For twenty years, the university resisted the trend. It was a long and hard battle that seemed justified at the start but became a bitter fight near the end. Ultimately, however, it was the persistence of a single, unwavering voice that turned the tied and caused the institution to surrender.
And she didn't even like coffee.
“I don't understand why we're here so early,” Kim said, groggy to her lively roommate, Beth Corelia. They were sitting in a fairly large, but entirely empty coffee house in the center of the academic side of campus. Café Carlitos the place was called, which seemed just about as dubious as it's often missing franchise operator. The two had been granted early access to the as-yet unopened store, for their help in getting it established. None of the machines were grinding any beans yet, however.
“Weren't you out, like, incredibly late last night?” continued Kim.
Beth, a brunette with long wavy hair, shook her head slightly. “No, dear, that was you.”
“Yeah, I know,” Kim groaned. “I was just making sure you remembered.” She rubbed her sore neck. “What is the deal, though, we can't even get served yet it's so early.”
“This is my great triumph, Kim,” announced Beth, scanning the empty café with hungry eyes. “I've been fighting to have a Café Carlitos opened on campus since my sophomore year. I need to be here to taste my victory.”
“A bitter, overcooked taste that,” Kim pointed out, “if I recall, you don’t care for very much.”
“It's a staple experience of American culture. The taste doesn’t matter.” Beth pulled out a notebook and placed it on the table. “Not to mention, I'm not writing my thesis on the sociological aspects of my own dislike of coffee, just everyone elses.”
“Um, right.” Kim put her head on the table. “I'm just going to nap until I can get a café latte.”
Beth leaned her head on her palm and looked sideways at Kim. “So, anniversary, huh?”
Kim looked up. “A what?”
Beth grinned evilly. “Six months.”
Kim frowned. “Until what?”
“Not until, since!“ Beth playfully bopped Kim on the head. “It's been six months since you and Shego took your nocturnal behavior to a new level.”
“That's probably the most salacious way of saying 'sex' I've ever heard,” commented Kim.
“You're telling me you didn't even realize?” asked Beth, skeptically.
“I --” Kim hesitated for a moment. “Well, I did, but, I don't really want to bother Shego with it.”
“'Bother Shego,' hmm?” Beth mused. “So, what if she says it's not serious, what do you think about it?”
“Who says it's not serious?”
“Shego, apparently.”
“She told you that?” Kim went wide eyed.
Beth just sighed. “Kim, now, we've been friends for years now, and I just have to say, to offense or no offense, that you are completely incapable of reading people.”
Kim crossed her arms. “Well, I'm sorry I don't spend enough time studying the habits of coffee drinkers.” She looked away.
Beth raised an eyebrow and waited.
“It's just…” started Kim. “She said it at the start: she doesn't love me and she doesn’t think she can start. And I completely understand that,” Kim looked back at Beth with a frown. “We hated each other for years. Years! And we still have completely different views on very essential things like laws and ethics and… well, decency.” She looked down at her hands.
“I'll have to ask about that decency thing some other time,” said Beth. “But, Kim, does any of that come to mind when you two are together?”
“To be honest, yes!” Kim said. “And that's why I think she's right. We stand on opposite sides of a cliff.” Kim ran her hands through her hair. “She says things sometimes, things that… bother me. The way she talks about other people, like there are two classes in the world, those who are her equals and those who lie beneath her.” She swallowed. “She really doesn't give a thought to those beneath her.”
“And you feel differently?” asked Beth.
“Of course! I spent my youth fighting to help those who are different than me, who can't run across the world going toe-to-toe with criminals. I don't think they're beneath me, and I do care about them!” Kim sighed. “How can I connect to someone who discards the people I've sacrificed to help?”
“I'm not sure,” admitted Beth, looking thoughtfully to the side. Outside she could see students lining up, waiting for the Café Carlitos to open to get their first on-campus coffee fix since coming to the university. Their envious glares at she and Kim were only tempered by the fact that they had both not yet gotten anything to drink. Still, they all watched. Some impatiently, some sleepily, some nervously studying in line for a test undoubtedly later in the day. There were students from a variety of majors and fields, and teachers from across the campus. On a ordinary day, none of these people would ever run into each other. But today wasn't an ordinary day.
Beth looked back at Kim, tired, slightly annoyed, and definitely exasperated by the conversation. She smiled. “But you do,” she said.
“What do you mean?” Kim said, confused.
“You said you couldn't imagine how you could connect with her,” Beth explained. “But you don't have to imagine it. You do connect. The two of you are alive when you're together. More alive than when you are apart.”
“When your…” hesitated Beth. “When you were let down by the people you lent your name to, you were shocked and depressed. They had taken something you thought was pure and about goodness and justice and they let something horrible happen to that man. You got over it, but sometimes I could see your demons lurking in your vision.”
“But then, Shego showed up, and things changed. You started to become lively again, and I saw less and less of the shadow you used to stand within. Whether you or Shego believe you can be 'serious' is aside to the fact that you found something in her that brightened your life. You have a connection, even if you don't recognize it.”
Kim looked down and was silent. Beth frowned. “I don't mean to lecture,” she said.
“I know,” said Kim, looking away. “I'm just not sure --” she stopped. “Even if everything you said is true, I'm still don't think it's enough.”
Beth opened her mouth but stopped, then closed it wordlessly. Behind Kim, she could see the Café Carlitos employees heading for the door to finally let in the silent masses. Beth opened her notebook and started to write, turning her attention to her research. She'd tried her best with Kim, but some things couldn't be solved by others, they had to be worked out by the people involved.
Her only concern was the sheer power the players possessed. If something went wrong, more than feelings would be bruised.
Thanks to Beth and her meddling, the day seemed to pass dreadfully fast for Kim. While the thought of milestones in hers and Shego's relationship had crossed Kim's mind once or twice, she didn't think twice about it until today, when it seemed to pop up between almost every other thought. They were going to Miles' club tonight, which normally meant a great time that Kim would happily anticipate, but now she was nervous and afraid.
Sighing, she tried to pour her attention back into the economics books in front of her. The subject had constantly eluded her, and was currently looking to be the only blemish on her grades this semester. She understood the basics, enough to relate it to what affects her own shopping, but macroeconomics proved to be a struggle.
“Heya pumpkin,” a raspy voice floated across the largely empty lounge in the Leary Building. Kim looked up.
“Hey Sheeg--woah!” Kim's blinked and left her jaw somewhat slack. Shego was walking slowly -- no, sultrily -- towards her in a sheer black dress with a single shard of vibrant green that ran from a point just above her slender hip, across her legs, and down to the floor. Her hair had been tied up above and behind her head with a few strands of black hair falling like a fountain behind her.
Kim realized her mouth was open and closed it, slowly biting her lip, keeping her eyes locked on the vision before her. Shego seemed to blush as she got closer, but Kim convinced herself that it was an illusion. Shego wasn't coy… right?
Kim eventually found her voice when Shego was beside her. “You look… great,” she said, then felt ridiculous. Kim was sure she knew that already.
“Thanks,” Shego said, smiling softly. “Are you ready to go?”
“Uh, yea--” Kim started then stopped as her brain finally finished mentally fondling Shego and kicked into over drive. Oh my god, her mind yelled. She remembered the anniversary, and she dressed up for it and -- crap! I look like a bum compared to her. I can't go out with her like this, she's going to think it doesn’t matter to me when I was the one who thought it didn't matter to her and I can't let her think--
“Kimmie,” Shego said playfully, interrupting Kim's internal monologue. “You stopped talking.”
STALL!
“I'm not ready yet,” Kim blurted, then tried to figure out what to follow that up with. “I was running late from class and I didn't have enough time to change so I though I'd wait and tell you so you didn't think I'd forgotten.” There, that sounded natural. “If you don't mind waiting…”
“All right,” said Shego. “Let's head to your apartment then.”
Kim pushed all her books into a pile, picked the whole mess up and dumped it into her backpack. She felt like a idiot as some pages of her notebook got torn and a few books became wedged as she pushed the pile of material far enough into the bag to get the flap closed.
Tossing the pack onto her back (and hearing a variety of suspicious crunching noises) she started heading for the door. Shego walked closely beside her and Kim tried to fight the impulse to stare at her. She failed utterly.
Why has everyone caught me off-guard today?Kim thought to herself. I'm not usually this defensive.
“Be careful of the door, Kimmie,” said Shego as Kim looked up to catch herself moments from walking into the glass. Shego just smiled as she moved in front and pushed open the door, holding it a moment for Kim to follow.
Kim moved through absent mindedly because her mind had registered two things: First, Shego's dress was cut low in the back. Very low. It showed her bare skin all the way down to just below the small of her back in a bold 'V' shape. The sheer material continued just a bit farther, leaving just enough to the imagination to make parts of Kim's body shiver that she didn't frequently expose to cold.
The second thing that Kim noticed was slightly less alluring. There was a very faint lattice of scars to the right side of Shego's back that ran under the flimsy material. They were slight, and looked to have been received a little while ago, but were irregularly spaced as if they were carved with claws. Shego was an … active person, as Kim knew, and scars were the result of that lifestyle, but the part that bothered her was that although they looked to be weeks old, Kim had never noticed them before.
“Shego,” Kim said, immediately sobering from the intoxicating appearance of Shego's dress. “What happened to your back?”
Shego spun immediately to hide the scars in question from Kim's sight. A shadow crossed her face that she quickly corrected, but the red-headed girl had not missed it. “Oh, it's nothing, just a little accident,” she said smoothly.
Kim frowned. “You accidentally cut up your back?” she asked, incredulously. “They don't look recent, too, but I've never seen them before.”
“I heal fast,” said Shego, grimacing slightly. “Really fast. It's something to do with the… meteor.”
Kim pondered that for a moment as they continued walking. They had to cross campus from the academic center to get to the apartments that she and Beth lived in. The walk usually took about ten minutes. Kim slowed slightly, however, to give herself more time to think.
Shego walked silently until Kim spoke again. “So you're saying that the scars look old, but you really got them recently.”
“Just drop it,” Shego warned, her voice getting louder and sharper. “I don't want to talk about it.”
“Sheeg,” continued Kim. “I'm not going to hear about you in the news tomorrow, am I?”
“Do you not understand the meaning of the phrase, 'drop it?'” Shego snapped. “I swear, Princess, sometimes you try to get me--”
“I'm sorry!” interrupted Kim, in a panic. “I'll … I’m done, now. I didn't mean to pry.” She sighed. “I just want to have a nice night, together. Honest.”
Shego nodded and continued walking ahead, no longer trying to hide her back from the former crime fighter.
They didn’t end up going to Miles' club. It was a nice place, not far from campus, and was frequently their meeting place, but it was far from the sort of dress that Shego had arrived in. Instead, they went to a private club called 'The Spyre' that Shego had already made reservations at. Kim tried to figure out what kind of club it was as they were entering, but the only conclusion she reached was: strange.
The envelope that Shego discreetly slipped the doorman to get in was only suspicious. But the concierge who greeted her by name on sight was outright bizarre. Kim knew Shego bent over backwards to keep herself from being known in the area and yet the man recognized her immediately. Kim tried to find an opportunity to ask her about it but they were ushered too quickly off to a very nice leather adorned booth before she got a word in.
The first menu that came was only for drinks, and was dominated by variations of the martini. Kim had grown fond of the drink in recent months, as she found Shego drank little else, and was somewhat amused by the variety. She picked a fruity variant and Shego ordered a sour apple -- the green drink, naturally.
To Kim's relief, the more she reacted in a surprised manner at the things around her, the more she saw Shego's expression soften from the frown she wore after their brief argument on campus. By the time the menu that was composed entirely of appetizers arrived, she was back to the lazy but happy smile she had when she first appeared in the Leary Building's lounge.
“So pumpkin,” Shego said, after they had ordered a calamari and a bruschetta appetizer. “What do you think this place is?”
Kim blinked and looked around again. The place was relatively fully, but not bustling. Everyone was dressed to the nines, as well, just like Shego and now Kim herself. Conversation was soft, barely above a murmur, and the live string quartet was playing variations on Handel.
“It's very classy,” Kim said, trying to figure out what Shego meant. “It seems very expensive, as well. I'm surprised that they know who you are. I thought you never got into habits so that people couldn't track you down.”
“Coming to see you every week is a habit as well,” Shego pointed out. “One I am…” she hesitated, and Kim saw uncertainty in her face for a moment. It quickly vanished. “One I am unwilling to break. But I can trust you to not to make things harder for me.”
“Of course you can,” Kim said, adamantly.
“Well, I can trust these guys as well,” said Shego, simply.
“How?”
“Take a closer look around, Kimmie.
Kim looked again, this time trying to study the place, find every detail, and evoke every instinct she had to figure out what Shego was driving at. It was very nice and not the sort of place that Kim would normally find herself, but beyond that, it could have been any restaurant. Nothing about the decorations or the dishes seemed to mean anything to Kim, and certainly they didn't make any sense as to why Shego could trust that her appearances wouldn't go reported.
She was about to give up and ask Shego was the deal was when she felt it, the tingling on her back and neck. It wasn't definitive, but Kim knew what it meant. She calmed herself and faced Shego, but turned her eyes to glance around the restaurant. At first she saw the same view as before but then she caught it: a glance her way at one table across the room. It was brief, but definitely deliberate. The man there intentionally looked directly at Kim then moved on. He was keeping tabs on her.
Kim kept looking and noticed it again, from a different table now. There was a couple there, a man and a woman, and the woman was talking casually but every now and then she would shake her head for some reason and her eyes would scan the whole restaurant at once, lingering on a couple other people including Kim. Then she went back to talking, like it was nothing.
The more that Kim paid attention, the more she realized that everyone in the restaurant was acting the same way. They were all watching each other. As if they were all slightly nervous to be in the same room together.
Kim blinked then looked at Shego. “Everyone here is like you,” she said finally. Shego said nothing in return but continued smiling.
Kim frowned. “You can't be serious,” she said. “You brought me to a club for criminals.” She felt irritated. “Why would you do that? You know what I am.”
Shego raised an eyebrow. “What you are?” She leaned forward. “From what I can tell, you're an ex-crime fighter.”
“Ex?” said Kim, confused.
“Of course, ex,” replied Shego. “You retired, or are on an incredibly long hiatus, either way, I don't see you chasing after criminals too often anymore.” She thought about that for a moment. “Well, except me.”
“If I'm an ex, then so are you.” Kim pointed at her date. “Unless those scars represent a relapse.”
Shego grumbled and grit her teeth then stopped and closed her eyes, breathing slowly. “I promise you, pumpkin,” she said. “We will talk about the scars tonight. But not right now, okay?”
Kim blinked, surprised. “Um… okay.”
Shego opened her eyes again and looked coolly at Kim. “But what you said is right. If you're an ex, so am I. I don't disagree.” She looked out over the crowd. “So are all these people.”
“What?” Kim boggled.
“Everyone here is an ex-criminal, Kim,” explained Shego. “Either their warrants have expired, or they've served time, or they were never caught but decided to retire. In any case, nobody here plans on committing a serious crime ever again. Now, many of them can't rid themselves of the nervous glances, but it's just because many people here used to be at each others throats, years back.”
“A club,” started Kim. “For ex-criminals.” She paused on that, then blinked. “In the same city as my college.”
“There are actually a bunch of them,” added Shego. “In a lot of cities. Jack Hench operates most of them, but a few are independently owned.”
“Jack Hench, the super villain supplier?”
“The same. His work is fairly legit. His customers aren't, and he makes little effort to distinguish, but still, everything he does is within the confines of the bendable law. He even declares bribes on his tax forms.”
“He bribes people?” asked Kim.
“No, he gets bribes, for discounts and for not selling to one villain or another.” Shego sipped her martini. “Technically it's an incentive, the government doesn’t recognize bribes as official income, but he does get his ducks in a row. “
Kim reeled at the information she was getting. “Why are you telling me all this?”
Shego put her drink down. “Because I want you to understand what's going on before you pass judgment.”
Kim looked suspiciously at Shego. “Pass judgment on what?”
“Jack Hench offered me a job.”
Kim boggled. “A job?”
“Yes,” nodded Shego. “I'd be around here, mostly, and Jack says he'll protect me so I don't need to hide anymore.”
Kim frowned, but Shego continued. “It's all legal, too. Headhunter-type work.”
“I'm assuming that's not a euphemism for assassination,” grumbled Kim.
“It's not,” assured Shego. “I'd just be using my contacts and reputation in the villain community to find people willing to work with Hench to conduct sales and development. His legal department says that as long as I represent myself properly, I can be protected under confidentiality and not be liable for any villain's crimes.”
“But you'd be helping villains get supplied with the gear they need to commit crimes,” Kim said. “You'd be making it easier for them to defeat people like me.”
“Like GJ,” said Shego, quickly. “You're ex, now, remember.”
“But I still care, Shego!” exclaimed Kim. “Those are people I know, people I want to be safe. Wade! He works for GJ. He could get hurt.” Kim shook her head. “You're not committing any crimes but you're doing everything but!”
Shego frowned and glanced around. “Keep it down, Princess.”
“Is that why we're here?” Kim said, realizing. “To celebrate you getting a job?”
“It's not just that--” started Shego.
“God,” said Kim, exasperated. “And I thought something had changed in you.”
“Changed?” Shego blinked. “What the hell was wrong with me that I have to change?”
Kim looked away and said nothing.
“Dammit, Princess,” growled Shego. “Where do you get off? You still think you're better than me!”
“I don't!” insisted Kim. She turned back to the dark haired woman. “But what are we supposed to do? You still think like a criminal and I still think like a hero. How are we supposed to move forward?”
“Since when has this been a problem?” yelled Shego. “I don't remember this being a big deal with you six months ago!”
“Well, it was!”
“I can't believe this,” said Shego, standing. “All this time…” she clenched her fists, sending soft plumes of ozone into the air. “All this time and it's still a fling to you!”
“And what was it to you?” Kim was standing now too. “You tried to back out of this at the start. And even after six months I still only see you once a week! How were things suppose to change while you're wanted by GJ, Interpol, and twenty countries around the world?”
Shego slammed her fist on the table, which rocked slightly and became scorched her fist hit the surface. “Like this!” she yelled. “What did you think this all was?” Shego gestured around the restaurant. “Some attempt to gloat that I figured out a new way to be a criminal?”
“Yes, that's what it looked like.” Kim folded her arms.
Shego lowered her head and simmered. “You're a real piece of work,” she spat. “I make all these sacrifices… I even try… only because you …” She balled her fists which immediately glowed bright green. Her eyes rose to meet Kim's. “Damn you.”
Kim stepped back half a step at the anger she felt directed towards her. Her skin was tingling, half from the energy Shego was suddenly emitting and half because she knew. This argument had just gotten out of hand.
“Shego--” Kim started, but didn't have the chance to finish.
“DAMN YOU KIM POSSIBLE!” Shego lunged.
Beth walked into the apartment she shared with Kim from her second job and was ready to collapse on her bed. Four hours of classes and ten hours of work was far from the worst day on her schedule, but on Thursday nights, it felt that way. Probably because of the proximity to the weekend, which Beth never allowed to be full of anything but fun and, occasionally, sex. It also could be because of that boring biochemistry she had this semester. It should be illegal for people to teach subjects they themselves dislike.
Sighing, Beth turned on the lights and moved to drop her purse on the counter when she saw the lump of blackened, still somewhat smoking flesh, hair and cloth sitting in the corner of the lounge. She dropped her bag on the floor and immediately rushed to the form.
“Kim!” Beth cried, dropping to her knees and putting her hands on her roommate's shoulders. The red (and black) haired girl looked up slowly, showing more bruises on her face and her cheeks streaked with tears.
“Beth…?” Kim murmured.
“Kim, what happened to you?” Beth ran her hands over Kim's head, looking for bumps or blood. Thankfully, she found little more than a few patches of melted hair. Beth's expression darkened anyway. “Did Shego do this to you?”
Kim widened her eyes then quickly looked away. “She didn't… it's…” she started, struggling with the words and appearing to flinch every time she breathed in.
“Yes, she did,” Kim said finally. “But it wasn't…”
“Has she ever done this before?” asked Beth, urgently.
Kim blinked. “Of course,” she said. “We used to hate each other.”
“That's not what I mean,” Beth shook her head. “Since you started going out together.”
“No, it's not what you think,” Kim hung her head. “I angered her. She angered me. We fought… except…”
Kim stared at the ground. “It was worse for some reason. I've never gotten that angry before.” She paused. “Well, once before. It was years back, and I nearly killed Shego that night. Oh god…”
Kim buried her head in her hands. “This is what I am. This is how I solve my problems. A little luck, a little ingenuity, and a lot of my fists.” She sobbed. “I thought Shego was the violent one.”
“Kim,” Beth stroked Kim's hair. “Honey, you're not that way. I've never seen you throw one punch in the years we've been friends. You're just trying to explain your whole life based on whatever happened tonight.” Beth stood and moved to the sink, grabbing a washcloth. Wringing out the excess water, she held it out to Kim.
“You look terrible,” said Beth. “Why don't you clean yourself up?”
“What's the point, I'm dirty,” grumbled Kim.
“You're depressed and you're using a child's logic,” Beth shook her head. “Take this, wash up, take a shower, and then we'll sit and you can explain everything to me.”
Kim grumbled a few more times before acquiescing and heading for the bath. Before she reached the door, however, Beth spoke. “How does Shego look right now?”
Kim lowered her eyes. “Worse.” She disappeared into the bathroom.
Beth sighed and put her hand on her head. “For some reason, I don't doubt that for a second.”
The Naked Skull was a dive on the east side of the city that only the lowest of the low ever really entered. It was a bar, but they couldn't afford top shelf liquor. Actually, they couldn't afford much more than a tap of Bud and carton of cheap tequila bottles, but their clientele didn't usually mind. Nor did they complain about the jukebox, which contained only six working 45s, all of which from the mid 60s. There were only two reasons a person ever came to the Naked Skull: to get drunk and to hide from life (which typically involved getting drunk).
Of note to Shego, however, was that they were the only open drinking establishment that let a woman who appeared to have been recently mauled by a wolverine come in and get a shot of tequila.
“Another,” Shego grumbled, then winced as she felt the cut in her mouth sting. “Make it a double, I'm still feeling pain.” She shoved the empty shot glass down the bar in the general direction of the barkeep. Which essentially meant she pushed it off the bar entirely.
“Are you sure you shouldn't be going to a hospital?” asked the bartender, a very large bald man with a giant mustache and a pair of leather paths and a vest. No shirt was apparently needed to hide the potbelly before him. “You look… bad.”
“Who're you?” snapped Shego. “Doctor fucking Possible?”
The bartender blinked. “I don't know what that means.”
“It means fill up my shot, I'm empty!” Shego pounded the bar for emphasis, causing a crackle of green energy to run up her arm. The barkeep didn't need any more encouragement.
As Shego was forcing down her second shot when the last voice she really wanted to hear came from the door.
“Well, it seems we have a bit to talk about.”
Shego didn't even turn. She could imagine how out of place the man behind her was looking in a place like the Naked Skull. “Get out of here, I'll deal with you later. I'm not in the mood.”
“That's a shame,” said the man smoothly as he walked evenly up to the bar and sat beside the disheveled woman. He was wearing a slick gray suit with perfectly quaffed black hair streaked with gray, and shiny, expensive, Italian leather shoes. He had a face like a snake, and, in Shego's opinion, a personality to match. She'd tolerated him up until now, but today was not a day of charity for her.
“Jack…” she started.
“The way things look to me,” he said, motion to the barkeep. “You don't have a lot of choice.” Jack looked at the overweight man. “I'll have a bourbon.” Looking at the suited man once, the bartender turned away and started watching the single thirteen inch television in the corner.
“Hrm.”
“You're threatening me?” asked Shego, looking at Jack through the corner of her eye. “I could twist you like a goddamn twig, Hench.”
“I'm not threatening you,” assured Jack. “But I understand you made quite a mess of one of my restaurants.”
Shego grumbled.
“I did, however, offer you quite an opportunity earlier to which you told me, 'I'll have to consult someone' about it.” The snake straightened his jacket. “Can I assume that the 'someone' did not appreciate my gesture?”
The black haired beauty stared into her empty glass. “You're a jerk.”
“Are you sure you're not just displacing your frustration--”
“No, you're a jerk,” nodded Shego. “Whatever I may be feeling about my 'someone,' you're still a jerk.”
“Are you turning down my offer then?” asked Jack, with that same smug expression he gave everyone. “If that's the case, we need to talk about the cost of repairs to my establishment.”
Shego blinked in response, then started laughing. “Y-you're going to bill me?” she said between gasps. “A thief. For damages? Ahahaha!”
Unnervingly, Jack just motioned behind him as one of his well suited bodyguards walked forward and placed a manila envelope into his hands. While the thief was getting the giggles out of her system, he laid the sizable, sealed, envelope on the bar. “Do you know what this is?”
“A list of charges?” said Shego, smiling.
“No,” Jack folded his hands. “Before I get into a business relationship with anybody, I always perform an extensive background and personality check to make sure the person I'm dealing with can be trusted.” He nodded towards the envelope. “Not personally, mind you, I've got more than enough things to be worried about, but I do have some of the best intelligence gathering people in the world working for me and they kindly separate everything into two reports.”
He raised a finger. “One report, I get. It contains salient portions of the person's life as well as a summary of how far that person can be trusted or pushed.” A second finger. “The other report, of which there is only ever one physical copy, is sealed and filed and contains every little nitpick, scandal, illicit deal, and illegal download that person has ever done. I don't look at that report.” He tapped his fingers on the envelope. “This report, in your case.”
The reality of the situation started to dawn on Shego, and she frowned deeply. Jack just went on. “The reason for the second report is simple: leverage. If somebody wrongs me or disappoints me, I can refer to the file and bring out the most scandalous secrets to expose to the world.” He leaned on the bar. “Or their friends, family, whatever it takes to crush them within the bounds of the law. If I never have a problem with my business partner, I never open the envelope. Our business is concluded.”
Jack suddenly frowned then pulled slowly away from the bar, the sleeves of his coat coated in a thin film. “Oh man, my suit.”
“Blackmail is illegal,” Shego sneered, staring at the envelope. Jack picked up the corner of the yellow square gently and lifted it from the grime of the bar, letting the remnants of drinks and bar chips run off the papery surface. “And you'll never catch me in a net made by laws. I break more in an afternoon than most Middleton police see in a year.” Shego pushed her shot glass away and put her hand on her hip.
“I'm not blackmailing anyone,” said Jack, removing his coat and receiving a nearly identical one from his assistant. “My partners never know about the existence of the second envelope, it exists for my benefit only.” He wiped off the envelope. “The reason why I'm letting you know is because I have another offer for you, one that includes me giving you this.”
Shego raised an eyebrow. “Save it, Hench,” she spat. “Truth is, I'm not entirely certain the person I talked to was wrong. I'm trying to leave behind my criminal-related problems and your job just seems like putting a safety curtain between it and me. I'd still have problems, I'd just be pretending I didn't.”
“A fair assessment,” replied Jack. “And not entirely unexpected.” He smiled again. “See, I really like you Shego.” Jack blinked. “Platonically speaking, of course. I think you've got a marvelous mind, exceptional skills, and quite a reputation among my clients. You're a perfect fit for HenchCo, which is why I offered you that job. But, I can see now that I had misunderstood your motivations. I thought you liked being a villain.”
“I never said I disliked being a villain,” said Shego.
“But you want to get out of it,” clarified Jack.
“Not…it's not that I really want out,” the dark haired woman explained. “There are just things I want more right now.” She looked down. “Although, maybe that was all just a dream anyway.”
“Ah, boy trouble,” nodded Jack.
Shego sighed. “You really haven't read that file, have you?”
“I said I hadn't,” the suited man said. “As strange as it sounds, I've found honesty to be more reliable when dealing with villains that trickery.”
“I'm not a villain anymore,” said Shego.
“Are you sure?”
The woman looked up and tried to straighten the tattered remains of her dress and her uneven and messy hair. “Yes. I'm through with it.”
“Will you hear my new offer, then?” asked Jack. “It may be more up your alley.”
“Alright.”
Beth sat silently as she waited for Kim to speak. Kim, her roommate who has fought enemies both brilliant and Herculean, solved problems both planetary and interpersonal, was sitting at their kitchen table looking like a six year old girl who had stolen from the cookie jar.
After a few minutes, Kim spoke.
“I’m not even really sure whose fault it is,” she said with a shrug. “It seemed like such an innocuous idea, but there was trouble brewing right from the start.”
“You’re talking about your fight?” asked Beth.
“I’m talking about our relationship,” Kim said, surprisingly.
Beth was taken aback. “You think your entirely relationship was a bad idea?”
“No,” she said uneasily. “Not entirely. Just not… built to last. Not meant to be.”
“Nothing is meant to be,” Beth said quickly. “Nothing is not meant to be either, for that matter. If all the time I’ve spent studying how humans interact has taught me anything it’s that.” She looked to the side. “There are many things that result from a confluence of events, but that doesn’t make any one moment more destined than the next. An enticing look, a passionate kiss, mad lovemaking,” she smiled slightly. “It’s all magic. But the future of a couple happens afterwards, and it’s all how you decide to treat each other.”
“We can’t reconcile our point of views,” said Kim. “Shego will always love her life more than mine, and if she changes to match me, it’ll only be passion keeping us together and eventually she’ll come to resent it.” She sighed. “Splitting up now, stopping the changes… it’ll keep her from becoming something she hates.”
“At the cost of you doing something you hate,” finished Beth. Kim didn’t respond.
Beth folded her hands. “I know it’s not as easy as I’m trying to make it sound. But nothing worth having is ever going to be easy to get. Deciding whether it’s worth the effort, though, should be a simpler task.” Beth leaned forward. “You love her, don’t you?”
Kim frowned and looked slowly up at Beth. “I don’t really know what that means.”
Beth smiled sadly and put her arm around Kim. “It’s okay.” She rocked Kim back and forth. “I’m sorry, sweetheart, maybe this isn’t a good time to talk about this. You’re tired and apparently a little beaten. Maybe you’ll feel better in the morning. Let’s get you off to bed.”
Kim stood at Beth’s encouragement and headed for the bedroom. As they reached the door, Kim turned slightly. “I got angry at her first,” Kim said. “She was in a good mood and I ruined it because I didn’t like her life choices.” She closed her eyes. “How can that be love?”
“There are many different kinds of love, Kim,” said Beth as she guided Kim towards the redhead’s bed. “It’s not a problem with a defined solution to be calculated. You figure it out as you go along.” Beth tucked her roommate into bed. “Maybe you and Shego don’t have any love between you. Or maybe it’s a type of love you’ve never tried looking for before.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” asked Kim.
“I’m not really sure,” said Beth whimsically. She put a finger to her chin. “Just don’t be held back by what other people have told you love is all about. Everything people say can be boiled down to just friendship and trust. But then again, maybe you shouldn’t be listening to me either.”
Beth turned silently and slipped out of the room. Kim tried to think about what her roommate just said, but once her head was on the pillow, sleep quickly claimed her.
In what seemed like moments later, Kim opened her eyes to find herself standing in a great field of wheat beneath the golden sun. Blue skies stretched unrealistically far and the horizon was dotted by occasional barn or silo. The tall stalks of wheat seemed to glimmer in the sunlight and Kim had to shield her eyes from their radiant glow.
A rustling drew her attention as she saw something moving through the wheat towards her. The stalks were being brushed aside at a fairly quick pace, but whatever it was that was moving was too short to be seen over the tall grain. As Kim watched and listened, she could hear the quick patter of feet and occasional laughter of children.
Suddenly the moving sounds reached the small parting that Kim was standing in and broke through the wheat into view. The curious ex-cheerleader stared in amazement as the two small figures ran past her and back into the stalks on the other side. They were fast, the children, but Kim was fairly certain that they were 5-year old versions of herself and Ron.
“Hey,” Kim called after her own childish visage, but there was no response. Unsure of what else to do, she broke into a run and chased after the sounds of giggling in the distance.
Although the children were as tall as Kim’s legs, she couldn’t seem to catch up. The laughter kept getting farther away and her speed started to drop even though she hadn’t changed her pace at all. A few minutes later the giggling died completely away and she was standing in another clearing. Here the wheat appeared to have been flatted, like a giant circular object had rested there and crushed the once tall stalks.
“What the hell is going on?” mused Kim aloud.
“Hey!’ a young voice called from behind her. Kim spun, startled, and looked down to see a cross 6-year-old Kim Possible staring up at her with her arms at her hips. She moved one of her arms to wave a finger at her elder self. “No swearing,” warned the youngster. “It’s not proper.”
“Sorry,” apologized Kim. She kneeled to be even with the kid. “So, who are you?”
“I’m Kim Possible,” announced the girl, proudly. “I can do anything.”
Kim smiled. “I’m sure you can, little Kimmie.”
“Not Kimmie, K – I – M!” corrected the younger. “And I’m not little, I’m six years old.”
“Well, that certainly is not little, Kim.”
“That’s right,” she nodded, returning her wagging finger to her hip again. “So, what’s your name?”
“I’m Kim Possible too,” said the elder Kim. “Just like you.”
“No you’re not!” The little Kim was frowning again. “You can’t be like me.”
“Why not?”
“Because you can’t do anything, like I can,” the child nodded. “You fail at things, let the bad guys get away, and hurt your friends.”
Kim frowned. “Some things change as you get older,” she explained. “You can’t always be the winner, some things can’t be won.”
“Anything is possible for a Possible,” recited the younger.
“Look, I know Daddy tells you that—“ Kim started.
“Hey, Kim!” a whiney voice came from the perimeter of the clearing. Both Possibles turned to see a 6-year-old Ron peeking his head through the tall stalks of wheat. “There’s a big dog in the playground! Nobody can get to the sandbox or the -- ugh –- monkey bars!”
“Okay!” yelled the younger Kim. She sighed. “A hero’s work is never done.”
“I remember that,” mused the older Kim with a smile. “Ron gets bit by the dog, but it does get scared off by his ALF underwear.”
“That Ron causes as much trouble as he helps solve,” the younger Kim said.
“Yeah,” nodded the elder. “But he’s always there when you need him.”
“I know,” smiled 6-year-old Kim as she started running to where Ron was. “That’s why I love him.”
“Wait, what?” called Kim, but the two figures had disappeared into the wheat. She called again but everything had gone silent.
“Weird,” Kim said.
“I’ll say.”
Kim froze, then slowly turned around again, coming face to face with… another Kim Possible. This one was older than the last, probably about twelve or thirteen years old, wearing a green sweater over a white shirt, slacks, and wearing a pair of glasses that looked slightly too big for her. Light glinted slightly off her braces as she spoke.
“Surprised to see me?” said the younger, but not as young as the last, Kim. “I figure this is some sort of inner conflict resolution your mind is playing out as a result of the confluence of multiple social and emotional challenges you’ve faced in your conscious life. So you really shouldn’t be so shocked.”
Kim blinked. “Um, okay,” she started. “I’m guessing you’re about twelve.”
“Twelve years, five months, thirteen days, twenty hours, nineteen thirty one minutes old,” the younger Kim rattled off. “About twelve and a half, if you must be so imprecise.”
“Yeah,” grimaced Kim. “That was about when I realized the twins were geniuses.’
“You didn’t just realize,” reminded the bespeckled Kim. “Their incalculably high IQ scores were announced in the newspaper, eclipsing, momentarily, the oil tanker I saved from crashing into the Jersey coast.”
“It was just a test,” justified Kim.
“Just a test?” younger Kim repeated. “They scored more than twice as high as I did. Hell, Father and Mother both scored higher than I did!”
“You shouldn’t swear,” Kim said, before she could catch herself. “And Daddy’s IQ actually grew steadily over his life, as strange as that is. Either way, it wasn’t that big a deal.”
“It was a huge deal!” yelled younger Kim. “Do you even remember me? Do you even remember what it felt like to watch your life peak at age twelve? What the hell am I supposed to do next?”
“A lot!” replied Kim. “This isn’t the peak, your life gets much better, and lots more people are helped by what you do. Maybe the tweebs got recognized back then, but I got lots of other recognitions afterwards. After the Bueno Nacho thing I got commended by the president, got accepted into my preferred university, even had fun dating Ron. You get to be happier!”
“Oh really?” asked younger Kim, incredulously. “So why are you so sad right now?”
Kim hesitated and glanced away. “What?” she said, looking back.
But the twelve-year-old was gone and had been replaced by a much older, seventeen-year-old Kim. She was wearing the old ‘uniform’ from Kim’s crime fighting days: black turtleneck with the bare midriff, cargo pants and back boots.
“Wow, weird,” said Kim. “It’s like looking in a mirror.”
“Thanks,” the eighteen-year-old Kim said. “It’s nice to know I age well.”
“So what do you have to do with all of this?”
“Beats me,” shrugged the teenaged Kim. “I stopped trying to figure out all this metaphysical stuff when I was thirteen.”
“Right,” nodded Kim. “Life got easier then too.”
“Well, like you said before, the tweebs being smart wasn’t really the end of my world, and the villains started showing then too, which turned out to be much more fun than stopping floods and mudslides.” Teenaged Kim looked uneasy for a moment. “A little more dangerous though.”
“Yeah, I know,” nodded Kim. “That’s why I ended up getting out of it.”
“What?” asked teenaged Kim. “You got ‘out’ of it? Out of crime fighting?”
“Um… yeah?”
“How could you possibly get out of crime fighting? Even if you wanted to, how could you ignore people’s pleas for help?” The teenaged crime fighter’s eyes went wide. “You didn’t turn… evil, did you?”
“What? No!” yelled Kim, a little confused. “Wait, how come you don’t know? You’re practically me, aren’t you?”
“I’m not sure,” frowned teenaged Kim. “You certainly aren’t sounding like me.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said Kim with a wave of her hand. “I don’t turn evil. I’m not really sure what that even means, actually. Evil is just when someone’s motivations don’t agree with your own.”
“No,” teenaged Kim shook her head. “There are some things… some people, that are definitely evil. Like Shego, she’s definitely evil, especially after what she did to me… to us during the Bueno Nacho thing.”
“Shego isn’t all that evil.” Kim shrugged. “Well, she’s rude and abrasive, but I’m sure she had her reasons for doing what she does. She did turn out to be a very passionate lover.”
“Lover!” Teenaged Kim made a sickly face. “Oh, god, I need a bucket.” The younger of the two Possibles staggered around for a moment before recovering. “Please tell me you found that out from Drakken or Junior or someone.”
“No, I found out—“ Kim started, then hesitated. “Now, really, I’m very confused here. I’ve seeming been going on a tour of my own life, but all of you are crazy! I’m not like any of you, and I don’t think I ever was!”
“Of course you were,” a voice came from behind Kim. She turned to see the twelve-(and-a-half)-year-old Kim beside her. “You were all of these Kims, and hundreds more.”
“When?” cried Kim, looking between the twelve and seventeen year old versions of herself.
“Throughout your entire life,” the voice of the six-year-old Kim said. She stepped out from behind the seventeen-year-old to stand with the others as a triangle around the elder Kim.
“Who you are, is not a moment in time,” explained teenaged Kim. “It’s a progression. With a direction. Possibly one heading towards a destination, or perhaps one just heading off towards the horizon.”
‘But what’s important is that it’s changing,” continued the bespeckled Kim. “Always changing. Just like everyone around you is changing. Just like the stars are changing, and the universe.”
“So what?” asked elder Kim. “Why all this drama, just to tell me I’m not the same girl I used to be?”
“To remind you of it,” said teenaged Kim. “And you help you recognize that all things change, including love.”
“Love?”
“What love is,” said six-year-old Kim.
“And who you love,” continued teenaged Kim.
“And how you love,” continued bespeckled Kim. “Changes and evolves as you grow older by even a day.”
“So maybe you shouldn’t be comparing your love with Shego, with other loves you’ve heard of or experienced in the past,” finished teenaged Kim. “Despite how much my future self sleeping with Shego, of all people, makes me ill, that is.”
The elder Kim frowned and thought. Then thought some more. “You know, I’ve never had a dream like this before,” she said, finally.
“Things are changing more rapidly for you now,” said bespeckled Kim.
“But you need to get a grip on this if you ever hope to help her,” said six-year-old Kim.
“Her?” asked Kim as she turned to see where the youngest Kim was looking.
Just at the edge of the clearing was a small, worn house with a small porch and a large tree in the back yard. The house looked strangely out of place, as it were an urban dwelling transplanted into the large and long fields. Sitting on the porch was a little girl with long black hair and wearing a long green sundress.
Kim, strangely mesmerized by the sight, started walking towards the porch. The girl seemed not to see her approach until she had sat right down next to her. The dark haired girl looked up at the taller and older Kim for a second, before making a sad face and turning away. Her eyes were vibrant green, and though her features were soft where they would once be sharp, Kim recognized her immediately.
“I hate this place,” the girl said in a voice reminiscent of a green thief Kim knew too well. “This isn't my place.”
“Why is that, Shego?” said Kim softly.
The girl looked back for a second, then turned away again. “My name is not Shego.”
“It’s not?” asked Kim, confused. “What is it, then?”
“Its---”
Kim sat up abruptly without a clear reason as to why. It was still quite late, 3:15am by her clock, and she thought she should have felt groggy but she didn't. She had just had the most surreal dream but the details had already begun to fade, slipping through her newly awake neurons like water through a sieve leaving only their impressions behind.
Beth had gone to sleep at some point after Kim, as the second bed in the room was occupied and slowly moving with her roommates steady breathing. The moonlight gently pouring from the window between their beds made every surface and floating dust particle glow a brilliant blue-white. It was what had often been called the dead of night, and it was almost zen-like in it's tranquility.
A shadow briefly danced across the moonlight shining on the floor and Kim threw off her covers and jumped to her feet. Running to the window she pressed herself against the glass, feeling the cool surface against her palms, as she scanned the view from the sixth story window.
At first she saw nothing but the sparse cars roaming the early morning streets and a few cats stalking the rooftops. She strained her eyes to see into the shadows to no avail. If there was movement in the dark corners behind the light, it was masked too readily by the inky shadows.
Then a black shape emerged from the shadow of the building across the street. A thin, lithe form quickly pulling itself up with it's arms onto the rooftop. When the figure had gotten its footing, it stood proudly on the roof, silhouetted from Kim's point of view by the giant low hanging moon. The edges of the shadow were lit by the light from the cloudless sky and Kim could easily make out the curve of a face beneath jet black hair.
The figure turned, startled, and stared directly at Kim who looked back with wonder. Did she know I was thinking about her? thought Kim. She slid her hands down and pulled open the window to lean out. Across the street, the figure stepped back slightly, it's arms apart and ready to run if necessary. Kim pressed her palms against the sill and leaned out as far as she could, straining to be closer, ever closer, to the dark form staring back.
And then, the figure leaped from the roof on the opposite side from where Kim was viewing and seemingly vanished from sight. Kim thought about everything that had happened that night for only a second before bounding across the room to her dresser. In the top drawer she found a hairdryer that she'd not used in years. Gripping the cordless blower in one hand, she turned and ran back towards the window. She only could get four steps in before running out of room, but that was all she needed to launch herself out into the blue and black night.
As she fell she pointed her trusty hair dryer at the sky and pulled the trigger. The seemingly innocuous dryer then shot a large grappling hook and caught the edge of the building. Using her momentum, Kim swung quickly along the pivot and launched herself onto the rooftops where she saw the figure. The shadow had left, but movement one roof over caught Kim's attention. Reclaiming her grapple, Kim ran after her.
The shadow seemed to be agile, as every time Kim got closer to her during their chase, the shadow would just turn and smirk before leaping further away. Across the rooftops, they chased, leaping between buildings further and further apart. Despite her experience, Kim found herself slipping more often than not and cursed herself for not keeping up with the cheerleader practice.
Meanwhile, the shadow kept moving through the city, stopping every couple houses for her to catch up. Kim smiled as she ran, leaping from building to awning to fire escape and launching herself off of roofs only to catch herself at the last minute with her grapple. When the chase stretched into an hour, Kim's muscles began to ache but she ignored it. Her blood was pumping like it hadn't done in years, and her body felt light, and free. As if someone had reduced her weight to a feather.
All too suddenly, however, she had to stop.
Kim breathed deeply, panting almost, but never keeping her glittering eyes off her prey, which now perched, looming at opposite edge of the rooftop from where she was standing. The shadow peered off into the night at the darkness and scattered streetlights running off into the mountains north. Kim, still barefoot and barely clothed from her quick exit, padded silently forward until she stood beside the long haired runner.
Together, the two figures looked out. They had run out of city. The rooftops had ended and the only things that lay ahead were the suburbs and then long empty roads leading into dark purple mountains. Kim finally caught her breath and could stop panting.
“It's dark,” she said, resting her hands on her hips. “Anything could be out there.”
The figure, shown clearly in the moonlight in a black and green catsuit and long, but uneven and still rather messy hair, looked down off the roof. “The unknown,” said Shego.
A breeze blew past that billowed Kim's flimsy nightshirt and chilled her bare legs. She shivered slightly and rubbed her arms. Shego looked at her. “You're freezing. You should have gotten at least a coat.”
“I'm fine,” said Kim. “Besides, you didn't look like you were going to wait.”
Shego smiled slightly. “You wouldn't have wanted me to wait. It would have ruined the chase.”
Kim shook her head, and stepped closer to Shego. Instinctively, the green and black woman wrapped her arm around the younger one, pressing their bodies closer together. Kim felt the warmth coming off Shego's body and leaned her head on her shoulder.
Looking out over the darkness, they slowly began to sway back and forth, rocking each other in the pale moonlight. Kim looked at Shego's beautifully long hair and frowned sadly. During their fight earlier, she had pulled a few chunks of her hair, and now it was uneven and tangled. They were angry at each other back then, but now Kim felt guilty. She loved Shego's hair. Even if she hated the rogue with all her being she never should have touched it.
Shego was having similar thoughts as she saw the few signs of charred and melted hair on Kim's head from where her energy had singed her. They had really done a number on each other, and it could easily had been much worse. What if Shego had hit Kim square on with an energy bolt? What if one of them had had a lucky, or unlucky, shot and ended up dead? They weren't thinking before, so filled with anger, they could have done anything, even the previously unthinkable.
Shego shivered at the thought and Kim picked her head up to look at her. In the instant both their sets of green eyes locked on each other, they knew what the other had gone through.
“We're dangerous,” said Kim, without moving her eyes.
“We're women with a lot of power and with very little reason,” said Shego. Her eyes softened. “You were afraid I loved being bad more than being with you.”
“You were trying to find a way for us to have more time together,” said Kim, smiling slightly. “And you were afraid I was trying to keep you at a distance.”
Kim leaned into Shego and pulled her into a tight embrace. “I really do want to move forward with you. I let myself become so nervous of what might someday happen, I hadn't been enjoying what's been happening now.”
Shego held Kim softly. “You had a right to be nervous. I was too. I've been spending too much time trying to convince myself that I wasn't being manipulated by you. That I'm still the same person I've always been.”
Kim's eyes widened at the familiarity of what Shego was saying. She couldn't quite figure out why. “You're not, though,” she replied. “You're not the same person. You're different. I'm different.” Kim looked up at Shego and put her hand to her lover's face. “We never could have been together four years ago. We had to become what we are now, before we could see the parts in each other we liked.”
Shego nodded slowly. “I know that now,” she said. “But it took our fight to make me realize it.” She moved closer to Kim's and rested their foreheads together. “This is my place, now. The villain thing doesn't fit anymore.”
Kim smiled fully and wrapped her arms behind Shego's neck, pulling her mouth close. “Even if I can only see you once a week,” she said. “Every moment is heaven.”
Their lips met, and it was, as Kim said, heaven.
Kim played nervously with her suddenly short hair. Beth and Shego had done everything they could to repair the damage from the little… skirmish she had with her lover, but in the end, there only one thing to be done. The stylist offered the remains of Kim's long, shiny hair back to her as a memento, but the redhead declined and donated it to Locks of Love instead.
Now Kim sported a look not too dissimilar to her mother's, back in the day. Her hair had been cut to just above the shoulder, with her bangs trimmed and shortened to rest on her forehead. It was different, and Kim didn't like it yet, but she figured that she'd either grow into it, or it would grow back.
Eventually.
Looking over at Shego, Kim smiled slightly. The ex-thief had had to cut her hair too, not quite as short, but still losing a foot or two of length. Now her hair rested just past her shoulder blades and had been trimmed back all around to hide the torn tufts of hair from their fight. Neither girl was particularly pleased by the situation but suffering it together made it bearable.
“Nervous?” asked Shego, noticing Kim staring at her.
“A little, actually,” said Kim. “I've been here many times before, but this'll be the first time since… the incident that I've seen both of them.”
“You don't check in anymore?” asked Shego. “To make sure they're not doing anything wrong again?”
“No,” Kim shook her head. “They don't use my name anymore and I have all the PossiBots at my parents house. It doesn't involve me anymore.” Kim sighed. “I don't want it to involve me anymore.”
“Fair enough,” conceded Shego.
The doors at the far end of the short conference room opened, briefly exposing the dull gray hallways of Global Justice Headquarters. Four armed agents, two on each side, stood at the doorway and looked briefly around the room before two people walked between them.
The first person was an athletic woman with short brown hair and wearing a black eye-patch over one eye. She had an air of authority around her that was reflected in the way the agents stood proudly at attention as she passed. Her face was stoic, but slightly angry as she strode forth and sat on the conference table opposite Kim and Shego.
The second person was slightly shorter than the first, and definitely years younger. A little overweight, with curly black hair and dark skin, the boy was sharply dressed and carrying a relatively small laptop which he placed on the table before him. He took a seat besides the eye patched woman and looked none-too-pleased at Kim and Shego.
An eerie silence settled over the room as Shego pulled out a stack of papers and began distributing them to the attendants. After the last one was passed out, Shego sat back down.
“I guess I should introduce everyone in case we don't know,” said Kim, trying to fulfill her role as mediator. “Shego, this is Dr. Director, head of Global Justice, and Wade Lode, her deputy chief of robotic development at GJ.” Kim looked across the table. “Betty, Wade, this is Shego, here representing the HenchCo Corporation and the interests of Jack Hench himself.”
“We are all familiar, Ms. Possible,” said Dr. Director. “What I'm not familiar with is what form of mind control are you on to think this meeting will result in anything other than Ms. Shego's arrest.”
“Because,” chimed Shego, “of what I'm here to offer you.” She motioned to the packet of papers. “Before you is Jack's proposal to Global Justice. The short of it is, that Jack is concerned about his business.”
“Which is vile,” said Wade.
“That may be,” replied Shego, casually. “But it is having an effect on the balance of power between his clients, which in this case is referring to his criminal clients, and the enforcement agencies of the world, in this case, meaning you.”
Dr. Director frowned but nodded.
Shego continued. “The concern of Jack is that while his clients are ultimately very big money makers for him, he does not actually wish them to succeed in their plans or his business could be threatened. Either directly, such as being shut down by a new world emperor, or indirectly by being so powerful that his own clients won't spend the money to get new technologies.”
“So he wishes to enter into a contract with Global Justice to develop technologies to protect and enable GJ agents to defeat criminals outfitted with HenchCo equipment,” finished Shego. She sat carefully and watched the reactions.
Dr. Director was frowning but seemingly more confused than angry while Wade was still just plain angry.
“That is a ridiculous offer!” said Wade. “We're the most technologically advanced espionage agency in the world, we don't need the help of a dirty criminal organization like HenchCo to defeat criminals.”
“Jack suspected you'd say that,” nodded Shego. “Included in your packet are early designs for weapons and equipment that HenchCo is currently concluding development on within the next three months. If anything in that packet makes you nervo--”
“What is it that you expect from us for this exchange?” interrupted Dr. Director.
“A initial four year contract with HenchCo with the price of 212 million dollars,” recited Shego. “That offer includes development fees and staff salaries to develop technologies solely for the use of Global Justice. In addition, there will be a variety of secrecy conditions and NDAs to ensure that our normal clients don’t get wind that we're helping the 'enemy.'”
Dr. Director narrowed her eye. “All right, what else?”
Wade nearly exploded. “You're not actually considering this sham are you?” he yelled.
“Please restrain yourself Mr. Load,” she said, glancing once at him. “I'd like to hear the entire offer before deciding my course of action.”
Wade grumbled but remained silent. “So, what else, Ms. Shego?” repeated Dr. Director.
Shego swallowed. “There will be at least one representative from HenchCo overseeing all technology development, testing, and deployment between our company and GJ. We would like this representative to be afforded all the benefits of being a contractor with Global Justice, including article 2137 of the United Nations/Global Justice Operating Charter.”
Dr. Director was silent as her eye swept between Shego and Kim then back again. “Immunity,” she finally said. “You wouldn't be able to be arrested in any country.”
“The HenchCo representative wouldn't be,” reminded Shego. “I haven't said that it would be me.”
Wade stood up and stared at Shego. “Dr. Director, as one of your staff advisors, I say we cannot trust a thing being said by that woman,” he announced before turning towards the door. He looked back at Kim for a moment. “I’m not sure about the other one.” He stormed out.
“We will consider your offer,” said Dr. Director, standing. She followed Wade out of the room and reluctantly took the agents with her.
Kim deflated as soon as they were alone again. “That was… aggressive.”
“Who was? Me or her?”
“Her, of course. I'm not surprised when you're aggressive.” Kim smiled.
“Do you think she'll buy into it?” asked Shego, sitting down beside Kim and loosening the collar on the stuffy suit she was asked to wear.
“I'm not sure,” Kim said, shaking her head. “We're not her two favorite people. But she trusts me to a degree, so she might at least give the offer some thought.”
“Oh well,” shrugged Shego. “I gave it a shot. Hench thinks I'm ideal for this sort of work, I'm not really sure why. It probably won't work.”
“If not, we'll figure something else out,” said Kim, leaning into Shego.
“Careful,” warned Shego. “I'm sure this room has eyes. Your Director was shocked enough when you told her we were friends.”
Kim pouted and sat straighter. “Aww…”
“Don't give me that lip,” Shego said, looking away. “I'm not your family or your hanger-ons. I'm not vulnerable to the puppy dog look.”
“Awww you suuuure?” Kim said, sticking her lip out further.
Shego turned around and put her hand across Kim's mouth. She stared her in the eyes with a smile.
“Yup, pretty sure.”
-END-
(for now)