Together they played out the same scene, they had their cues memorised and their lines were delivered with immeasurable accuracy. As the debris fell the two battled around the newly created obstacles. There was a helicopter waiting on the roof for Kim; Ron and Rufus were already aboard with Drakken in custody. A few seconds more and Kim would be with them and it would be another accomplished mission. Only there was no sign of the bright red head, but a few more seconds was all they had needed. Ron kept crying out as the pilot no longer had a choice, the building was collapsing below them; they had to leave or add to the casualty count. To men on board had to restrain Ron to stop him jumping back, his cries out met with the savage sounds of ripping steel and collapsing concrete. To add to their misery, the heavens opened drowning them in the cold rains of the north.
Kim ran up the collapsing stair well, as she reached the roof she could make out the helicopter in the moon light leaving the compound. As she ran to the other side of the roof the concrete cracked and caved below her, screaming out to anyone that would listen the cheerleader fell back into the condemned building. The fall dazed her but did little damage, a few cuts that would heal. She spun around looking for an exit, the blaring siren and the flashing lights did little to aid her concentration. He vision was becoming hazy; did she hit her head as she fell? She didn’t remember any head trauma. As she fell forward onto her knees a sickening realisation hit her. The building was on fire, the smoke was suffocating her.
Clutching at items she pulled herself up and carried on fighting through the debris, Shego was no where to be found. When she made her way up the stairwell the raven woman wasn’t on her tail, in fact she didn’t remember her following her at all. Some of the building had caved while they were fighting and then that was it. A gasp caught in her throat, Shego was still in here and she was trapped. Her body was trying to tell her to leave, but her heart was telling her to find her. Shego might be her nemesis, but Kim was no murderer. She knew if she left her, the dark woman’s death would be forever on her conscience.
Calling out above the racket she scanned the area looking for any movement. Reaching behind her she felt for her kimmunicator, a wash of relief ran over her as she pulled it from her trousers. Wade flashed on the screen and instantly started shouting at her,
“Kim!! You need to get out! Why are you still there! Go! Now!!” His hands were waving franticly.
“Wade, can it. I need you to scan the building, is anyone else in here?” His hands whirred away at her request, he was still telling her to get out and damn anyone left behind. A schematic of the building flashed up on her screen, there was a red dot softly bleeping on the map.
“Kim, if that dot disappears, who ever it is didn’t make it. Don’t keep looking if it goes out! Just get out of there a-sap!” The image of a bloodied up Kim left his screen, he returned to trying to organise a rescue op to get Kim out of there.
“Just hang on, just hang on,” Kim mumbled her mantra as she scrambled through the wreckage. It was both for her and whoever the dot was. Glancing between the debris and the map she soon reached a pile of rubble and steel, whoever it was, was under it.
Thrusting the kimmumicator back in her pocket she grabbed at lumps of concrete and plaster throwing them aside. Getting into the pile she coughed out at the smoke, but through the haze she could make out a hand wrapped in a torn glove. The sight forced her to continue; soon she had uncovered the wracked torso of Shego. Kim dropped down and was relieved to find her semi conscious but alive. Digging further she managed to free the woman’s body, she was drifting in and out of consciousness, she needed to get them both outside and away from the smoke.
An explosion in the building sent a boulder of concrete the size of a car into the wall. It cracked under the impact, taking out her grappling hook Kim fired at the broken wall, the hook found purchase, making sure she could hold her ground against a pile of debris she pulled on the hook. Parts of the wall came away with it providing a small hole in the building, fresh air forced its way into the room fuelling the flames with oxygen. It was now or never. Running to the wall she grasped onto Shego’s body and rolled them out the hole and into the compound. She had no time to stop; using the last bit of energy she had she bolted through the fence and out of the compound with Shego over her shoulders.
As she fell into the snow surrounding the compound the building erupted from the newly fuelled fire. The explosion sent debris flying high above and around the complex. Looking up she saw the falling debris and it filled her full of dread; she threw her body over Shego to shield her from the falling remnants of the lair. Cement, plaster, steel and glass fell from the sky. Each time a piece hit her, the cheer leader stifled her cries; the fresh air was rousing Shego below her.
“Possible what the f…” as she yelled out a scrap of red hot steel landed on the back of her protector. Kim’s scream cut her off and resonated in the valley. Shego rolled them over and dragged Kim away into the safe cover of the trees. Kim was still crying out from the burn, satisfied they were a safe distance from the eruption Shego laid her down with her back to the snow; Kim’s cries became whimpers as the frozen snow soothed her rapidly blistering skin.
“I’ll ask again, what happened Possible? You should have been long gone before the fire even broke out.”
Kim propped herself up on her elbows, “I couldn’t leave you in there Shego. It’s no way to go even for an evil sidekick.”
Shego just scoffed out of defiance, Kim brought herself to her knees. Taking her glove from her hand she grabbed Shego’s face, “Shego, you have a fever, we need to get under cover somewhere and fast.” The dark woman ripped her face away.
“A lady would at least buy me dinner first.” Kim rolled her eyes. “Anyway what do you care Possible?” Kim fell back sitting in the snow.
“Shego. We hurt, we need help and until we do we gotta look out for each other.” Shego tried to stand, a flash of pain hit her face but she forced it back so Kim couldn’t see. Leaning against a tree for support she spat out her reply.
“I don’t need your help Possible, Dr D will come back for me. Wow, I really said that and I don’t even believe it.” The falling rain and the cold snow below them were slowly freezing their bodies. As the rain soaked them the cold ground almost froze their clothes.
“Look whatever Shego, I don’t care, we need to find shelter and find a way to get home. If we stay out here tonight we’re both gonners. Understand?” Shego sneered at her in insolence. She was still leaning on the tree for support.
“Fine, there’s a small town over in the valley. Maybe there’s something there…” Shego’s eyes rolled back in her head as legs buckled under her as she fell into the snow with a soft thud. Kim rushed to her and checked her vitals; if she wasn’t quick, soon they’d both have hyperthermia. Bundling the black and green woman in her arms she ran back towards the compound. There had to be something there she could use.
The rain had let up, but a snow storm was on the horizon. “Great, just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse.” Surveying the destruction Kim’s heart jumped when she saw a hole in the complex’s floor. Tentatively climbing up and over the wreck she got close enough to check it out. Carefully she laid Shego out on the floor. “Just don’t break yet, please.” She was whispering over again to the storm.
Jumping into the hole the musty room was filled with darkness, the only light provided by the moon above. Grabbing a flare from her tattered back pack Kim tossed the red light into the room. “Underground bunker? Score one for the bad guys.” In the gloom she could make out a few cots, shelves stuffed with canned food and huge bottles of water. There was a light but the explosion had fried all electrics, even her kimmunicator couldn’t get an outside line.
There was a rope ladder rolled by the hole, unravelling it Kim climbed out. The snow had started to fall; there was already a light cover over Shego’s body. Kim grabbed her and pulled her inside into the gloom below. Her first priority was light and warmth, fumbling around in the dark she managed to find a few glow sticks in the bunker, cracking them provided little light, but it was enough for now. Kim moved Shego to the cots there; the darker woman’s clothing was frozen solid. She worked frantically to remove it.
She hung Shego’s suit over a shelving unit as she wrapped the villainess in several blankets. Shego still had a temperature, and to make matters worse she was covered in lacerations. But there was one on her upper arm and abdomen that needed urgent attention. Kim almost tore the place apart looking for a first aid box and a sewing kit. Before she could close up her wounds they needed to be cleaned, for her own safety if any Kim bound the older woman to the cot. The iodine was going to hurt and if anything would rouse her unconscious patient.
“Here goes nothing,”
Carefully she cleaned around the wounds sterilising the skin, Shego murmured a little but she didn’t wake up. Kim had managed to get the upper arm wound to stop bleeding, it would still need stitches but Shego’s abdomen was priority while she still had some light. Packing gauze onto the wound she cleared up a lot of the blood, thankfully the bleed was rather slow. She could make out no internal damage so she went ahead to try and stem the bleeding so that she could close her up.
It took about five minutes to get the bleeding to stop; if Shego came around at all she was definitely going to be woozy. Here’s what it came down to, Kim held the needle in her hand threaded and ready; she was reciting her mother’s instructions for stitches. She had taught her a long time ago in case of injury on a mission. She kept glancing up from Shego’s abdomen to her face every few minutes as she closed the wound; the darker woman flinched every now and then. The cause was uncertain, but at least she was still alive. In no time Kim had managed to seal both wounds, she was checking herself over now for anything minor. The burn on her back was inconvenient, but the cold packs were helping with the pain.
The glow sticks were beginning to fade, they needed a real light and heat source soon or they would get hyperthermia and all Kim’s hard work would be for nothing. Taking one of the sticks she explored the boundaries of the bunker. Searching through cupboards and shelves her spirits rose when she dug out a bag of kindling and pre-chopped wood.
“This is far too convenient. But hey, I’m not complaining. But seriously, why would it be here?” A voice made her almost jump out of her skin.
“Because Dr D finally got himself a fire place, he said it made the lair look more homely. It stank the place out is what it did, he burnt it one night and refused to do it again when he lost his eyebrows.” Kim knelt at the side of the cot.
“How are you feeling? If it hurts too much I have some morphine over there.” Kim put her hand to the other woman’s forehead. She still had a temperature. Shego jumped at the touch and tried to move away, it was then that she realised.
In a sickeningly sweet voice she drawled, “Kimmie, sweetie, why on Earth am I TIED UP!!!” Kim fell backwards at the yelling. “You know I could break them don’t you? Like butter.”
“I know, I know, I figured it would help while I stitched you up.” Kim was rubbing the back oh her head in bemusement, why hadn’t the thought occurred before that it was indeed futile to restrain her.
“While you what?” Shego’s rage instantly left her, her hunched shoulders fell back and her features softened. As she fell back into unconsciousness.
TBC