August 1
Jean checked messages when they got home from the hospital. “Kim, there was a phone call for you from Global Justice.”
“Did they say what they wanted?”
“No, but it was Betty Director, and she left the number for the direct line to her office. It sounded important.”
“Will you call Shego first?”
“Why don't you call her?”
“I'm scared, mom. What if I really killed what I had with her?”
“I think she loves you too, Kim. She was just trying to protect you in the only way she could see.”
August 3
In shackles and with half a dozen agents armed with tasers surrounding her Shego was led into the office of the head of Global Justice.
“Shego, I think you might want some privacy for our conversation. If you give your promise not to attempt an escape this morning I am willing to dismiss the guards.”
“But Dr. Director. She might try and take you hostage!”
“I don't believe that is her style. Well, Shego, do I have your word of honor? Will you go back peacefully to the Cage after this conversation?”
Shego weighed her options “All right, I accept the conditions.”
“Gentlemen, you may leave--”
“I really want to protest.”
“Your concern is duly noted. Take it up with me this afternoon. Now, Shego, can I give you the key to unlock the manacles?”
“No thank you, if I could borrow a paperclip I should be fine.”
“I don't think you can get them off with a paperclip. They have a very sophisticated locking mechanism. It is going to take a special… We spent way too much for those, didn't we?”
Shego got her first hand free, “These really are well built; you probably got your money's worth… Your problem is that you only deal with honest locksmiths. I could recommend… Okay… Why don't you just keep talking while I take the leg shackles off?”
Betty Director glared at Shego as she freed her legs and stretched them out. “Do not put the paper clip in your pocket. Put it back on my desk.
“Oh, and if you're curious, if my thumb comes off the button on the remote I'm holding in my left hand the doors lock and the room fills with anesthetic gas.”
“It feels so nice to be trusted.”
“You deserve all the mistrust I place in you.
“Keeping you incarcerated is clearly a problem. Sending you to Canada for trial creates certain difficulties. The Cage took a lot of money to design and build. Canada doesn't want to spend the millions to construct their own -- at least not until after you are convicted. We plan to break the Cage down and ship it north. But what are we supposed to do with you in three weeks it will take to gets things set up in Ottawa?
“I don't want to keep you drugged. That would be inhumane. Keeping a large guard on you constantly might work -- although I think there is a chance you might be able to elude them. I've got two choices I think could work. We still have the mind control chips Gemini used against us. I could chip you -- the courts haven't ruled yet on whether they constitute cruel and unusual treatment. And even if they eventually rule against them by then the point will be moot for you. The other choice is to use your own principles against you. If you accept a job you see it through. I'll pay you ten dollars, Canadian, to accompany one agent to Canada, remain in custody until the Cage has been set up, then turn yourself over to the Canadian authorities for incarceration.”
“I really have to agree with the agent who protested you sending the guards away. You are acting crazy.”
With her right hand Betty Director pressed an intercom button on her desk. “Please send in the special agent.”
A door to the side of the room opened and Kim Possible stepped in, wearing a Global Justice uniform. Shego's heart was pounding. It had been two months since she'd seen Kim, two months since they spoke. She wanted to run to Kim and hold her -- but she was angry with Global Justice.
“You'd use Kim against me!” Shego snarled.
“That's not how I see it. Would you prefer the chip? We could try and put the guards on you. They might be able to deliver you to the Cage. If you managed to escape we know you'd be coming to Middleton. We'd have Kim watched so closely you'd never see her. Or, you accept the role of prisoner under guard and go peacefully. You are not allowed to go anywhere without her accompanying you. You will have to share the same hotel room so she can monitor you twenty-four hours a day.”
“Just Kim and me together, for three weeks?” Shego looked at Kim, who smiled at her and nodded her head.
“Approximately three weeks, yes.” Betty Director explained, “We can't be sure how long shipping and reconstruction will take. The government also supplies a small per diem for housing and meals.”
“Why are you doing this for us?”
“I feel like I owe you something for your help with Gemini. Will you accept the job?”
Shego grinned, “I thought you said Global Justice would never hire me.”
“Global Justice isn't, it's out of my own pocket -- and my head on the block if you escape.”
“Damn, I should have charged more.”
“And I should have used the chip. Oh, Kim, Shego, I have one request. Can you occasionally try to wear handcuffs for official moves of the prisoner? It looks bad if you just show up holding hands. This goes against every regulation I know, but I really believe it is the way with the greatest chance of getting Shego extradited to Canada.
Shego looked back at Kim, and smiled. Kim felt Shego's eyes travel down her body and rest on her stomach. Kim had gained weight, but for the moment it could be interpreted as not enough exercise. Shego raised one eyebrow and jerked her head slightly towards the head of Global Justice. Kim shook her head 'no' in answer to the unspoken question. Betty Director caught their exchange, but had no idea what it meant.
Eight days later the two women were seated together in an Air Canada plane. Kim waited for the plane to get into the air before telling Shego the news.
“I had my first ultrasound pictures yesterday. I brought them for you to see if you want. It just looks like gray fuzz to me but the technician got very excited when she saw a third arm.”
“Third arm?”
Kim let Shego twist in agony for a minute.
“What do you mean, third arm?” Shego demanded.
“You can't see the second baby with her sister in the way.”
“Two… Twins?” It took a minute to sink in, “How are you doing?”
“I'm scared Shego. What was I thinking? I was so scared I was going to lose you I didn't know what to do.”
Shego breathed a little sigh of relief that Kim had regained some of her sense.
“So, what are your plans?”
“I'm keeping the babies. The idea may have been a mistake, but that's not their fault. I can't claim I got pregnant by accident. I worked damn hard for these babies.”
Shego took Kim in her arms, “I'll support whatever decision you make. I wish I knew I could be there to help you.” It felt good to have Kim in her arms again. She buried in nose in Kim's red hair and inhaled the clean, fresh scent of the woman she loved. Kim smiled, delighted to be in Shego's arms.
After the plane landed in Ottawa and taxied to the terminal the two waited for the rest of the passengers to get off. Both felt excitement with a touch of sadness. It would be the longest time they'd ever spent in each other's company. And yet they also knew that it might be their last time together for years.
As they entered the terminal building they found a dark haired man waiting for them by the gate.
“Kim?”
“Joe! I haven't seen you in years. I almost didn't recognize you without the coveralls. Wait, is Joe your real name?”
“No, but you can use it. I'm here to see if you need any help with the prisoner.”
“I think we're fine.”
“So, the rumors are true. She was trying to kill you a couple years ago.”
Kim shrugged.
“I am sorry, Kim, but I'm here to serve you.” He handed her an envelope. “It's a subpoena. Canada wants you to testify at the trial against Shego. We couldn't locate Ron. I'd liked to have seen him. Can I give the two of you a ride down town?”
Shego dutifully put on a handcuff on her right wrist, the other end on Kim's left, before they checked in. Once in the room Kim used the key to remove the cuff from her own wrist. “You want to take off the handcuff, or try something kinky?”
“Kim, you're pregnant!”
“Yes, and horny. My obgyn says nothing too strenuous. But we can get in bed right now and make each other forget why we're here for a little while.”
“No, you really need to work on patience. First we're going to talk. You'll sit on my lap and tell me--”
“I promise to work on patience -- later,” Kim vowed, as she began to unbutton Shego's blouse.
After the love making Kim dozed off in Shego's arms. Shego smiled at the younger woman and whispered, “You could have been a man, Pumpkin, you love quickies way too much and afterwards you just want to sleep. At least you don't roll over and turn your back to me.” She leaned over and kissed Kim's hair. “No, that was a silly thought. You think about what you're doing and you know how to make a woman happy -- men are clueless.”
Shego, still smiling, took her own nap.
They were both feeling relaxed and happy when they finally left the hotel for a late supper.
“Oh, there was one small hitch in the per diem expenses we may need to take into account when we chose a restaurant.”
“No, Kim, we will not eat at McDonalds.”
“Will you listen to the problem first? Dr. Director said the regulations for this sort of extended watch over a prisoner required a minimum of three agents. So we have an expense account large enough for four people and two rooms. It's sort of an upgrade.”
“Sometimes I like the way that woman sticks to the letter of the law.”
“She said we're still saving a ton of money -- she'd have had to assign a dozen agents if you hadn't agreed to the plan.”
“So, how does it feel to know you're going to be a father?”
“I wish you wouldn't say that. This is a little too weird even for me, and given my life story that's saying something. I imagine my father sat each of my brothers down at some point and explained how he would kill them if they ever got some girl pregnant. My mother just told me to keep my knees together.”
“Aah… You'll make a great daddy.”
“Stop it, Kim! I really mean it. That makes it sound like I forced something on you. I've been forced into sex -- it isn't nice. It isn't something to joke about… And sometimes I feel like you raped me in this. You didn't ask my consent, you just went ahead and took part of me for yourself.”
Kim stared silently at her lover for a minute, then whispered, “I'm sorry. I didn't think enough about your feelings. I just wanted to show you how much I loved you.”
“I know. I just don't want to be daddy.”
“But what do we tell people who know the truth?”
“Can we just say the girls have two moms?”
“Two mommies… I guess so. I sure feel like I'm doing all the work.”
“Well, it was your idea for us to be parents.”
“Come on, Kim, Friday evening. I want to go to services at Temple Israel. It's over on Prince of Wales Drive, the concierge told me how to get there.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes, and we have Sabbath dinner invitations tonight and the next two Fridays.”
“How did you manage that?”
“You can blame the Reform rabbi that Global Justice let visit me. He said it would be good for me to go. I think he's trying to win me over to the dark side -- Rabbi Kominski at the hospital thought I was a better fit for Reconstructionist Judaism.
“What do I wear to a Reformed Synagogue?”
“Reform, Kim. Christians are Reformed, Jews are Reform. God, you sound just like a Christian.”
“I am, remember?” A minute later Kim suddenly laughed.
“What?”
“Do you remember that promise we made the second night we were out for coffee? I'm not going to try to convert you, you're not going to try and convert me? Suddenly that's taken on a whole new meaning.”
The concierge desk was equally helpful in suggesting a club where two women together would be the norm rather than the exception.
Kim couldn't understand why Shego seemed so nervous as they sat at their table listening to the music. “Come on, Shego, time to get out on the dance floor.”
Once on the floor understood Shego's fear. “Why didn't you tell me you can't dance?”
“You never asked.”
“You're so graceful and athletic, I just assumed you could.”
“Hey, in high school and college I was the little green nerd they made fun of. I never learned -- I was one of those lacking in the social graces. I owe any grace I have to the martial arts.”
“Well, that shows you can be taught. We're going to keep coming here until… Well, when I go home I want beautiful memories of us together on the dance floor.”
Kim stood naked in front of the full-length mirror in their room. While she had never been the most fashion conscious person in high school she had always taken pride in her physical condition. Now she was starting to look fat. Eventually she would look pregnant. She didn't know if that would be better or worse. It was bad enough she was starting to look fat.
Shego came up from behind Kim, laid her hands on Kim's shoulders and kissed the back of the younger woman's neck, “You look beautiful, Princess.”
“No, I don't. I look fat, don't I?”
Shego suddenly felt like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. She'd seen the look of panic in her father's eyes when he was saw a question coming at him that had no right answer. If she said yes it confirmed Kim's fears. If she said no Kim would call her a liar. “Am I getting any better at dancing?” she asked hopefully.
“You're afraid to answer, aren't you?”
Shego tensed. The car was about to hit her.
Despite the carnage caused by the ever present mood swings Shego came through their time together well. She found herself caught between hoping for a miscarriage so that Kim's life could return to normal and a desire to see their children. She kept her fears hidden as best she could, and all Kim saw was the protective side of Shego, which had been what first convinced her of the older woman's love.
“No, Shego, there is nothing wrong with drinking coffee in moderation.”
“No, Shego, walking is not too strenuous -- exercise is good for both the mother and the unborn.”
“Yes, I'm drinking enough milk. I don't need calcium supplements.”
“No, I'm not too hot.”
“No, I'm not too cold.”
“We can stay up until midnight to finish the four back-to-back episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus. We can sleep late in the morning, remember?”
If Shego's concerns weren't so touching as displays of love they would have been damn annoying.
Three weeks is a long time, but Ottawa is a beautiful city. Shego preferred to skip the Parliament buildings, feeling she would soon become acquainted with government buildings all too well. And Kim decided they should skip the Bank of Canada's Currency Museum -- in case anything proved too tempting for Shego. In the Aviation Museum Shego's enthusiasm and knowledge got them into a few areas not open to the general public.
But what Shego enjoyed most, apart from simply the time with Kim, was wandering the trails of the Gatineau Park with lunch at the Moorside Tea Room. Three times they were caught by rain and once they waited it out under the eaves of a restored cottage on the Mackenzie King Estate.
In the moon light coming through their hotel window Kim could see the scar on her back. The small white mark was only barely visible on the pale skin of the woman who had saved her life. In one of their shouting contests in June Kim's mom had said she should not confuse gratitude towards Shego for saving her life with love. Kim marveled that her mom could be so right, and so wrong at the same time. Gratitude should not be confused with love. But while Kim could not rationally understand why, she knew that she and Shego deeply loved each other and would do anything for the other… She wondered if any two people could rationally explain their love for each other. Kim bent her head and kissed the scar, then drifted back to sleep.
“You have to leave. With any luck it will be week before anyone knows you're gone. Go to Mexico. Go into hiding.”
“I can't leave. Your damn director found the way to keep me in line. She'll know you let me escape, and you'll never get the job you want. This is a test, and I won't let you fail.”
They went to the movies once, but didn't see the picture. Afterwards they found a Club Banana and purchased cotton turtlenecks.
“It's August, Shego, it's too hot for these.”
“Well, you should have thought of that an hour ago. I don't want to go to services tomorrow with hickeys on my neck.”
“I'm not sure how comfortable I am at services.”
“Well, I'm not comfortable on the dance floor, but that doesn't stop you.”
“Ah, compromise. The soul of relationships. Say, did you ever see if they made a book Relationships for Dummies? We still need to work on communication.”
“Says the woman who didn't speak to me for two months.”
Kim burst into tears and fled the store. Shego closed her eyes and reminded herself, “First trimester, mood swings.”
When Shego left the store she found Kim walking back to her. Kim spoke first, “I'm sorry. I shouldn't react to you saying I didn't talk to you by running away.”
“I'm sorry too, Princess. I'll try to remember you're suffering from temporary insanity.”
“God, I hope it's only temporary. I think it began when I met you.”
“Did you know Canada is one of the few countries in the world to recognize same sex marriages -- and they don't have a residency requirement?”
“Yes, Kim, I know that. But I don't think I like where this is going.”
“Aww, don't you love me?”
Shego rolled over in bed and gave Kim a kiss that left no doubt about the answer to that question. “No, Kim. We've surprised your Mom and Dad too often. Besides it wouldn't be recognized in the US anyway.”
“Yes, but I probably wouldn't have to testify against you here in Canada.”
“God, ever the romantic, aren't you?”
“Well, is it really a bad idea?”
“Yes, it is. Kim, I don't want to screw up your life any more than I already have. I promise to look you up when I get out of prison, we'll see if you're still interested then.”
“So, Kim, when you go home are you going to take our toys with you, or leave them here to surprise the next guest?”
“I'm not sure… I've become sort of attached to a couple of them --”
Shego laughed. Then she wondered how the items would look when they showed up on Kim's Global Justice expense account and laughed again. Would they be listed under 'entertainment' or 'restraint devices'?
Kim continued, “but what will I say if customs looks in my luggage?”
“They don't comb through your bags going between Canada and the US. And even if they did nothing is illegal -- and it would embarrass the customs agent as much as it embarrassed you.”
“And then I have to figure out a place my Mom would never look.”
“Kim, you're pregnant. Your Mom and Dad suspect we're having sex.”
Instead of the waiter with the room service breakfast they expected the door opened to Betty Director and four Global Justice agents. “They finished reconstruction last night. We need to take Shego in. You can stay here, Kim, I'll come back for your paperwork.”
As they rode the elevator down Shego asked, “Didn't you trust me?”
“No. That's why I had you and Kim tailed.”
“You had Kim followed?”
“Not too closely. Every report said that you behaved. But it was about the time when you expected us to bring you in. I figured it was better for us to pick you up than wait for Kim to bring you in.”
“Why?”
“I didn't want to learn that we couldn't trust Kim.”
“You could, she's what you want in Global Justice. It would have broken her heart to bring me in… I'll bet you thought of that too.”
“You're welcome.”
As they left the building Shego asked, “The tail was a young, black woman?”
“Latisha Jackson, brand new agent, Kim had never met her.”
“She's very good.”
“I thought she was. But you marked her.”
Betty Director frowned, only half listening to Kim's verbal report before heading back to the headquarters of Global Justice. Kim had gained weight in the four weeks since she had last seen her. It almost looked like… No, that made no sense whatsoever.
The trial ended quickly. The State had prepared its prosecution carefully and presented facts Shego's defense could not dispute. The best defense Shego's lawyer could muster was that as an attempt to take over the world, or even a Canadian province, the weather machine scheme was too absurd to take seriously. He lacked the experience of Drakken's legal team. And she made no claim to wanting to take over the world, she was a mercenary hired to do a job and could not deny the evidence presented against her.
The jury took the attempt seriously. The judge sentenced Shego to twenty years, and Kim took very little comfort in being told Shego would probably be paroled in four.