Kim was all too aware that thanks to another one of Drakken’s harebrained schemes she was hanging over a cliff, and the jagged rocky ground, that was over fifty feet below, was waiting for her with open arms. The only thing keeping her from plummeting to her death was not her trusty sidekick Ron, who lay unconscious next to an equally unconscious Drakken thanks to a head butt from Ron.
Kim Possible’s predicament was that her hand was gripping on to Shego’s for all it’s worth. Her life literally hung in the hands of her arch nemesis. As she skidded off the cliff and her frantic clawing at the dirt had ended in her dropping she had found herself still hanging. Shego’s hand had grabbed hold of the teen hero’s over a minute ago and it was still holding her as the thief contemplated her actions.
She could let Possible go and she’d fall to her death because of Shego. She could finally claim the victory and notoriety of killing Kim Possible. But she’d be dead. Shego told herself as she stared down at Kim who held her eyes shut tightly, waiting for the inevitable drop. No more fighting, no more mid-battle bickering and thinking of new pet names to irk the younger woman. No more Kim.
“Climb!” Shego growled as she tried to pull the young woman back up to safety. Kim stared, wide eyed in disbelief that Shego, her sworn enemy, was trying to save her life. “Damn it Possible! If you don’t start helping I swear I’ll let go!”
Looking down at the drop below her seemed to help kick her out of the shock and into action. She used her free hand to claw at the dirt and her feet frantically searched for foot holes as Shego continued to pull.
When Kim lost her footing Shego was pulled so that she was half over the edge with Kim. “Let me go!” Kim screamed as Shego began to try and pull herself back over as well as Kim.
“You’ll die!”
“I- I know.” Kim stared up at Shego with wide and pleading green eyes. “So will you if you don’t-“
“No you don’t Kimmie. You’re not getting off that easy!” Shego pulled with all her might and managed to edge herself back and on to the cliff with Kim following behind.
The second they were both on solid ground they collapsed in a heap, with Kim’s head resting in Shego’s lap as the thief panted for breath. Ron and Drakken remained blissfully unconscious as Kim and Shego lay resting for what seemed like an eternity before Kim broke the silence.
“Why?”
Shego sat up, causing Kim to move her head and sit up as well. “I believe the word you’re looking for is thank you.” Shego replied, taking a few moments to compose herself before standing. She needed to stall, to think of an answer to Kim’s question. She knew the answer of course, but it was impossible for her to tell Kim.
“Why’d you do it Shego?” The young red had asked, confusion evident in her eyes.
“’Cos…now you owe me one pumpkin. Maybe I’ll call in a favour next time I need to get away.”
“If you’d of let go then you wouldn’t need a favour. You’d get away every time.” Shego cursed how illogical her reply had been. If she’d let Kim drop then she would be free to do as she pleased, no one stood a chance against her, no one except Kim.
“If I died then no one could stop you.” Was the girl a mind reader now too? Shego was close to shouting her rage when the thought of Kim’s lifeless body at the bottom of the cliff drained all of her rage and she sighed.
“Exactly. No one else comes close to stopping me.” Shego finally answered with half the reason. It’s no fun without you Kimmie.”
The teen hero looked up in a stunned silence. A small smile made it’s way to her lips as she looked over at their unconscious companions. “ Ditto. You’re the only real challenge left in my life. Everything else is just…”
“Possible?” Shego grinned slyly as she sat back down next to the red head. “The mighty Kim Possible finally found something impossible. Winning me.”
Kim’s cheeks darkened to meet her hair colour as she looked up at Shego. “I find it impossible to know what you’re thinking.” She admitted, while biting her lower lip. “I just don’t get you Shego.”
“That’s the way I like it Princess.” Shego was becoming uncomfortable and decided to get to her feet again to leave. “As much as I’m loving the girl chat thing we’ve got going on, I haven’t been paid yet. If I don’t wake Dr. D up he’ll think he dreamt all this and won’t sign my pay check…”
“Is that all this is to you?” Kim asked, rising to her own feet.
“You’ve no idea what this is to me Possible.” Shego muttered under her breath as she forced her expression to turn darker and conjured up the malice in her eyes. “Beat it Kimmie. I saved your hide, you owe me one some day, end of story.”
She felt Kim’s hand grip her arm as she tried to walk away and almost growled. “What more do you want Possible?”
“The truth. Why did you save me?” With Kim’s big greens staring into her soul Shego found she’d ran out of lies and out of will power.
“Because.” Shego sighed, trying to look anywhere but at the confused teen hero. “If you died then this world wouldn’t be much fun now would it? Who would actually stand a chance at stopping me? Who could last more than five minutes against me? Who else do I have that could ever make me feel like this-“ Kim’s eyes widened, from shock, horror, or both, Shego couldn’t tell but she realised she had to make an exit.
She shoved past a still stunned Kim, and grabbed Drakken’s arm to drag him on to a nearby anti-gravity hover craft.
“Like what?” Shego looked out at where Kim stood near the craft, her confusion replaced by curiosity. “How do I make you feel?” Shego ignored her and started the craft up. When they were in the air and far away from Kim Possible and her large, pleading green eyes, the question still haunted Shego.
‘How do I make you feel?’
“Alive.”
End.