Kim walked into the hotel lobby a little under half-an-hour early. The taxi driver had done a very good job of following her directions to get her here fast. The hefty tip she’d left him for avoiding that three-car accident on the highway was sure to keep him happy for some time. She didn’t know why she’d emphasized speed though; the sooner she got here, the sooner she’d have to come to a decision with regards to Shego’s rather…unusual offer. And, strangest of all, neither choice really appealed to her. She was not looking forward to this.
As Kim made her way through the crowded lobby to the front desk, she considered her two options.
The easiest thing to do, of course, would be to just walk away without waiting for Shego. She was here early enough to disappear without the villainess seeing. But then, Shego knew where Kim lived, so it was far too much to hope that Shego would just let the subject drop like that. Listening to Shego before turning her down had a better chance of working. Saying no and walking away would keep her on this side of the law, and Shego would be gone from her life. With that…woman…gone, Kim could return to her comfortable routine and everything would go back to normal.
Kim snorted to herself as she approached the front desk. Fat chance. Shego won’t drop this – she wants it too much. Kim had felt Shego’s longing when she’d broached the subject half-an-hour ago; Shego was lonely, and Kim could understand that. Hers was a life of action with little to no time for relationships…unless she found someone to share in her fast-paced lifestyle.
And then there was the other part of her mind, the one that was closest to her own heart. It told her to take Shego’s offer, not out of respect for the fact that she’d lost their game, but simply because it was the better life for her.
Kim stopped walking halfway to the reception desk and turned her head to look out the front door. Something had happened out there…
Something had come to life within her in the past few hours, as she’d been trying to chase the shadows – something that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Exhilaration. Excitement. Fulfillment. All this and so much more had come back to life in her heart as she’d swiftly scaled buildings and searched for her opponent. Her soul sang with the almost forgotten freedom of charging headfirst into a mission, driving forward with all the confidence that three years spent combating global villainy had given her. In her years since retirement, Kim hadn’t lost that confidence, but had simply forgotten where it had come from in the first place.
So, with this in mind, Kim realized that part of her didn’t want this feeling to die. She’d known for a long time that this life was too boring for her, to straightforward. There were no mysteries in the life of a College student, working part-time at a rather nice, but ordinary coffee shop – only tedium. The only reason Kim hadn’t tried to dive back into heroism was the same reason she’d retired. All the crimes available to solve were too easy; they couldn’t give her that same…spark as when she was facing off with monkey ninjas or exploding golf balls…or standing firm against her greatest enemy. And hey, let’s face it, she thought, turning back towards the reception desk. Those hired thugs I use to train are nowhere near practice enough. My fighting skill has suffered withoutherin my life to push me harder than anyone else ever could.
Kim found herself caught between turning Shego down and returning to her normal, everyday, oh-so-boring life, or accepting Shego’s offer for a partnership and becoming the very thing she’d sought to fight all those years ago. Kim wasn’t as naïve as she had been back then; she knew that there were degrees to the severity of crimes – there were no true black-and-white situations in this world. On the other hand, crime was crime, and Kim wasn’t sure she could do that.
Maybe I can convince Shego to do this on a trial basis, she thought. Just until I know if I can adjust to becoming what I fought. She glanced around again. Besides, my life is lonely too, and there’s just something about her…something that I can’t quite place. She stepped up to the reception desk.What could possibly make her want this so much? It can’t be just the whole, “conquer Kim Possible” motivation that would have affected any other villains. She wants something else, and maybe…maybe…
Maybe I do too.
The man behind the reception desk looked up and smiled politely to her, intruding on her thoughts before she could contemplate what was motivating her. “Good morning, Miss. How may I help you?”
Kim hesitated for the barest of seconds. Here goes. I’m diving in… “I’m here to meet someone – Teri Nordham. Is she in her room?”
The concierge turned to his computer for a moment. “Ehm…No, I don’t believe she is. Would you like to leave a message?”
Kim sighed under her breath. “No, that’s all right.” If this man was to be believed, the former heroine had actually beaten her hostess here. A little thrill of amusement swept through her. This could be a chance for some great jokes… “I was wondering,” she leaned up against the desk and smile disarmingly, bordering on flirtatious. God I’m going to hate myself for this. “Could you possibly let me up into her room? I wanted to surprise her.”
The blonde man behind the counter stuttered nervously, taken aback either by Kim’s sudden attitude or maybe by the quite possibly rare question. “Well, I-I’m not really supposed to do that for anyone unless they’re family,” he paused, glancing at her expectantly.
Kim thought about it. This guy’s going to have to be an idiot, but hey – it’s worth a shot. “Yeah, I’m family.” She grinned happily, and then jumped slightly as if an idea had just come to her. “Hey – listen:” she leaned a little closer to the man, lowering her voice surreptitiously. “She’s my older sister. It’s her birthday tomorrow, and I came all the way from Chicoutimi to surprise her.” She lowered her voice just a little more. “You see, I made her think I couldn’t get the weekend off work back home and can’t make it to wish her happy birthday because I wanted to really surprise her. She was pretty angry, but I think it’ll be worth it. If I could get you to help me out…” She trailed off, and fixed the man unsuspecting man with a hopeful look – the more perfected and less obvious form of her puppy-dog pout from her younger days.
The older man’s eyes lit up as if he’d just been let into a huge secret, which he had been. Too bad the secret’s not real, Kim thought. “Sure thing, Miss Nordham.” He reached into a drawer and pulled out a magnetized key card. Slipping it into a small reader, he started tapping away at the computer in front of him. “Okay, this is a new system we’ve created this year so listen closely.” He pulled the card out of the reader and placed it on the desk in front of him. “This card will get you into your sister’s room – but only once. After you’ve opened her door, make sure you don’t leave without her because the magnetic strip on this card will be fried after one use.”
Kim took the card and smiled at it. Too easy, she thought, turning her smile on the hotel receptionist. “One-time use key cards? That’s really clever.” She widened her smile just a little, “and you’ve just made Teri’s day, sir.”
The man smiled, “think nothing of it, Miss Nordham. Teri is staying in room 720,” he turned back to the magazine he’d been reading when Kim came in. Must be a slow morning. “And don’t worry,” he continued, winking up at her. “I won’t tell her anything.”
“Thank you,” still smiling, Kim turned and walked over to the elevators, a little bounce in her step. This was fun, being active again. I can’t believe I haven’t missed this until now. She stepped into one of the waiting elevators and punched the button for the seventh floor. She grinned silently as the doors closed and the car started its upward journey.
After only a moment spent lost in her thoughts, Kim heard that familiar four-tone beeping from her cargo pants’ pocket. Reaching down, she pulled out her new, matte-finished Kimmunicator. “What’s the sitch, Wade?”
The black-haired boy grinned, his face still awash in the glow of his omnipresent computer monitors. “No sitch this time, Kim. I’m just checking to see if you have any questions at all. I fixed the programming in my Scorpio antenna, so we’re good for a while.” He took a sip from his drink, a two-litre bottle of coke this time. “So, what do you want to know?”
Kim thought about it. I could have him check up on Shego some more, but I know he’s already been doing as much as possible since I asked him to keep an eye out for her…but if not that, then what can I ask? “I’d kind of like to know what has you so tweaked about Global Justice.”
He sighed. “I see you’ve been too busy chasing Shego to read my files, but that’s alright – I’ll give you a condensed version. If you still have questions after that, it’s all in your Kimmunicator.” He paused, and then shook his head ruefully. “Where should I start?” He seemed to think for a few moments. “I guess the beginning always makes the most sense…okay – here goes. For years, far before you or I became aware of GJ’s existence, there’s been a faction that is singularly focussed on matters of budget, profit, and all sorts of other financially-minded goals. They wanted Global Justice to function more as a business than a non-profit global counter-terrorism organization. But, while you were around, they didn’t seem to have much support, and their cries for reform went unanswered. As soon as you left, the entire management of the organization changed, and the once small faction had literally taken over Global Justice. They’ve become like the international mafia or something. Global Justice will solve a crime, but then they’ll demand a price for their services. If the client won’t pay up, well…let’s just say that Global Justice’s resources have grown a hundred-fold since you retired.”
Km started at the four-inch screen. “Why has no one reported them?”
Wade rolled his eyes at her apparent cluelessness. “Come on, Kim – do you think an organization like Global Justice would allow itself to get caught doing something illegal? It’s all under-the-radar, agents of agents and the like. I mean, ‘payment enforcement’ isn’t officially a part of Global Justice’s business practice, but it happens. Global Justice Thugs can’t be traced to their own organization; they just don’t exist. Half of Global Justice isn’t even aware of the other side of their organization’s activities. The only reason I know is because Dr Director put me on the trail only a little while before she retired.” He sighed wearily. “She’s also the one who told me to rig up a way to contact you without Global being able to detect the transmission. Although, I’m not entirely sure why she wanted me to contact you personally – all she said was that you’d know what to do. But, what really gets me is that Global Justice has been actively causing many of the world’s greatest heists. When crime is down, GJ’s affiliates will pull off some multi-billion dollar crime and make enormous profit.”
Kim interrupted him, “hold on Wade – let me get this straight. Global Justice has been causing crime?”
Wade smiled at her play on words. “Well, indirectly – yes. Pisces International is Global’s daughter corporation, an invisible organization that provides over ninety percent of Global’s profits. If you want an idea of how bad Pisces is, just think about the fact that the last three thousand employees to be hired are all still around and they’re all ex-Worldwide Evil Empire. Global Justice took them down a little over two years ago, and then just hired everyone that survived.” He shook his head slowly at some memory those words had conjured. “Very few people know that Pisces exists at all, let alone its connection to Global Justice and those who do know aren’t in any position to do anything about it.”
Kim narrowed her eyes, “and what about you, hackerman? Can’t you do something about it? You’re inside the organization. I’ve seen you destroy rampaging robot warriors from a thousand miles away.”
His eyes brightened at the praise. “I’m talking to you aren’t I? I knew that I’d have to talk to you as soon as I read section B of my Global Justice contract. It said that Kim Possible is to be considered an ordinary citizen of the world and would be granted no special treatment, regardless of all your work in the past. In fact, I was told privately that under no circumstances was I to ever contact you.”
Kim stared at the screen. “Are you serious?”
He nodded, taking another drink from his massive two-litre bottle. “That was a nice way for Neo-Kim to introduce herself, don’t you think?” He scowled, probably at the thought of his immediate supervisor. “Anyway, she doesn’t matter right now,” he gestured behind him. “This is my week off.” He grinned at Kim. “And that’s why it’s taken me four years to prepare for this chat.”
Kim’s good-natured smile returned even as she was seething inside. Whoever’s taken my job better watch herself. Her ass is mine if I ever see her. The elevator pulled to a stop at the seventh floor and she stepped off, remaining by the bank of elevators. “So, Wade the rebel, eh? I like the sound of that.” Her brow furrowed in thought, “But why the silent treatment? Why would they restrict communication with me?”
The still slightly overweight teen grinned. “More like outlawed,” he chuckled. “You should know the answer to that one, Kim. If communication lines with you were open, or if you’d stayed in the business, you would inevitably have found out about Pisces’ connection with Global Justice. And if there was anyone in a position to blow the whistle on them or – more likely – take them down, that’d be you. It seems like you were the only thing standing in the way of the less scrupulous faction of Global Justice.”
Kim sighed quietly and leaning back against a wall, Kimmunicator in hand. “You were wrong, then.” She spoke in a quiet, defeated voice. “It is my fault, Wade – all of it.” She closed her eyes. After all I’ve done to take down megalomaniacs and delusional Monkey Masters, an organization of Evil still managed to take power. Thanks for the vote of confidence, Wade, but if I could have stopped this by being around, retiring makes it my fault.
A loud hiss brought her attention back to her Kimmunicator, and she opened her eyes to see Wade glaring at her. “Now, you listen to me, Kim.” He looked to be strangely torn between guilt and rage. “If anyone is at fault here, it’s me. You’re just an agent, and not to belittle you or anything – ‘cuz, you know, you can easily kick my ass –, but you can only be in one place at a time. Me, on the other hand?” He gestured at the computer equipment that surrounded him – or at least the plethora Kim could see. “I’m a computer hacker – the best on the planet, and the birth of Pisces passed right under my nose. Pisces was around long before you retired, but they just weren’t getting the funding necessary to realize their full potential.” He paused, but gave Kim no time at all to defend herself. “You want someone to blame, Kim – fine! Blame me for not seeing it, blame Dr Director for caving to their demands when she retired, but don’t you dare take the blame on yourself. You have nothing to do with this.” He stopped to take a deep breath, calming himself and Kim was relieved. Whoa, she thought.Wade’s got some issues to work out about this.
He was still talking, albeit in a much more controlled voice. “See, Kim – the difference between us is you couldn’t have known what Global Justice’s little revolutionary faction was planning while I should’ve known.” He sighed, “And I want out. Global Justice got to me because though I may have the best hacking skill, I’m nowhere near as skilled as I should be to protect myself.” He looked at Kim seriously. “But you on the other hand, you are the fighter. If you had known what was going on here, we both know what would have happened. Heck, everybody knows all too well how good you were when you were in the game.” He smiled thinly.
Kim gave him a hurt look. “Hey, I still am good at what I do. I can do anything.”
Wade shook his head, his grin unshaken. “But you’re retired now, Kim. It would take too long for you to get yourself set up again to do any good; Pisces or Global would be sure to shut you down – permanently. They’re not clever enough to have you bugged or micro-chipped, but they do keep tabs on your general activities. The only reason they’ve never touched you is because A) you’re retired; B) they’re extending you a professional courtesy; and C) if they fail to take you down on the first shot, they’ll have just revealed themselves to the one person who poses a threat to them and they probably won’t get a chance for a second try.”
Kim’s expression turned thoughtful. “I wonder if maybe her offer isn’t so crazy after all…”
The pocket hacker raised an eyebrow at her distracted statement. “Offer? Who’s offer of what, Kim?”
Kim considered lying, but then thought better of it. “I haven’t exactly had no success with my hunt for Shego. She came up to me about an hour ago and hinted that she’d offer me an in to the world of crime if I became her partner.” She paused for a second. “At first, I wanted to turn her down completely right away, but there was something about her offer that interested me.”
Wade’s voice took on an intrigued tone. “Are you sure it wasn’t just the fact that she didn’t take a swing at you the moment she saw you? She hates the air you breathe, remember?”
Kim finally turned and started down the hall towards 720. “I haven’t forgotten that Wade, but it’s almost like Shego has. It almost seemed like she actually wanted me to join her – no strings attached, like she wasn’t plotting something. I’m supposed to meet her here to hear her out.” Again, she paused, searching for the words to make Wade understand. “After what you’ve told me…I figure Global Justice has to go down. Sorry, Wade.” She winked at him, “but I’m going to have to put you out of a job – and from where I’m standing, there’s only one way to do it.”
Wade nodded his understanding. “Don’t worry about it, Kim.” He grinned, “if Global Justice goes down, I’m back to freelance.” He paused as he considered Kim’s proposed plan of action. “And you know…that isn’t such a bad idea at all. If you want to take down a corrupt organization like Pisces – and Global along with it –, you can’t go to the authorities. I know you’re fearless enough to do it, but those two groups are far too big to not have agents in very high places.” He nodded sagely to himself as he continued. “Yeah, it seems like you have to cross over if you want to make a real difference.”
Kim grinned, “And cause more crime than they can deal with?” She still wasn’t sure how she felt about causing crime. She’d have to have a very good, very long talk with Shego about that. The older woman had been a hero in her own day, after all.
Wade nodded slowly again. “It looks like Kim Possible is a villain now.” He typed a little more on his computer. “Listen, I’ll help whenever I can, but that’s only the first week of every month. For now, I’ve got three pieces of advice for you. First, even though Pisces Enterprises causes many crimes, their profits don’t come from the crimes themselves, but from ‘solving’ the crimes they cause. If you cut into their profit margin by causing crimes they can’t solve – and thus can’t get paid for solving –, one of two things should happen: they’ll eventually go bankrupt and close down, or they’ll get desperate and start trying to make money off their crimes, which means they’ll get sloppy and someone like me can expose them. Once exposed, it shouldn’t take long for the world’s superpowers to get together to finish the job you’ve started and tear Pisces apart, leaving Global Justice ripe for new management, or old management if Dr Director is still interested.”
“Hey,” Kim interrupted. “Wade, do you think you could get me in touch with her? I could use any info she might have on the organization she created.”
Wade shook his head sadly, “unfortunately, I can’t figure out where she is. The last time I had any kind of contact with her was about a year ago when I delivered a package for a ‘Kelly Tor Direc’ in New York City. Not a very imaginative pseudonym, if you ask me. But, when I tried to track Ms Direc down, all records of her existence vanished – right before my eyes.” He snorted, mildly amused by his failure. “I think she’s out there somewhere, and you’ll most likely run into her at some point, but I have no clue where.” He stopped, changing gears. “My second piece of advice, make sure you think long and hard before taking that first step with your new ally – you could get seriously burned if you’re not careful, either by her or by the authorities.”
Not by Shego, though. Kim still couldn’t understand where this weird trust for her arch-foe was coming from. Her smile wavered just a little, “thanks Wade, but like you said – I’m retired. Kim Possible’s been off the radar long enough for the world to forget. It’s time to jump the fence and present a new face to the world. Besides, since I quit hero-going,” she grinned deviously, “I’m halfway over the fence already.”
Wade chuckled, “I guess it helps if you look at it that way – but please, don’t ever smile like that again. It's kinda creepin’ me out.” He shuddered, but then his good-natured smile returned full force. “Final piece of advice – never call me. I’ll contact you at the beginning of my weeks off and I’ll check in routinely every morning at 10 unless we arrange otherwise until I’m back at work. Other than that, don’t try to talk to me. My Scorpio encryption equipment takes a few minutes to warm up, and Global can trace any transmission until it’s at full power.”
Kim stopped at Shego’s room. “Alright, Wade. I’m at the meeting place now so I have to go, but thanks – for everything.”
The boy on the screen just shrugged. “Hey, if you can get me out from under Global Justice’s thumb, we’ll call it even.” He reached for a key off-screen. “I’m back at work tonight, so I’ll talk to you next month.” He paused, but then stiffened as a sudden idea occurred to him. “Oh, and just so you know, I’ve had a bit of a plan in the works for a while, but was just waiting for the right time to start everything going. You may not have thought about it, but as soon as Global figures out who the new criminal is, they’ll try to take steps to stop you, and that means your family.” Kim gasped, but Wade went on without waiting for her to catch her breath. “I want you to know that you don’t have to worry about it, because I’ve got the best protection available all lined up for them. I have enough time before I have to go into work to get everything set up, so just…don’t worry and focus on your mission.” He looked away and his fingers started flying across another keyboard. “I’d suggest not trying to contact them, because they’re sure to be bugged, but I can keep you more or less on top of what’s going on. It’ll give me something to tell you every month.”
Kim smiled tensely, mildly reassured but still disgusted that the organization she’d helped out time and again would stoop so low. “alright – I’ll see you in three weeks then, Wade. Bye.”
“See you ‘round, Kim.” He stabbed at a key and the screen went dark.
Slipping the black device back into her pocket, Kim raised her key card and slid it into the lock on the door, opening it and slipping into Shego’s hotel room.
Just like the hotel concierge had said, “Teri” wasn’t there. The hotel room was empty, save for a single carry-on sized satchel-type bag that sat beside the room’s one double bed, reasonably filled and closed up tight.
Kim walked silently into the room and looked around, analyzing what she saw as well as she could and retraining herself for her coming re-emersion into the world she’d tried to leave behind. It looks like the world just can’t do without a Kim Possible – a good Kim Possible. That last was added when she thought about Wade’s opinion of her replacement.
The bed was made neatly, though it was still only 6 in the morning and too early for any of the housekeeping staff to have started their rounds. The probable reason for the neatness of the sheets was the fact that Shego – like Kim – had spent the entire night on the town. So the tidy bed was in fact a product of the hotel staff’s work from yesterday. The carpet was vacuumed and still had the tell-tale lines of the machine’s rollers. The room’s drapes were drawn all the way to the edges of the window, giving a not-so-impressive view of the sprawling suburbs of Montreal’s West Island. Stepping over to the closed bag – black leather, unsurprisingly – and opened it slowly, careful not to do more than look closely at the contents. The bag was filled with clothes and several odds and ends, some electronic and unidentifiable and others just some useless-looking trinkets. Lying on top of on of Shego’s spare bodysuits was a keychain with two keys hanging off it; one was a shiny grey metal house key while the other was a car key that bore the easily recognised Ferrari logo, stamped on the side of the black hard plastic head of the key. Kim raised her eyebrows at that. Shego has a Ferrari? Damn, I should have gone villain a long time ago; it sure as heck pays better.
She chuckled at her own thoughts and zipped Shego’s bag closed. It had never been a question of money to her before – she had just done everything for the thrill it offered. And even now, the promise of riches gained from a life of crime, wasn’t all that enticing to her. Riding around in a Ferrari with Shego, on the other hand…
God – what’s gotten into me? Kim tried to shake the traitorous thoughts that told her there was more than friendship at work here; now was so not the time.
She stood from the neatly packed bag and turned to move into the bathroom of the hotel room. It too was spotless and unused since the hotel staff had done their thing yesterday. There was nothing more Kim could learn from her surroundings without her gear, and she didn’t want to take the effort to pull anything out of her bag, which was still slung on her back – especially not when Shego could return at any moment to uselessly wait for the former heroine’s arrival.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Kim felt Shego approaching the hotel room from the elevators, radiating slight annoyance – and maybe a drop of embarrassment. Aw, nuts! She looked around for a place to hide. She wasn’t really supposed to be here yet. I could bug her about beating her here, but then she’d know that I snooped through her stuff. I’ve got to get out of here!
Too late.
Kim heard a key card slide into the room’s lock, and she reacted instantly. Using her powers as an elemental, she transformed her entire body into water vapour, taking her clothes and bag with her.
No matter how many times she did it, Kim never got used to the sensation of her body expanding beyond her normal dimensions, spreading out to fill an entire room as water vapour didn’t have the same rigidity as a solid body. Her vision was weird too; she could see everything around her at once, as if her eyeballs were back-to-back. And even though her retinas were now transparent – and thus had no surface to receive light particles to translate into data to send to her optic nerves –, she could still see perfectly, though her vision was always a little disorienting, what with seeing everything around her at once.
I hate 360 degree vision.
She heard the door in the main room open swiftly, and drifted her way into that part of the hotel room, waiting to watch Shego at work when she thought she was alone. If she had a face, it would be grinning madly, eyes bright with the unexpected opportunity for mischief.
This should be good.
I can’t believe she beat me here.
Shego stormed off the elevator. That idiotic concierge didn’t have to say anything for her to know Kim was here. His big, dopey grin when he’d greeted her had clued her into the fact that something was up. There were very few things that could have made that man so gleeful at the sight of her, and one of them was Kim Possible’s presence in her room waiting for her.
He’d even gone so far as to call her over to tell her that she didn’t have any messages – not that she’d really expected any, being in hiding and all. Of course, it didn’t seem like her cover had been blown, and neither did it appear that the old man behind the reception desk had recognized the retired heroine, so Shego just punched the button on the elevator angrily.
She slid her key card into the lock and then ripped it out, shoving the door open. God, I’ll never hear the end of this. “Okay, Kimmie – what the…?”
Her hotel room was empty.
“Where are you?” Shego slowly stepped into the room, closing the door behind her with a loud-seeming click. The bathroom was empty too. “I know you’re here.”
Suddenly, her vision swam, as if a cloud had passed through the room and she’d been standing in the middle of it. She even felt moisture on her face, and she’d felt a soft gust of wind. What the hell?
She reached up and wiped the cool moisture off her face with one finger. Then, on some inexplicable impulse, she opened her mouth and licked her finger, tasting whatever the moisture was. Just as she’d thought, it was just water.
But where did it come from?
Shego walked over to her bag and reached out one hand to brush the black nylon, just beside the zipper. If I know my Kimmie… She felt a gentle wave of curiosity and apprehension ripple through her. Standing, she grinned – satisfied. “So,” she whipped around in a circle to look behind her. Kim really was nowhere to be seen. “You’re a curious little thing aren’t you? But you’re also not sure if you want to have this talk with me.” She breathed deeply, inhaling her rival’s emotional response to her statement. When she identified it, her grin widened. “Surprised?”
“Ooh, you’re good; tell me your secret.”
The disembodied voice came from behind the villainess, and she whipped around to face it. She grinned as she sensed a duel of power and wits fast approaching. “Show yourself first, hero.” Just like old times, she thought. God, I’ve missed this.
A familiar giggle answered from her far left and she turned to face it, her heart skipping a beat as old, long-forgotten childhood fears of ghosts and monsters surfaced in her head.
“My, you’re jumpy.” This time, the voice came from right beside her left ear. Shego felt that inexplicable sensation of water on her face again and shivered in mild fear. “Don’t you worry, my friend. I’m the only one here – I can promise you that.” Friend, Shego thought, thinking back to her own developing feelings for this young woman. If only you’d give me more to work with. Kim seemed to start walking around her slowly in a tight circle, but Shego couldn’t tell from any more than the closeness of the redhead’s voice. “If you can catch me, I’ll show myself. Then, we can get this talk of yours over with. Deal?”
Shego’s confidence finally returned. “Deal, but I get help.” She pulled off her almleti-lined gloves and wiggled her fingers. “And don’t worry – there’s plenty of water in the bathroom.” She raised her hands, their deadly green glow fully present now, un-blocked by the confining alloy core of her gloves. “Your pocket-nerd gave you something didn’t he?”
“Ooh, tough girl,” Kim taunted, moving faster now, unpredictably so Shego couldn’t track her. “Your hands can’t do anything to me; not like this.
“Are you sure about that, hero?” Shego turned to try and follow her opponent. “Your camouflage can’t save you, Kimmie. You’d better quit before you get burned.”
Kim laughed quietly this time, her voice coming from only millimetres away from Shego’s face. “Now, when have I ever quit? You have to beat me, and you should know by now that you don’t scare me.” Kim drew back once more, moving away from the floundering villain. “So – come on!”
Shego sighed, but her smile returned. “Alright – I’ll play.”
“Excellent.”
Shego felt a shiver run up her spine as she tasted Kim’s excitement in the air again. It was undiluted by anything. God, she thought. Pure Kimmie-excitement…I’ve been waiting four damned years to get this again. “You know,” she breathed, savouring the exquisite scent of lilies and dark chocolate. “If we spend much more time together, you’re going to have to learn to curb your excitement – it’s distracting, intoxicating…” She turned in a slow circle, momentarily lost in the delicious taste that wafted off of Kim’s mind. Her eyes fluttered half-closed, and she even felt her knees start to weaken. “But, I do love the taste, so we should be able to reach a compromise.”
Kim’s voice was stationary in one corner of the room. “Okay, you’re starting to scare me now, Shego.”
Shego’s eyes snapped open and she leapt from where she stood to the corner where Kim’s voice had come from. “Game over, Princess; show yourself.”
“Not even close, Shego.” Kim had gotten all the way across the room without getting caught. “Care to try again.”
Shego wiped fresh water off her face. Damn, someone needs to fix the humidity in this place, she thought. Or, Kimmie’s toy’s leaking something, but it’s just water. She inhaled again and tasted a change in the quality of the excitement in the air. Kim’s amusement was tainting the flavour ever-so-slightly, robbing Shego of her favourite emotion. She felt anger flare up at the injustice of it all, “not at all, hero-girl.” She started stalking around the room, clenching and unclenching her fists. “Now here’s a challenge I’ve missed; taking you on in a fair fight.”
Kim’s amusement faded away, leaving only her excitement behind, much to Shego’s delight. “I don’t know, Shego. When you find out what I’m doing to avoid you, you’ll call me for cheating.”
Shego grinned, “Ooh – bad girl,” she mocked. “Are you sure villainy isn’t the life for you? I can tell you’d be good at it.” She felt that mysterious sensation of passing through a cloud again.
Kim’s voice came from right beside her ear again. “I guess that all depends,” a wash of moisture across Shego’s face, and then Kim’s voice was at her other ear. “It certainly is a tempting offer.” The hidden girl’s excitement spiked to a much higher level, and Shego felt her knees actually start to tremble at the strength of it’s affect on her. The villainess’ eyes were wide in surprise at the heroine’s boldness. “The pay is better of course. I’ve played the hero my whole life, and all I have to show for it is my Civic. You, on the other hand,” Shego felt the light brush of a finger on her cheek, but she was far too distracted to reach out and grab her opponent and win this new game. “You get a Ferrari? That’s hardly fair.” Despite her words, Kim’s mind continued to give off that same amount of excitement, as well as a growing jumble of a dozen other emotions that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
Shego whipped around and threw out her arms to catch Kim if she tried to retreat away, but all she grabbed was overly-wet air. “Too bad.” She felt water drip from her fingers. “Sorry, Princess, but my Ferrari’s one-of-a-kind; you can’t have one.” She turned slowly, hoping to catch a hint of where Kim was – a shimmer in the air, a quick flicker in the light – anything. “But, I suppose I could learn to share.” She kept her voice low, tempting Kim closer if she wanted to hear what she was saying. “I must say, Kimmie,” she even followed the advice she yelled whenever thriller movies were playing on TV and looked up. Maybe Kim was simply hanging from the ceiling right above her. No such luck. “Whatever you’re doing to hide from me, it’s good – really good.” She dove to one side, reaching out her arms to wrap around the source of the scent-flavours in the air. Once again, she caught only air – unusually moist air.
Turning once more in a circle, Shego realized she was getting tired of this. This wasn’t the kind of fight she wanted from her Kimmie. She wanted to be able to see the girl as she blocked a punch, ducked a kick…countered with on of her own…
She let her shoulders slump in resignation. If this was the only way to get her rival to show herself so they could have a real fight, so be it. “Alright Kim, I give; your camouflage is just too good for me.”
She felt the water on her hand grow denser and cooler. “What the hell?” She moved to brush the moisture off her hand, but neither of her hands moved. She felt another set of hands gripping her own, holding her arms at her sides and keeping her in place. “What are you doing, Kim?”
“Hold on a second,” the invisible redhead’s voice came from directly in front of Shego, so close to her face that she could feel the warmth of her breath on her cheeks. Oh, God! Shego felt her knees grow close to collapsing under her as she inhaled Kim’s spent breath. It smelled like breath mints; the redhead must have popped a couple to get rid of any bad breath she might have accumulated over the night. What is this? What’s happened to me?
“What are you doing,” Shego tried again, “Kim?”
“Just you wait,” came the whispered reply.
Kim stood frozen, her face a hand’s breadth away from Shego’s. She was still coming to terms with something she’d only just realized.
She’d felt something growing in the back of her mind since the night before, ever since Shego had greeted her in her own apartment. She didn’t know what it was, but there was something familiar about it, which made Kim think that this feeling that was growing in her was somehow connected to her hero going work, now four years past. She wasn’t sure how to proceed with analyzing her own mental reaction to Shego’s reappearance in her life, but she knew that it played an important role in the past nights events.
All night long, Shego’s words had repeated themselves in Kim’s head in a never-ending loop, clamouring for attention that Kim was reluctant to pay; Shego’s words gave rise to a disturbing line of questions, and Kim decided she didn’t have the time or energy to focus on them. Shego had kept mentioning something about getting answers, and that Kim was the only one who could provide them. That alone was enough to make Kim’s head spin with uncomfortable questions, but there were other things too…Shego’s momentary discomfort and edginess when Kim had pressed her for that third thing she’d learned from Kim’s brief lapse in control. Shego was never uncomfortable; Kim had known the pale villain long enough to know that at least. And she was rarely as nervous as she had been in Kim’s apartment – if ever at all. And yet, when Kim had asked about that third nugget of knowledge, Shego had been almost vibrating with nervousness. Kim had almost expected some kind of sound to emanate from Shego’s mind it was trembling so much.
There was also the woman’s intense concern when she’d accidentally burned into Kim’s shoulder. By then, Kim had gotten used to the idea of Shego lacking any hatred for her, but for Shego to completely flip and show concern for her? It was unthinkable. How could Shego have moved from one side to the other so completely? How could there be no remnants of the old hatred, the old way of thinking? Shego really had become a new person in the four years since they’d met, and it threw Kim for a loop.
She had paused in her hunt for a moment to have an interior monologue, letting Shego stew on whatever rooftop she was watching from. I know it’s been four years, but still…What could have cause such a change? It didn’t take a genius to answer that question.
A Revelation.
Kim had turned that one over in her head for a good ten minutes. Whatever information Shego had learned from herself or others had obviously given the woman a full plate of things to think about. Of course, Kim’s first guess would always be that Shego had discovered something about herself or Kim, and had come back to see more – to dig deeper into the truth. It was the only thing that made sense – the only thing that could have drawn Shego out of hiding – and to Kim’s doorstep no less. Then, only one question remained:
What had Shego learned?
Kim had told Wade that she was interested in Shego’s offer, but she hadn’t told him why. The truth was, she couldn’t tell him; she herself didn’t really know. At first, she’d thought it was just the apparent honest of her offer or the intense longing she’d sensed in Shego’s mind as she’d made her offer, but then she’d realized that her interest ran far deeper than that. It was something hidden that had kindled that fire in Kim’s mind.
As Kim had sat in the backseat of the taxi, en route to her rendez-vous with Shego, she had sensed that her mental quest was gradually drawing her closer to the realization that Shego had made, but something lay between her and her goal – an obstacle of some kind. In order for her to discover the truth that had presented itself to Shego, Kim had to first discover her own.
And now, moments before Shego had admitted defeat in this impromptu duel of theirs, Kim was shocked to realize that she’d found her truth.
From the moment that she had left the bathroom of her own apartment, freshly healed from her burned shoulder, Kim had felt something stirring somewhere deep in her heart – a flutter of some unidentifiable emotion. No, not unidentifiable – simply unfamiliar to her. She had never felt this way before in her life, but she was familiar enough with emotions – both her own and those of others – to be able to identify them quite easily. And this one had been growing ever-so-slowly in the back of her mind ever since those few minutes before Shego had left her apartment to start their doomed game of cat-and-mouse. But then, this rather odd game of hide and seek in Shego’s hotel room had sent that feeling roaring to the front of her mind with all the force of a collapsing mountain.
Love.
At first glance, Kim had dismissed it entirely, recoiling from the lie her mind was telling her. She couldn’t love Shego! It would be scandalous if the world found out. It was one thing for Kim to jump the fence and become a villain in order to fight a corrupt organization, but to go even farther and fall for someone who really was a villain – and a woman? It was unthinkable. Kim very nearly shut this revelation out of her mind – at least for now. She was already on the cusp of one life-changing decision; she didn’t need to think about another one…not yet.
But, then again…
Kim turned the idea over in her head, considering what she’d just learned. This particular life-shaping decision wasn’t really that difficult, so she could afford a few seconds analyze herself, right? If there was one thing Kim had learned from her experiences as a telepath, it was that emotions were a subconscious response, and thus could not be manipulated or faked. The subconscious did not lie. Sure, the conscious mind could be forced to exhibit certain emotions, conditioned to feel a certain way, such as Shego’s overbearing hatred for her, but in the end, the subconscious was incapable of showing anything other than what the heart truly felt.
So, Kim brought up all her memories of Shego. Let’s see what my subconscious is trying to tell me…Shego, standing ready to fight, hands blazing emerald: beautiful, yet sadly tragic…Her long black hair flowing behind her as we’ve fought a thousand times: mesmerizing and awe-inspiring…Standing over me in victory: a fearful sight, but one that makes her no less beautiful than the stars…Moments without Shego trying to kill me: lifeless, tedious, boring…
Enough. Kim watched Shego taste the water she’d left on her face as she’d floated into the greater part of the hotel room. Okay, there’s something deep going on between us – at least on my side – I get it. Now, what do I do about it?
She could reveal herself to Shego in all her confused glory and open herself up to the snide remarks, insults, and inevitable rejection if Kim’s feelings for the older woman did in fact turn out to be love. Realistically speaking, Kim could lose her mind and fall for her arch-foe, but Shego was still sane enough to understand the boundaries of this game, right? There was no way that Shego too could have gone nuts and blurred the lines between friend and foe.
Kim hesitantly came to a conclusion, if only to soothe her own mind by answering the question – even if she made the wrong decision. In all rationality, it was a binary question; the answer was either a one or a zero, plus or minus, yes or no…
Love or friendship?
It was clearly beyond the realm of civility; her own comfort and lack of aggression when she’d shared a nice cold coke with the woman proved that at least.
Okay, she thought. There’s a possibility that I love Shego. As much as the thought scores, like, a twelve on the weirdness metre, the chance is still there. So, just for argument’s sake, let’s just say that I do in fact love her…now a new question arises…
Why does the possibility scare me so much?
It took a moment, but Kim suddenly realized it wasn’t the revelation of her newly-discovered feelings for Shego, whether love or simple friendship, that had given her pause, but the even greater possibility of those feelings not being returned.
Does Shego feel the same way about me?
Certainly, there was enough circumstantial evidence to hint that Shego at least cared for her, but it could all be an illusion for all Kim could tell, a sloppy conclusion drawn Kim’s own freshly-revealed feelings for the formerly raven-haired beauty. Yes, I can at least admit that without feeling weird, because – let’s face it – Shego is totally hot, green skin and all. The green skin actually kinda works on her, giving her that forbidding kind of touch-me-and-I’ll-kill-you aura, and her snide, arrogant attitude works too.
Before Kim could catch herself, she realized that she was outlining everything that made Shego so irritating, so infuriating, and just so damn…
Hot.
Alright, Kim relented as she let Shego pass right through her when the all-black clad villain dove across the room. I’ve officially got it bad for my arch-foe. She felt a tremor run through her at the thought of accepting Shego’s offer. Oh, the mischief they could come up with to piss Global Justice off. And there are so many things we could do behind closed doors too, she found herself thinking before she could stop it.
So, lust definitely wasn’t a problem. Now that Kim thought about it, it never really had been. She didn’t think she’d felt this way at the time, but as she thought back on her three years spent fighting the woman, both physically and verbally, she felt a thrill run up her watery spine at every image that passed through her head. Dammit, there has to be something wrong with me, she found herself thinking. Heroines – even ex-heroines – don’t all of a sudden decide to fall in love with their arch-foes. She almost gasped at the fact her own thoughts had revealed to her.
I do love her.
She had to. There was no other real and plausible explanation for the feelings that were coursing through her at this very moment. And if Shego felt the same way, she definitely didn’t want to miss out on the chance to
But, then there was also the possibility that she was reading too far into Shego’s actions and words. It was all too possible that in searching – wishing – for this newfound love to be reciprocated, Kim was simply seeing things in Shego’s behaviour that weren’t there at all. This entire episode could all just be an attempt by an apologetic former enemy to make up for her past hatred, guilty for unjustly hating and despising an innocent person.
So, how to find out how Shego feels about this?
Kim looked Shego up and down as the black-clad woman turned in a quick circle in a fruitless attempt to catch her, and instantly came to a decision. She was afraid – terrified –, but she was no coward. She was afraid that Shego would push her away, that she would dismiss Kim’s feelings outright – offer up some lame Hollywood-ish line about being flattered, but not liking Kim, “in that way”. Kim had no idea what she would do if the older woman shot her down so dismissively. However, if it was any consolation, Kim would have no doubts about where Shego stood after this. Once again, the question she was about to ask was completely binary – yes or no.
But there’s only one way to find out. Kim watched with growing trepidation as Shego’s shoulders slumped and she admitted defeat. It was a rare occurrence, in all their adventures together, for either of them to admit that the other had won; normally they fought endlessly, forever matched equally, until Ron pressed the magic red button, or Drakken called for Shego’s assistance.
“Alright Kim, I give; your camouflage is just too good for me.”
Kim tightened her watery grip on Shego’s hands and felt her fear grow fractionally as her woefully improvised plan began to take shape. I’m risking so much, she thought, ignoring the ache in her chest at the thought of her feelings not being returned.
This was new. Not twelve hours earlier, Kim had been content with her life post-retirement – not happy and not completely fulfilled, but content nonetheless –, but now she was agonizing over a decision she had never imagined she’d have to make, a question she’d never seen herself asking. Strange how seemingly innocent events, when woven together into a whole adventure, turned out to be so important, so…pivotal. It was as if Shego’s rather brazen invasion of her apartment had been the first stone to fall in a whole landslide that wiped away the grit and junk that had built up in her life, uncovering things about herself that she’d never even imagined. Sure, there were times when Kim wondered about her sexuality, but when you were young and in high school, who didn’t – especially if you were very frequently surrounded by the young and quickly maturing girls of the cheer squad? The girls’ locker room was nothing like guys probably imagined it, but that was the place where the entire team changed, and though modesty and embarrassment reigned – for the most part at least –, the thoughts were always there.
Sure, Kim had often wondered, but she’d never thought she would actually take that step.
And there was still the fact that Shego and Kim were supposed to be on opposite sides. The whole “hero falls for the villain story” had always seemed to score untold levels of weirdness for her old gang when it was depicted in movies or books, so she was unlikely to get acceptance from them if she moved forward and asked her jade-shaded friend the question that was so abruptly burning in her soul. So I risk being ostracized by my old friends, she thought. Well, it’s not like I’ve seen them since a little after I retired, and I know they can’t dictate my life. It’s too bad we’ve all grown apart, but I’m not going to deprive myself this chance to cater to their beliefs – not when I have my own, and especially not when we haven’t been in touch for so long.
Kim stared across the centimetres at Shego’s wide and slightly apprehensive eyes. Oh yeah, she thought, this is definitely worth it if there’s even a small chance that she feels the same way. She mentally prepared herself.
Well, here goes nothing.
A/N: Well, here’s a cliffhanger for you – or not. We all know what’s going to happen between Kim and Shego, right? I assume you’ve all been paying attention? Ah, well…it’s not the destination that counts, it’s the journey, and I’m having a blast writing it…
Please review. Tell me what you think. What do you like? What do you Hate? Be honest now…