Shego grinned. “Nice try, Kimmie, but we'll move on.” She moved even deeper into Kim’s apartment, speaking on the move. “So, when I woke up after Drakken shipped everything out of that lair, I suddenly knew your secret.” She sat down on one of Kim’s two couches, the cream-coloured loveseat. She was careful with her hands, never allowing them to come too close to the white fabric of the couch, ensuring that she wouldn’t destroy Kim’s furniture. “So, what’s it like to be a telepath? And spare me no details.”
Kim smiled grimly and stalled for time by going to her fridge and grabbing two cans of Coke. Her kitchen was just big enough for her, separated from the rest of the room by a red-topped peninsula kind of counter with a wide, deep sink in the middle. “Okay, I’ll play along, but only because it doesn’t look like I’m going to get you to leave by asking you to get out.” She sat down on the other couch, the more comfortable and larger of the two, setting both cokes down on the glass-topped coffee table. “This doesn’t make us friends,” she said with a slight grin.
Shego nodded her agreement, “if you say so, Kimmie.” That surge of memories struck Kim again like a slap in the face. “By the way, I hope that isn’t for me,” she pointed at the drink closest to her. “I doubt it’s escaped your notice, but I can’t feed myself with my hands the way they are.” She waved her un-gloved left hand, and Kim noticed that the green glow of plasma energy had been restored to its usual intensity. “You know, this kind of energy doesn’t come with an off switch.”
For a few moments, Kim just looked at the hand that still hung in the air in front of her. She had never gotten the chance to look at her archenemy's bare hands before, but to all appearances, nothing appeared to be wrong with them. From the energy levels that Wade had frequently recorded as they fought, the retired heroine had suspected that Shego's hands had mutated from some kind of industrial accident, or a rare slip-up in a chemical lab during one of the villainess’ frequent illegal shopping sprees for Dr Drakken. If that was the case, where was the damage? A chemical accident or genetic mutation would have to leave some kind of mark on Shego's hands, but they were, for lack of a better word, flawless. They were a little pale, but so was the rest of her skin - the parts that Kim had seen at least. Almost slapping herself, Kim realized that Shego's hands weren't the only thing that had changed between their first and second meetings. Now that she thought about it, Shego's skin had been a glaringly noticeable tint of green ever since their second fight; Kim had just been too stunned by the woman's change in personality to notice the skin tone difference. It was nothing particularly hideous or unhealthy looking - definitely not a neon shade of green -, but she should have been able to recognise the change since it was a far cry from the lightly tanned shade that Shego had worn when they first met.
Realizing finally that she was staring, Kim stepped down her glare and just studied her long-time archenemy for a second longer to gauge her seriousness. She shook her head and sighed in exasperation, but she stood finally and moved over to the couch Shego occupied. Grabbing the can she’d intended for the raven-haired woman, Kim snapped it open and raised it to Shego’s lips. “I assume Drakken was the one who always fed you, right?”
Shego grunted as she tilted her head back, drinking back a few gulps of coca-cola. “Mm,” she breathed appreciatively after pushing the can away with her chin. “I’ve forgotten how good that stuff tastes. But yeah – Drakken fed me; he thought that was justification enough to decide he’d fallen in love with me.”
Kim placed the can back on the table and sat back down without replying, not trusting herself to say anything without sounding stupid. That's a surprise, she thought. Ron sometimes said that those two had a thing, but I never believed him. Of course, from Shego's tone, nothing had come of the deranged scientist's puppy love, so it was a bit of a moot point. “Is that so?” She decided it was time to break open the explosive topic. “Say, why are you being so civil with me, Shego? The last time I checked, you were blaming me for what happened to your hands. What gives?”
The raven haired villainess closed her eyes for a moment. “One of the things I learned from your brief telepathic burst was a particularly…interesting memory. It showed me what really happened all those years ago in that toxic waste dump. Your buddy Stoppable got a lucky shot while you and I were fighting our first duel, and knocked me out. Then, you and he took off after Drakken as he escaped. That’s the last time you saw me before my hands went all radioactive.” She sighed, “Everything else is a blank. I don’t remember anything from after we fought that first time to waking up with my hands already burning with destructive energy. And, of course, you weren't there, so no amount of digging through what you gave me could tell me what I needed to know.” Shego suddenly released a rueful chuckle. “Drakken told me that you had done it to me before he could stop you. Can you believe that I trusted him? I didn’t even think about it, I was so traumatized by the sudden change in my health, but you must have been quite a horrible bitch back then to do this to me only ten minutes after meeting me.” Shego’s hands slowly balled into a pair of tight fists. “Once I woke up after our last battle, since I now realized that Drakken had lied to me about you, I assumed he’d lied about other things.” She paused and took a moment to trace a gloved finger around her bare palm. “So I took off, but not before giving the big man a good lesson in…Employee relations.”
Kim thought back to the state Drakken had been in when she’d found him. “Oh, so that’s what you call leaving your boss half-dead and delirious from blood loss. I'd kind of wondered why you did that to him…” Kim took the unopened can of coke and popped it open, taking a long drink before she continued, “But go on, please. Your story’s interesting.”
Shego grinned. “And I’m just getting to the best part too.” She leaned back beside Kim and closed her eyes as her mind drifted back into her past. “I learned three things from you that day, Kim. First – I learned that it wasn’t you that mutated my hands, but I never found out who it was. Second – I discovered the secret to your success. You’re not like any other Hollywood-style superheroes, which are always so one-dimensional. You can know everything about them in only five minutes of watching them. But you,” Shego’s bright green eyes opened and she turned her head to regard Kim with a probing look. “You were a complex girl, Kim - and I'm guessing you're even more of a mystery now. In the three years we’d known each other, I never once believed that I’d completely gotten to know your methods. Now I realize how you were able to defy conventional fighting trends.”
Kim smiled as another ripple of amusement washed out from Shego’s mind, and she allowed herself to relax too. No evil would come from Shego’s knowledge of the ex-heroine’s secrets. Kim could sense her motives vaguely through their ever-strengthening mental link. “What do you mean?” Although she could see a little of Shego’s purpose, her telepathy was being selective enough that she couldn’t get a clear reading on her mind.
Shego took a deep breath, “generally, after ten or fifteen minutes, a fighter will start to grow sluggish and uncontrolled from the exertion, but you do the opposite. You start a battle at more or less top form, and then you just get better. I learned a long time ago that if I couldn’t put you down in a battle in less than two or three minutes, it was unlikely that I ever would - not that day at least. I was always curious to know how you entered the Zone. Now, I know that it’s one effect of your telepathy.”
Kim leaned forward, placing her drink on the coffee table. “And the third thing you learned from me was – what?”
Something mysterious passed behind Shego’s eyes. “I-I’d rather not talk about that one.”
Kim relented, giving the suddenly silent criminal a few moments to compose herself. “Okay, tell me this though; why are you here?”
The raven-haired felon shrugged. “I don’t know – I just decided it was time to get some answers to the questions that last fight created in my mind.” She pointed at her can of Coke. “Could I have some more?”
Kim reached for Shego’s drink and brought it to her archenemy’s lips. “So, it took you four years to decide you wanted answers?” Kim considered Shego’s story. She didn’t need her telepathy to know that wasn't the whole story.No, Shego. There’s something else…some other reason you dropped below the radar. I wonder if…
After drinking down some Coke, Shego sat back again. “Nah. It took me one year to realize I wouldn’t find the answers on my own, another six months to admit that only you could answer my questions, two years to work up the courage to approach you, and the last seven months to hunt you down.”
“Hmm,” Kim stood from the two-seater couch and walked over to the open patio door that opened out onto the balcony. A sudden thought occurred to her as she stared out the window. “Say, how did you get in here?” She jerked her thumb behind her at the door to her apartment. “I noticed that my door’s still intact.”
Shego’s serious mood evaporated, leaving behind a mischievous grin. “I climbed up the outside of the building.” She tried unsuccessfully to hide a giggle behind her hand. “By the way, you’re going to need a new lock. Sorry,” she added under her breath.
Kim turned and scanned the patio door for damage. Sure enough, the latch of the sliding door had been heavily burned and melted, and was barely attached to the frame anymore. Kim reached out and brushed the broken lock, and it clattered to the floor with a quiet rattle, making her smile. “No, I think I need a new door.” She slid the door closed with her foot and returned to her place on the little couch beside Shego.
It was Shego who broke the unexpectedly comfortable silence between them, using a thoughtful tone that Kim had never heard from her. “What’s your favourite season?”
What? Kim’s eyes widened, not only from the question, but from the fact that Shego had asked it. She had never thought Shego would spend time reflecting on philosophical questions like that. “I-I don’t know,” she ventured. “I’ve never really given myself any time to consider deep questions like that.” That was actually a little bit of a lie, since Kim had spent a lot of time in the past four years reflecting on her life, and why she’d left the business. She looked over at Shego, “I didn’t realize you had, either.” She paused, and then said the first answer she could come up with. She’d learned that first instincts were usually the right ones, with a few…explosive exceptions. “I’d say that spring is my favourite season. I don’t know what it is, but there’s just something about the rain washing away the salt and grit of winter that seems rejuvenating, refreshing…almost renewing. It’s kinda poetic, I guess.” Kim grabbed her Coke and took a long drink to shut herself up. Why am I playing these games with Shego? We’ve never been friends exactly, have we?
She felt a splash of mild surprise from her guest. “Really? That’s a surprise.” The older woman smiled slightly. “Spring’s my season, too. It’s just that new beginnings are always rather touching.”
Kim nodded, not really understanding why Shego was leading her on in this mind game. She closed her eyes and tried to get a feel for her guest’s intent. All she could sense was that Shego was feeling mischievous, playful, and – strangest of all –, frightened. Why is she scared? No, she’s not scared – she’s terrified…What could possibly put this much fear in her?
Deciding to ignore this strangeness for now, since it might add to Shego’s discomfort to bring it up, Kim spoke while absently running her hand along the dark red slip cover she’d made for the larger of her two couches. “So, call me curious, but if Drakken fed you and I have to do the same, how have you been eating for all this time?”
Shego grinned, her mischievous spirit fully restored as a wave of gratitude rippled out from her mind. Kim realized with a start that the villain had known all along that she could sense the fear in her mind through the link Kim had made, and she was grateful that Kim hadn’t inquired about her fearfulness. She chuckled guiltily, “there are ways that I can feed myself, but it’s more fun to let someone else do it, especially a former hero-girl like you, Princess.” She winked as she drew out one of the many other pet names she'd given Kim and reached up to her neck, where the zipper for her skin-tight green-and-black costume ended. Moving casually, Shego unzipped her bodysuit to her waist and opened the left side just enough for Kim to see a single pocket with a bunch of cutlery sticking out of it: a fork, knife, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks. “See?” Satisfied that Kim had seen enough of her long-time archenemy’s eating tools, Shego released her hold on her costume, allowing the very slight elasticity of the material to pull it closed. The raven-haired fugitive didn’t zip her costume closed, however, so Kim had a subtle view of the green tank-top that Shego was wearing underneath the tight leather.
And unless she was mistaken, it looked similar to the one that had been the staple of Kim’s high school student wardrobe back in the day.
Attempting to not think about Shego’s suddenly revealed wardrobe choice, Kim pointed to her archenemy’s waist. “I hope you have extra sets of cutlery, Shego. I doubt that one set will last all the way through your next meal.” Kim narrowed her eyes. It doesn’t make sense that Shego would carry a set of cutlery that she’d destroy as soon as she touched them.
Shego’s mind responded with a ripple of amusement. “Do you really think so?” She pulled out one of her chopsticks and held it tightly in her fist. Kim expected it to disintegrate in her hands within seconds, but when nothing happened, she began to understand. “There are two substances I know of that can withstand the energy in my hands, Kim. Well, actually, there are a lot of things that aren’t affected by the plasma energy, but they’re mostly very useless everyday things, like adhesives or polishes. The main two things, on the other hand, are leather and some kind of aluminium, lead, and titanium alloy that Drakken claimed to have developed.” Shego grinned smugly and returned her chopstick to the inside pocket of her costume. “Leather won’t be damaged by the energy, but it won’t block it. In fact, my destructive energy gets transferred through the leather of my gloves, or a rope, continuing on the other side.”
Kim nodded, “so that’s how you made that whip burn like your hands.” She rubbed her left shoulder gingerly, feeling a stab of phantom pain from the wound that Shego had burned into her a year before she retired. “I’d always wondered about it.” A sudden thought occurred to her as she remembered Shego in the years they’d known each other. “Say, now that I think about it, how is it that the energy radiates only a short distance away from your hands, and yet you can throw balls of it across a room?”
Shego shrugged apologetically. “Don’t even ask because I don’t know, and - honestly - I don't really care. It just…happens. I don’t know how it works, I just know that it does work, and I can control it – one of the few aspects of my mutation that I have control over.” She breathed a short, bitter laugh. “When I’m focused enough, the energy in my hands subsides to build up enough power to pack into a tight package, and then it shoots out in a straight line. Learning to aim took a while, but I finally got it down. Scared the crap out of you the first time I did it, didn’t I?”
Kim chuckled quietly. “Yeah – I’ll say.” At the mention of Shego’s inexplicable secondary ability, Kim felt another twinge of phantom pain – stronger –, this time in her ankle. Shego had almost blown Kim’s entire foot off in that fight. Kim had been forced to go into hiding for almost twenty minutes with her ankle soaking under an open water pipe to heal from that one. “I’m glad you were rarely able to hit me after that one.”
Shego just smiled. “Precisely my thinking now, but let’s move on.” She narrowed her eyes and pulled off her right glove. Then, while she examined her black-painted fingernails, she changed the subject back to the previous subject. “The aluminium/lead/titanium alloy, on the other hand, is the only useful substance known to me that can completely block the plasma energy in my hands. Just one-and-a-half millimetres of it is enough to completely stop the effects of the energy. I convinced Drakken have a lot of things custom made for me so I could at least try to live a normal life.” She waved one hand at the black leather satchel at her feet, which Kim hadn’t really looked at yet. “Take my bag for instance; the outer shell is made of leather, but all the zippers and metal fittings are made of the special alloy, which I’ve named Almleti - go ahead and laugh -, as well as the inner lining of the bag. The inner lining is meant to protect the contents of the bag, but there aren’t really that many things I’d carry that don’t melt at my touch.” Shego opened the dark leather sack and began pulling out various items, laying them beside each other on the glass-covered coffee table. “See? I’ve got my spare costume and extra pairs of gloves, all of which are made of leather. Then, there’s a pair of steel-tipped almleti gloves, which I use for climbing, and one or two spare sets of cutlery…Finally, I have an entire camping dish set, custom-made from almleti metal.”
Kim studied the growing collection of specialized tools and clothing. “Wow…this is very cool, Shego.” She sat back and took another sip of her coke. “But – you’re forgetting about two other big things that are immune to the plasma in your hands.”
“Yeah?” Shego sounded sceptical, “and what’s that?”
Kim picked up one of Shego’s black leather gloves and took a moment to study it. “You and me,” she glanced back up at her former nemesis.
Shego chuckled, “yeah. I never expected that you’d be able to heal from everything I threw at you.”
The redheaded ex-heroine studied Shego closely, curious to know if she knew any more than she was letting on. “Shego, why are you really here?”
The raven-haired woman opened her mouth to answer, but she was interrupted by a shrill, four-tone beeping from one of Kim’s pockets. A sardonic grin appeared on her face as Kim pulled out her Kimmunicator. “I don’t believe it, Kim. You’ve been retired four years and you still carry the super geek around in your pocket?”
Kim giggled nervously. “Oh, you know; old habits.” She activated the handheld device, “Wade?”
The still-young hacker appeared on the four-inch screen. His black hair and darker skin were virtually unchanged by the four years since Kim had last seen him on the small screen. “Hi, Kim. Look, I know you’re retired, but something’s come up, and I figured you’d like to know about it.”
Kim sighed, “I’m doing fine, Wade. How are you?”
Wade grimaced. “Sorry, Kim. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately, so I would rather not be doing this, but you’ll want to know about this – trust me.” He grinned suddenly.
Kim glanced over at Shego quickly. The fugitive was busy examining her steel-tipped climbing claws, almost ignoring Kim’s conversation. She looked back at Wade’s face on her Kimmunicator. “Is it about Shego, Wade?”
The highly skilled hacker nodded slowly, his face aglow from the light of his computer monitor. “After Drakken’s capture, you asked me to let you know if I heard any news about her. It’s been a long time in coming, but she finally slipped up. She’s been seen by someone.”
“Where?” Kim glanced over at her guest and felt a weak ripple of uneasiness rush through her head. “Who’s seen her?”
Wade typed away at his computer for a few seconds before an image appeared to replace his face on the screen. It showed Shego, crouched in the shadows of a utility shed on the roof of an apartment building, the green glow of her hands giving her away quite easily. Kim took a moment to study the still image, recognizing the place after a moment. It was the apartment building across the street from where she lived.
Wade’s face returned to the screen. “It says here that she was seen about three days ago by a news helicopter on its way to a particularly wild car accident. The fact that she was caught on their camera was purely coincidence; some fool on the chopper turned the cameras on a few minutes too early – a rookie, I’m guessing. He probably thought the tapes had to be warm for the video to be good quality. She was seen, uh, here.” He held a slip of paper up to his web camera. Then, he typed a little more on his keyboard. “Uh, if you can be ready in half-an-hour, I can have some new toys airlifted to that location. Ron's…busy, so you’ll be on your own.”
Kim shifted uneasily on her couch, glancing again at Shego. The felon was studying her intently as the heroine tried to find a solution to this new problem. “Um Wade, are you sure this is important enough to pull me out of retirement? I mean, she hasn’t done anything in four years, and what’s the statute of limitations on her crimes? Is she still even a criminal?”
This time, Shego actually managed to hide her laughter behind her hand as Wade thought the question over, studying Kim closely. “Hey Kim, are you feeling all right? This is your greatest foe we’re talking about, you know. This would mean the final end to your career. No more loose ends.” A strange look passed across his expression, but he quickly covered it up.
What does he know? Kim sighed, “Yeah I know.” She thought fast, “I’ve just been really busy lately, doing work and school.”
The hacker smiled, nodding his head sympathetically, “I know what you mean. This mission is costing me my undefeated standing in Command and Conquer Generals.”
Both Kim and Shego stared at the communicator in Kim’s hand, both their voices rising in astonished disbelief. “What?”
Wade’s eyes widened. “Kim?” He darted his gaze around his computer monitor, “who’s there with you?”
Kim glared over at her guest. Fortunately, the two of them were sitting in such a way that Shego could see the pocket-hacker’s face on the four-inch screen, but Wade couldn’t see her. Kim froze, trying desperately to explain the second voice at her end of the transmission. “Oh – uh, that’s just Sh-Sharon, my roommate.” Kim glanced back at her hacker friend. “So, what’s going on with the computer game?”
The younger boy scowled. “My professor resents me; that’s what’s going on. I’ve been acing my communications labs, and everyone else is barely passing, so Langstrum decided to award extra credit to everyone who can beat me at a game of his choosing. It just so happens he chose my best game, so I didn’t have much trouble until this came up.” The black-haired, freckle-faced young man glanced to his right for a second, taking in the view on another monitor. “My base defences are holding for now, but that could change really soon.”
Kim sighed again, and had to suppress the urge to burst into peals of laughter at the incredulous expression on Shego’s face. “Okay Wade, go back to your ‘schoolwork.’ I’ll be on that rooftop in an hour.”
“Gotcha,” and the communicator winked off.
Shego continued staring at the inactive device. “Generals?” Her voice was soft, but sounded like it could escalate to a hysterical screech any second. “He’s complaining about losing a computer game?”
Kim stood up and walked back to the balcony door. “It’s what he does.” She stared out across the street, closely studying the apartment building where Shego had been seen three days earlier. After a moment, she turned back to face her onetime archenemy. “So,” she began calmly, a tiny smile twisting her lips, “how long have you known where I’m living?”
Shego grinned uneasily, “three months. Even after I figured out where you were, I still didn’t have the guts to approach you as brazenly as I had first planned.” She paused for a few heartbeats, and then continued in a much softer voice. “What I needed to talk to you about couldn’t be taken lightly, so I had to prepare myself for whatever reaction you might have to what I say.”
“Okay,” Kim tossed a casual glance over her shoulder at her balcony. “We’ll probably talk more later on, but onto present matters.” She stared at the apartment building across the street again. “So – Shego, can I expect to find you during my hunt tonight? Or will you just be hanging out here?”
Shego’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “You know where I am already, but you haven’t attacked me. I think we’ve reached some kind of non-aggression pact, but I can’t be sure it won’t progress farther. So, why indulge the super-geek?”
Kim sighed in frustration at her inability to view the raven-haired woman as a foe any longer. “You know exactly why. As far as the world knows, you and I are mortal enemies. If I refuse to hunt down this lead, Wade will know right away that something is wrong, and he’ll investigate for sure.”
Shego frowned. “Since when did you care what the world thought? I mean, aside from the typical teenage-girl, peer pressure angst, gotta-be-cool scene?”
Kim hesitated before answering, “I-I’m not really…ready for anyone to know what’s going on here.” She waved her finger from herself to Shego and back, “especially when I don’t really know what’s happening between us.”
Now, Shego stood and joined Kim by the patio window. “Tell you what, Kim.” She glanced over at the redhead. “Give me an hour’s head start, and then come and find me – after meeting the super nerd of course.” She grinned mischievously. “If you can’t track me down by dawn, you have to meet me on the roof of this building.” She slipped a small card into Kim’s hand. “Once you’re there, I’ll tell you what you have to do to get the answers.”
Kim looked at the business card. “And if I do track you down in time?”
The raven-haired woman grinned even more widely. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” She laid a hand on Kim’s shoulder, forgetting about her deadly touch for a few moments.
At first, almost without realizing it, Kim found herself leaning into Shego’s touch, finding no small amount of comfort in the uncharacteristically gentle touch of her former nemesis’ hand. Kim’s eyes closed of their own volition. “Hmm…” Every other time the two of them had shared any kind of physical contact, Shego’s mind had been filled with hate and anger, and Kim had been far too busy fending off the blows to find anything other than exhilaration and heavy doses of adrenaline in her own head. Then, there had always been a sharp spike of pain whenever Shego landed a blow.
And, speaking of pain…
Kim hissed suddenly as the emerald aura around the older woman’s hand finally penetrated through her black t-shirt. A sharp stab of pain burned down her arm from her shoulder, forcing her eyes open again. She felt the pain radiate from her shoulder, preceding the severe burns that she knew came as a consequence of being touched by Shego.
Shego was jolted out of her contemplative reverie by Kim’s gasp of surprise and pain. “Oh, God!” She tore her hand away from her hostess’ shoulder and stared at what she’d done. “I’m sorry Kim; you’ll heal from that, right?”
Kim took a moment to master the pain that was causing her entire left arm to go numb. “Yeah – just give me some time alone,” she mumbled, her eyes narrowing to slits as she concentrated on anything other than the severe radiation burn on her shoulder. Surprisingly, the first thought that floated up from the depths of her mind was a memory of one of her last fights with the very woman who had just caused the injury in her shoulder. The image of Shego’s night-black hair flying about her face as she flipped over Kim, leading up to one of her more piercing punches, was enough to drive the thought of pain from Kim’s mind, but not because of the memory itself. The fact that the first memory that came to her was of Shego was what drove the pain away from her thoughts. For an instant, Kim allowed herself to wonder why she had thought of her former nemesis first, but then she realized that the woman to whom all her thoughts seemed to be devoted had still not moved away from her place behind her. If anything, the pale-skinned woman had moved even closer, her mind a storm of concern, frustration, and nervousness. “Well?” Kim finally forced some words out from between her teeth. “Go on, Shego – the sooner you leave, the sooner I can get to work on this burn.” The raven-haired villain still didn’t move away, and Kim turned around to find that she actually had stepped closer, her stance putting her face within half a hand span of Kim. “Shego…go on.” Kim felt her resolve weaken slightly, and her control over her pain slipped. A sharp needle of heat and agony from her shoulder caused her legs to weaken, and she started to fall over.
Without hesitating, Shego caught her with the crook of her elbow under Kim’s arm. Her free hand grabbed the waistband of the redhead’s jeans and helped to support the injured young woman. “Like Hell I will,” she mumbled. Before her hand could burn through Kim’s pants, she turned and tossed her onto the red couch. “You can’t even stand up, Kim. There’s no way you’re getting to any medications that can help you. Tell me what you need.”
A few seconds after landing, Kim sat up, once again gaining control over the severe pain. “No, Shego…” speech was hard for her though. “You said…hour’s head start…I have to find…you.”
Shego simply walked over to the coffee table and picked out a pair of black leather gloves. This pair looked a little heavier than standard leather, and they made soft metallic noises as they shifted in the villainess’ hands. She slipped them on and turned back to face Kim, a grin lighting up her pale features, her emerald eyes glowing. “Would you listen to yourself?”
Kim sat up straighter, wincing from the exertion, but she made no reply.
Shego finally caught on to the reason for Kim’s reluctance. She sighed exasperatedly, “Oh, come on!” She even rolled her eyes. “Whatever secret you have, it’s safe with me. I give you my word no one will find out.”
Kim relented finally, sighing in resignation. “Alright, alright – just help me get to the bathroom.” She slowly swung her legs around to hang off the couch, but waited another moment before pushing to stand up on her own. She swayed unsteadily for a second and then started slowly moving toward the short hallway of her apartment. This definitely isn’t fun, she thought to herself. “I don’t remember it being this painful…” she said aloud, mostly to herself.
“Here.” Shego stepped forward and scooped Kim up into her arms, totally fearless of her hand’s effect on Kim’s skin. The gloves she’d slipped on were apparently more than just leather, as they completely blocked the plasma energy that she couldn’t control. The villain suddenly grinned down at the woman in her arms, “so much for your immunity to me, huh?”
Kim smiled faintly as her eyes closed. She hadn’t fought Shego for so long, she had almost forgotten how quickly fighting the pain could tire her out. “Just wait until you see how it heals.”
Shego turned the corner and entered the bathroom. “So, what am I looking for?” She set Kim down on the floor and started digging through the cupboards. It was evident that she wasn’t finding what she was looking for, because she started to sound more worried. “Come on – hurry up, Kim. Before that burn spreads down your arm.”
Resigned to telling her foe one of her biggest secrets, Kim smiled at Shego’s apparent ignorance. “This burn won’t get any worse; you don’t have to worry about that.”
Surprised, Shego turned away from the cupboards and stared at her. “How do you figure that?” Her voice took on a curious tone.
Kim shrugged and moved to sit down on the side of the bathtub. “That’s simple – they never have. My immune system isn’t good enough to heal the burns completely, but it does stop it from getting any worse.” She pointed past the tight leather-clad villain. “Pass me that cup.” She indicated the cheap green plastic cup that stood by Shego’s right elbow.
Shego tossed the cup to Kim, but didn’t turn back to the counter. “Your immune system? That’s the worst lie I’ve ever heard, Kim.” She grinned at the situation, “I doubt that having a drink is gonna help that burn. What are you doing – hoping I’ll leave so you can pull out your secret meds?”
Kim chuckled humourlessly at that, “just watch.” She turned one of the taps on to full and held the cup under the faucet, “and learn…” Leaning forward over the tub, she poured the full cup over her burned shoulder. At first contact, Kim winced at the sharp sting – almost like rubbing alcohol –, but then the normal numbness spread from her shoulder down her arm, following the same path as the water running down to drip off her fingers. The numb sensation faded for a moment, and then Kim was treated to the sight of her burned skin flaking off as new, healthy tissue grew to replace the dead cells. The blackened chips of skin fell into the tub and were carried down the drain. Kim refilled the cup and poured it over her shoulder a few more times before turning her attention to washing the rest of the dead skin down the drain. Within fifteen seconds, Kim’s shoulder had been completely healed, and the only evidence that she’d treated herself was her soaked left arm.
Her black t-shirt, on the other hand, was ruined. It had a ragged, black-edged hole burned through it, revealing a large patch of her freshly-healed shoulder. Kim looked over her shoulder at Shego’s wide-eyed expression and couldn’t help but smile at her expense. “You owe me a new shirt, Shego.”
The villain didn’t seem to hear her. “Whoa…” she whispered, staring at Kim’s healed shoulder in awe. Slowly, hesitatingly, Shego reached out one gloved hand and brushed it over Kim’s soaked shoulder, feeling the completely healed muscle tissue under the ruined t-shirt. “I don’t believe it. This is your secret – water?” She looked closely at the burn marks around the hole in Kim’s shirt. “That’s amazing.”
Kim smiled faintly. “Just wait until you get over the surprise of it all.” She fully expected the raven-haired villain to capitalize on her new knowledge and find a way to combat Kim’s freshly revealed secret. Just what happens when she finally figures out how much she can profit from this? I’ll probably have to move – change my identity. The old ghosts are going to be coming back to haunt me. And they’ll have a weapon against me this time. Oh well, it's not like I had much choice.
Something flickered in Shego’s eyes as she continued to stare at Kim, and her voice was quiet, barely a whisper. “Don’t be so sure about that, Kim.” She relaxed and allowed a grin to plaster itself to on her face. “Man, this is cooler than anything Drakken ever came up with.”
Kim’s smile vanished and she turned to pull a towel off the rack, attacking her soaked arm with it. “So, what are you going to do now that you know my secret?”
Shego’s grin only widened and her eyes brightened until they were almost glowing. “Aw, what’s the matter, Kimmie?” Her tone was amused, and her smile twisted into a sardonic grin. “Afraid I’ll tell your enemies to move to the desert – that a dry climate will limit your efficiency?” Shego suddenly threw her head back and laughed as if that was the most absurd thing she’d ever heard. It was far from an unpleasant sound. “Oh, come on, Kim! I’m a thief, but I have enough honour to keep my own promises. I’ve already told you that your secret’s safe with me. Besides,” she frowned a little, “I don’t want to have anything to do with snakes like Drakken.”
Kim allowed herself to relax as she dried off her arm and shoulder and then walked out of the bathroom, rolling her shoulder around a little to make sure it had all healed properly. It always healed right, but…you could never be too careful. She sensed Shego following behind her and smiled thinly. “So, you’re a free agent now, eh?” Her smile widened.
Shego snorted and pulled her gloves off, tucking them into a pocket of her green-and-black jumpsuit. “Whatever. I just don’t need a partner I can’t trust,” her eyes flicked over to Kim for the briefest of moments.
Kim was digging some food out of the fridge, so she didn’t catch the peculiar expression that crossed Shego’s face before fading behind her mask of indifference. “Well, if you’re going to take this bet of ours seriously, you’d better get going…” Standing from the lower shelves of the fridge, Kim turned to face Shego for a moment. Huh? She looked around uncertainly. She’d just sensed something… What was that? An emotion – still floating around in the air – but what emotion? It seems familiar somehow. I’ve felt it before, either myself or from someone else. Well, I know my telepathy can’t pick up my own emotions, so I must be sensing Shego’s feelings. So, she’s feeling something, but what? Well, the answer will come to me, I guess. Kim shrugged and slid a plate of leftovers into the microwave before turning back to her guest. “As soon as that food’s been eaten,” she jerked her thumb back at the slowly revolving plate, “you’re as good as caught.” She grinned in spite of herself.
Shego’s mask slipped as a predatory light gleamed from her green eyes. “Don’t count your chickens, Kimmie.” She headed for the door to Kim’s balcony, sweeping her clawed climbing gloves and one of the leather pairs off the coffee table as she passed. “See you at dawn, Kim.” She slipped on her climbing gloves and grabbed the railing, vaulting up and past Kim’s apartment to the roof.
The silence in Kim’s apartment was broken only by the soft beeping of the microwave once her food was done cooking. Without thinking, she pulled the leftover pizza out and bit into a piece, still staring at her balcony railing as if Shego was still standing there.
Kim continued to stare after Shego even once both slices of the leftover all dressed pizza were gone. She ran through the conversation and the things she’d learned in the past fifteen minutes. She watched the sky darken to pitch darkness, the sun having already sunk below the horizon.
“Something’s different about you,” she finally said aloud to her empty apartment. “I don’t know what it is that’s changed, but there’s something unusual. You still look the same, and you talk the same, but still…what is it?” Kim drifted across her dwelling and into her bedroom, intending to change into her trademark mission clothes. She’d just reached down to pull off her burned t-shirt when a strange thought hit her.
Am I talking about Shego or myself?
And the hunt is on. Stay tuned for the next chapter. Although…it might be awhile because while I have quite a bit written out, I still have to move it onto my computer, and then edit and upload. Shouldn't take too long.
I hope.
R&R, fellas and fillies!