior Senior's island!”
Ron gaped at Shego. “You stole her bathing suit? Um, why?”
“She had another one,” Shego told him, smirking.
“Yes, and by coincidence, I do happen to have another outfit for tonight,” Kim growled. “A different one. Just like that bathing suit was different.”
Shego looked doubtful. “Well, I did throw those old mission clothes in the incinerator earlier. Maybe I took the spare by accident?”
“The incinerator?!”
“But what's the problem?” Shego asked. “Like you said, you have a backup.”
Kim delivered a smoldering glare at Shego before stomping out.
“What are you trying to pull here?” Ron asked her.
“Just trying to get Kimmie to try a little variety,” Shego said.
Kim returned a couple minutes later, and Ron's jaw almost hit the floor.
Shego thought Kim's figure was wasted in those drab cargo pants and boring top. As she looked at Kim dressed in the skin-tight green and black unitard, Shego moved slightly behind Ron so she could openly admire Kim's legs. She was forcibly reminded of that day in Kim's bedroom when she tried on Shego's outfit the last time, and how good it felt to touch Kim. Shego felt her body temperature spike upward as she realized she wanted to touch Kim again.
Kim was blushing furiously when she came out, but she caught the look in Shego's eye. She swallowed. No matter what Shego said, Kim wasn't sure bright green and black were her colors. But just like the last time, it felt good to slip into these clothes, and she remembered how Shego's hands had slid up and down her arms before. Her cheeks turned an even brighter shade of red.
“Where's the mind chip?” Ron asked when his brain started working again.
Shego's head snapped around and delivered a look of death at the back of Ron's head. Her hands clenched into fists.
Kim caught the change in Shego's body language and hurried forward. “No mind chip, Ron,” she assured him. “Just me - and Shego's sense of humor. And ixnay on the indmay ipchay, all right?”
Ron nodded. His mouth was strangely dry. “Right, gotcha.”
Shego's gloved hand reached up to brush imaginary lint off Kim's shoulder, and as Kim felt a jolt run through her, nothing like she'd felt when she held Josh's hand, she knew she'd made the right decision. Even if it meant being dressed like this.
Shego smiled lazily at her, and Kim couldn't help smiling back.
Oh yes, especially if it meant being dressed like this.
To be continued…