It wasn't greedy, it wasn't sexy, it wasn't long, and there was no tongue. Each girl just let her lips be parted by the other's, and it was a simple experience of sharing and of warmth, of need and exposure. When they broke off, there was nothing more that needed saying. So they both dried their eyes, and left, without a word.
“Mr. Stoppable? You may go in now” the secretary said curtly.
Ron broke out of his Zen-like trance and blinked. His mind was as clear as it was going to get, but he still dreaded one-on-one interviews with the Director.
When he came back out, forty-five minutes later, he was visibly pale and breathing hard. He resumed his previous seat next to Josh, who looked at him compassionately.
“Kim, you're next.” Ron was barely able to say it loud enough to be heard.
Kim had also been trying to calm herself, her thoughts focused on images of Panda-Roo, her stuffed animal of a security-blanket. It was juvenile, she knew, but juvenile or not, it helped. Panda-Roo had always had - maybe always would have - an unchanging, secure, safe place in her consciousness. She didn't need its actual presence anymore, memories would do. She took a deep breath and went in.
After an hour, she came out. She had obviously been crying, and was still sniffling, her eyes still reddened. Once the door closed behind her, she blinked, as if remembering where she was, and said, “Josh… your turn.”
“Me? But… but I'm just here for moral support… I don't have anything to do with -” his protest was cut off.
“I'm sorry, Josh” Ron said, unable to look the other boy in the eye, “I had to tell her about us. And she doesn't even care about… about that, but if something affects you, it affects me, and she had to know.” Ron paused for a moment. “I told her everything I know about you. I told her you liked chess, Josh.”
Josh blinked. His obsession with chess was his most closely-guarded secret. He had never told anyone about it, except Ron. He didn't want to be a chess-freak, and he knew that if he ever were to play in public, it would get out. Josh had never played anyone a game of chess, except for Ron, and Ron was easily beat, even when Josh would handicap himself by starting the game with only a few pieces on the board, and all pawns, at that. Oddly enough, they both still enjoyed the games.
But Josh wasn't just “good”, at chess. He was a savant. He could spot mistakes in the games of Grand-Masters, champion Grand-Masters. He had a whole library of chess-books hidden away, and amused himself by seeing how many moves he could have saved each opponent in historical matches. But he had no interest in competition, and even less notoriety. It was a private thing. He didn't really understand why he felt that way, but he did.
Ron looked him in the eye, finally. “Go on. Don't try to hide anything. She's not mean… she's just… observant.”
Josh swallowed and got up. Before turning the doorknob, he looked over at Ron again, but he was staring at the floor.
Shego thought, Saving the best for last. This is just cruel. I hate the bitch already.
An hour later, the office door opened and Josh came back out. He stared at each of them in turn, even the secretary, looking as if he'd never seen a human being before. Then he closed the door, and took his seat next to Ron. “Okay, Shego. And… Shego? Good luck.”
About fuckin’ time, was all Shego thought. Only Ron was watching as she got up and went to the door. After turning the knob, but before opening it, she looked back around at Kim, but Kim was looking away, holding her breath.
“Have a seat, Ms. Go” the Director said, getting up from her chair. She turned to look out the window behind her desk as Shego did so.
Before she was even seated, the Director said “Let's not start off with any misconceptions: I don't like you, Ms. Go. You have cost me and my organization a great deal of time and money, and we have nothing to show for it.” Dr. Director turned around to face her. “Until now. So. Tell me, Ms. Go, what is it you want?”
“I want to make a deal” Shego said simply, trying to act non-plussed.
“Oh, do you… and here I thought you were selling magazine subscriptions” the Director's voice dripped with sarcasm. “Try again, Ms. Go, and consider your answer carefully, this time.”
“I… I want…” Shego kicked herself for stammering, “… to minimize the -”
“You're involved in a relationship with Kim Possible, is that right? A homosexual relationship?” the Director cut her off abruptly.
Shego was stunned a moment before answering. “Yes” she finally said. She was about to say, What's that got to do with anything? but before she got the chance, the Director was speaking again.
“So would it be accurate to say that what you want is to continue to develop that relationship? Would it be fair to say, ‘you want to be with her’?”
Stunned again, Shego could only swallow. “Yes.”
“Well, that wasn't so far to go, now was it? I expect you to be more forthcoming with your answers from here on out, Ms. Go.”
Shego heard herself say, “Yes, ma'am.”
The Dr. continued, “Let me tell you what I want. I want to see you locked up for a long, long time. In fact, I have commissioned a study to see just how that could be done, and at what expense. That is what I want. I'm telling you this so we won't have any confusion, later on. Do you understand, Ms. Go?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
“Good. Now. We have established why you've come here. Let me ask another question: why now? I am led to believe this relationship has existed for some time, has it not?”
“Yes… no… not like…” Shego had to stop. She had to collect her thoughts. Her first thought was, That's none of your goddamn business! Just ship me off to prison and be done with it! but then she remembered Kim's words – don't try to be clever. She'll push your buttons to see how you react.
Think before you answer.
Eventually, Shego said, carefully, “My life has changed. I have friends now. I'm in love. I don't want things to continue like they have been for me. I'm tired of it.” Dammit! I shouldn't have said ‘I'm tired of it', she'll use that to -
“Tired of it? You're TIRED of being a villian? Well, by all means, if you're tired of it, you should just stop, go home, and enjoy the remainder of your life! Really, Ms. Go, do -”
Now it was Shego's turn to cut-off Dr. Director, “I will be more careful with my language, in the future. Ma'am.”
She learns fast, thought the Director.
“I hope so” the Director said icily. She turned around to look out her window again. “Tell me about your career, Ms. Go. An overview, if you would.”
It was a strange monologue. Shego knew that every word she spoke could be picked apart by the Director at will, any inconsistency spotted, any falsehoods revealed. So she tried her best to report on the last four years of her life – her villianess life – in as unbiased a manner as she could. It was exhausting. Dr. Director did catch her up a few times, pointing out effects she hadn't considered, finding connections she'd missed. The intellect of the woman was staggering.
Going through the Lee missions was especially hard. The Director never said a word, but Shego knew she was listening, and felt ashamed, because she knew the Director was probably putting the pieces together in exactly the ways she herself was afraid to think about.
When she was done, she stood up from her chair, legs stiff. The Director seemed to be admiring a painting in her office.
“You have a great deal of debt to pay” the Director said.
“Yes, ma'am.”
Dr. Director turned around sharply. “Then start paying it.” She pushed a pad of Post-It's toward the young woman. “We'll start with money, then move on to other assets. Bank name, country, account numbers, approximate amount in each.” She set a pen down beside the pad.
Shego looked at the blank yellow pads and sighed. She sat down again, and picked up the pen. She started writing:
Banque Centrale du Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 34454669-34, 2.5M.
Commercial Federal Bank, Cleveland, OH, U.S.A., 99845222, .5M
That's one foreign, and the domestic account. I could just give her those. She has no way of knowing… I need the rest of it! I EARNED it! Maybe illegally, but I never actually killed anybody… The images from her dreams suddenly appeared in her mind. No, she hadn't actually killed them herself, but… if it weren't for her, they wouldn't be dead. Was that the same thing? If she hadn't done those things, Lee would have just found someone else to do them. But, finally, that didn't matter.
If it weren't for me, they wouldn't be dead, she thought again. The images… the images that Ron had saved her from… and Kim, by sleeping next to her in the tiny twin bed…
Shego stared at the piece of paper she'd written the two accounts on, the presence of Dr. Director forgotten for the time being.
Give it all up, Shego. Everything. Walk out of here with only the clothes on your back – and even they're borrowed. Walk out of here, walk into prison… but walk out of here…
Clean.
The Director was watching her closely. Shego had been staring at the yellow paper for close to five minutes, without moving. C'mon, Shego, the Director thought, do it. Go the whole way. Renounce it all…
Suddenly, as if waking up, Shego ripped off the top sheet, and began writing again:
UBS, Switzerland, 4454877-334, 230M
TDT Bank, Northern Mariana, 58b677-4, 75M
She tore off another sheet:
Banco Terazzata, Brazil, 3397530-334, 22M
Bermuda Commercial Bank, Bermuda, 23845h44, 6M
And still another sheaf from the pad.
Finally, she had six sticky-notes arranged in a square on Dr. Director's desk. But still she wasn't done.
Something had hold on Shego, some kind of overwhelming urge, or desire, or perhaps just wish. The wish to be clean, to throw it all away and start over. She wrote down the address of her secret apartment, where she kept things that actually meant something special to her. The locations of real estate she owned. Jewelry. Antique furniture. Extremely rare wine. The leasing agreement for her LearJet, the title for her Lotus, everything she could think of, whether it had any real value or not.
Dr. Director's desk was littered with little yellow sheets of paper. Shego sat back again, and closed her eyes. Take it. Take it all. I have what I need. And you can't keep her away from me, even in prison.
She opened her eyes to find the Director calmly sitting opposite her, as if they'd just shared a cup of tea. She seemed amused.
“Please wait outside, Ms. Go. I have some thinking to do” she said.
“Shego!” Kim was already out of her chair, having jumped up when she heard the knob begin to turn. “What happened? You've been in there for hours! What'd she say? Are you going to…”
“We're to wait awhile longer, Pumpkin” she said tiredly. “She's thinking.”
“Ms. Go, Kim, gentlemen. I have made my decision” Dr. Director turned to face Shego directly. “You can thank your compatriots here - you shall not go to prison.” A sigh of relief went around the room.
“Instead, you shall work off your rather massive debt to society… by working for us.”
“Wha-” Shego began, then stopped herself. One didn't say “what?” to the Director if you had heard her the first time.
“You shall be paid at the G-3 level. Come in tomorrow to sign the papers.” She seemed to consider her next words carefully, “Should you chose to refuse this… parole, then prison is still an option. And should you refuse that, too, then our relationship will stand as it has for the last few years. What do you chose, Ms. Go?”
“I… the GJ? I mean…” Shego was still struggling with the ramifications, “… Yes. Ma'am. I'll work for you.”
“Good.” The Director turned to the rest of the group. “I have taken all your testimony into account, and that, among other things, is what has led me to this conclusion. But be warned, if Shego returns to her old ways, it is not your asses on the line. It is mine. I will not be forgiving again.”
Having had a little time to think, Shego asked the Director, “But I thought you wanted me locked away?”
“I still do, Ms. Go. That's the difference between you and me. I do not base my actions on what I want. I base them on what's best for everybody. Not you, not me. Everybody. And you will be of far greater value to my organization as part of it, rather than whiling away the days in prison.”
“Go down to see Elle”, The Dr. told her, then to Kim, “ - down in the lab section, next to D, the armorer”, then back to Shego, “ - to get outfitted. Doubtless Elle will still be there, even at this hour.”
Kim couldn't contain herself any longer, and threw her arms around Shego in a bear-hug, squeezing the breath out of her. “Shego!”
“Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm late for my dinner. Mr. Dr. Director is going to skin me alive”, the Director said.
The four of them watched her walk away, their mouths hanging open, wondering who in hell could ever skin her alive.