Shego had passed worried roughly ten minutes ago, and slightly concerned an hour before. Now, she was just extremely pissed. Which wasn't as bad as murderous rage, but dangerously close all the same.
There was no one at Kim's house, the sidekick was missing in action, and if she'd known where Wade lived, he'd have gotten a visit, too. All of which meant only two things to Shego.
First, and most importantly, someone was keeping Kim from her. Second, someone was keeping her out of the loop.
Shego was currently perched on top of Bueno Nacho, scowling to herself. She had been hoping to at least catch one of Kim's familiars here, but no such luck. No sidekick, no squeaky rat, no…no…what?
She was forgetting something, but she couldn't recall what, exactly. Perhaps Kim had another friend? That was likely, pretty girls like Kim generally had friends in excess, whether they wanted them or not.
Shego thought back to her last meaningful conversation with Kim. She wanted to focus on the kiss, but she quickly forced the dreamy smile off of her face and locked in on the words. Something about them meeting at a friend's house, because Shego had never been there…
Monique. That was who she'd mentioned. Not that Shego had any idea where she lived. There was still a way to find out, though, if her luck was any good this night.
Crossing her fingers, she dug a Kimmunicator out of her pocket. She could still hardly believe that Kim had slipped it on her without her noticing. And it was even harder to believe that Kim had claimed it was lost when anyone else asked. Shego had been warned only to use it as a last resort, since Wade could probably trace any calls made on it. But since it was Wade she'd be calling, it didn't matter that much.
It took several hails, but Wade finally answered. Shego could see right away that he hadn't gotten any sleep recently, and decided to make this quick.
“Why are you calling me and how did you get a Kimmunicator?” Wade asked at once.
“I wouldn't have to call you if people told me things,” Shego snapped. “Like what happened to Kimmie after she got zapped?”
He attempted to blink away some of the fog around his brain. “Sorry about that. I've been working on trying to reverse the effects, and I never really stopped to take a break, so I didn't think to call you.”
“Obviously,” Shego snarled.
“Yikes. Kim is at Monique's.”
“I need an address, smarty pants.”
“Sending…done. Since she doesn't know you're coming, you might want to knock.”
“And you might want to take a nap. If I find out you messed Kimmie up even further because you didn't get any sleep, you'll never have to worry about messing up again.”
Wade stared at her. “Are you threatening me?”
“Yes. I'm threatening you.” Shego hesitated. “…for Kimmie.”
Wade blinked in confusion. “Oh. Well, that's okay, then. I guess.”
“There we go, Kim. All nice and clean.” Monique carefully dried Kim's hair with a towel. “Now let's see if we can keep you that way until your mom gets here.”
Kim grinned and pointed behind her. “Go! Go go go!”
Monique frowned. “Kim, I asked you when we started if you had to go, and you said no.”
“Go go go!” Kim insisted.
“Okay, fine. But we need to cut down your liquid intake if you're going to be leaking like this. Especially if you think you're going to share a bed with me again.”
“You mind repeating that?” an angry voice directly behind her asked.
Monique slowly turned around to find Shego glaring down at her. Then she noticed the open bathroom window. “You couldn't use the door?”
“You mind telling me why you're sleeping with Kimmie?”
“Um…I know you don't have much experience with babies, but you're not really supposed to leave them alone. Ever. Besides, Kim had a nightmare, so she would've ended up sleeping with me, anyway.”
“And which of us do you think would be better at protecting her?” Shego asked.
“Well, you. But you weren't exactly here.”
“And you didn't exactly call me and say where here was, or that Kim was here, did you?”
“Sorry. We were all so worried about Kim, and-”
“I WAS WORRIED ABOUT KIM!” Shego yelled. “Did none of you stop to think that maybe I might want to know she was okay? I bet you didn't! I bet you just hopped into bed with her without a second thought!”
Monique blinked, realization washing over her. “Shego, are you…jealous?” she asked, a hint of a smile on her lips.
Shego froze. And then snapped. “You give me one good reason why I shouldn't melt your face off like I did-” She felt something wrap around her ankle, and looked down to see Kim holding onto her leg. Even more surprising was the fact that the toddler had tears in her eyes.
“Go hurt,” Kim whimpered sadly.
Shego blinked in confusion. “Huh? Kimmie, what are you-”
“Is that blood on your gloves?” Monique gasped.
Without even looking, Shego whipped off her gloves and shoved them into her pocket. She bent down and held out her bare hands. “See, Kimmie? I'm fine.”
Kim blinked and quieted down. “No hurt?” she asked, carefully placing her little hands in Shego's.
“Nope. Not for me, anyway.” Shego closed her hands over Kim's and squeezed gently.
Apparently satisfied, Kim held up her arms to be picked up, and Shego hesitantly obeyed. She'd obviously never held a child before.
“It if means that much to you,” Monique said quietly, “you can stay with Kim tonight.”
“I was thinking of staying longer. Like until she's back to normal,” Shego snorted defiantly.
“Are you asking or telling?”
Shego rolled her eyes. “Look, Dementor bragged to his pals about this. There's a bunch of evil freaks out there that know Kimmie's a baby, and they'll be coming for her. You want me to NOT be here when they show up?”
Monique considered that for about three seconds. “Okay, you talked me into it.”
“Yeah, I thought you’d OW!” Shego grimaced as Kim tugged on her hair.
“She does that,” Monique explained. “We think it’s how she says hi. She’ll stop…once she realizes it hurts you. In about ten minutes…”
“Wonderful,” Shego said through gritted teeth.
Mrs. Dr. Possible had been ready to take a cab straight home, but someone at the hospital had sprung for a limo. She really didn't think it necessary, especially when the hospital could always use more funding, but she could hardly refuse such blatant generosity.
“Please, help yourself to the sparkling water, Doctor Possible,” the driver invited.
“Hmm? Oh, thank you.” She opened the mini fridge beside her and pulled out a small bottle.
“No need to look so distracted, ma'am. I'll have you home to your family in no time.”
“Oh, it's not that. I'm just thinking of my daughter. She's run into some…trouble lately.”
“Ah, the torments of youth. I almost look forward to them. I'm starting my own family soon.”
“How nice!” Mrs. Possible exclaimed. “Are you hoping for a boy or a girl?” she asked, taking a small sip of water.
“Oh, definitely a girl. We already have a name in mind. We want to call her Kim.”
“Odd,” Mrs. Possible murmured. “That's also my daughter's name.”
The driver chuckled softly. “Isn't this world of ours just full of little coincidences like that?”
“I…suppose…” Mrs. Possible placed a hand on her head. “I feel…so sleepy…all of a sudden…”
“As well you should,” the driver commented. “That water has been spiked with a mild tranquilizer. You'll be fast asleep by the time we reach your home.”
“What? Why are you…doing this?”
“Because, Mrs. Possible,” the driver continued, “I have every intention of making your daughter my own. And when I'm done, the world will have a new Kim Possible. One that lives solely to carry out my bidding. I doubt you'll even recognize her then.”
“Won't…let you…” she whispered before falling into a deep sleep.
“I don't recall asking,” the driver replied, picking up the phone. “Amy, I have the good doctor in custody. Are your friends prepared?”
“Ready and waiting, sugar booger!”
The driver smiled. “Excellent. Be ready to proceed when I arrive. Tonight, we take Kim Possible. Tomorrow, the world!”
“I still don't like it,” Ron said. “I mean, you left Kim alone with Shego!”
Monique shrugged. “I didn't have much choice. She was really upset over not being involved, and Kim wanted to stay with her.”
“She's a baby! She doesn't know what she wants!”
“I think she does. Maybe it's you that doesn't know what Kim wants. If you go in there and try to take her away from Shego, our ears will never hear the end of it. Not to mention what Shego would do.”
“Did you even ask about the blood on her gloves?” Ron demanded.
Monique shook her head. “I didn't want to. Not in front of Kim. But I will, eventually. She mentioned melting someone's face off.”
“And this is someone you want around Kim?”
“No, but it's someone Kim wants around. I don't think Shego would dream of hurting her. You didn't see how worried Kim was when she thought Shego was hurt. Or how quickly Shego reassured her.”
“Then you're gonna have to explain to Mrs. P why we have an arch enemy holding her kid,” Ron decided. “No way I'm getting blamed for this.”
“I would think you'd be more concerned with what Shego said about Kim's enemies coming here,” Monique snapped. “So if you really want to help, be ready to break out the Monkey Kung Fu.”
Shego had never been more afraid in her life, but she imagined it was a pretty silly fear to have. Who knew holding a tiny little life would be so scary?
Hesitantly, she raised her head slightly off of the couch cushion to look down the length of her body. Kim was still slumped carelessly over Shego's stomach, her small mouth opening and closing as wispy breaths escaped it.
Shego slowly ran her fingers through Kim's red hair, careful not to wake her. She was still very much afraid that she'd touch Kim the wrong way and accidentally break her somehow. But Kim had not enjoyed being treated like a hazardous chemical, and had refused to let go of Shego for even a moment.
The look on the sidekick's face had been priceless, really.
Once or twice, Shego had considered calling Dr. Drakken, on the off chance that he knew how to make a reverse baby ray. She'd decided against it, though. Even if he could make one, he might be tempted even now to be the evil genius responsible for Kim Possible's downfall. Well, the second one, anyway. Professor Dementor would recover eventually, and he'd probably need a bigger mask then.
She smiled at the thought, and let the sound of Kim's soft breathing lull her to sleep.
Next Chapter: Enter the Monkey (Fist), his main squeeze, and their furry friends.