Mind, body, and Soul

Drakken’s Labratory: The Next Day.

Failure! Kara Fang thought, her face unnaturally calm. Shego’s control… destroyed! And my men… useless!

Kara stood in the middle of the laboratory and gazed at the destroyed communications console. Her blue eyes flashed with rage and her fingers crumpled the half-melted remains of the plasma ring remote that she had picked up from the bench.

A few hours… a few hours meeting her Master. A meeting that hadto take place, and while she had given control for just three hours… Shego had escaped. Escaped under the very nose of someone she placed in charge.

Free… and uncontrolled. For the time being at least. My plans are damaged and I must come up with a solution! Drakken must be stroked… My master needs to be reassured and re primed!Kara kicked at a hunk of metal that had cooled into a misshapen lump.How could this have happened? Just when I was about to show the Jade I am perfect to lead them!”

“So, how many did Shego kill?” Kara glanced across at her second in command, Dojo master Quia and tilted her eyebrows. “Well?”

“None… Mistress.” The elderly Dojo master bowed. “All knocked unconscious or rendered unable to fight. They do have broken limbs, ribs and physical damage, but nothing life threatening.”

Kara nodded and the Master shuffled slightly. Fang was always at her most dangerous when she tapped these calming reserves. It usually meant she was close to showing her… other side. Having met it once in combat, Quia had no desire to meet it again.

“This is laughable. Even Drakken San’s synth-drones performed better than our trained guard.” Kara growled slightly, the remote remains falling from her clenched fingers. “Escaped… Drakken unconscious, the comm system destroyed, and Shego herself, free to alert our next target that we are a very real threat indeed. What of the hovercraft?”

“It was under refit. The GPS system did not have co-ordinates of the main base, which is why Dr Drakken had grounded it, thankfully. So, we should remain undetected for quite some time.”

“Good… a small silver lining in any case.” Kara gazed at the comm system. “Destroyed… and we are unable to use Drakken’s creation to control Shego until it is rebuilt.”

For without it, I am as good as dead.

“Well, the remotes for the Pareo Servus are still capable of sending the obey command for anyone who holds it.” Quia sighed. “But they have to be activated close to the target… close enough that anyone would notice our use of such a device to give orders. Certainly Possible San… She would see Shego’s reaction and what caused it.”So would others…

“Then this must be rebuilt.” Kara muttered. “And quickly. I am tired of waiting for Shego to become my puppet, and for Possible San to become a willing Assassin for the Jade.”

“Dr Drakken is still unconscious. Shego gave him quite a blast of plasma.” Quia sighed. “But I think the scientists, under Carl’s capable leadership can rebuild it. They can at least get started while Dr Drakken recovers.”

“I have recovered!” Kara’s gaze flicked to the right as Drakken, a bandage across his forehead, hobbled gently into the lab through the damaged doorway. “Believe me, you get used to Shego’s plasma attacks when she works for you.”

Spying Kara, the blue man walked over to her. To her Dojo Master’s surprise, his Mistress breathed a sigh of relief.

“Ah, Doctor… no worse for wear, I see.”

“Miss Fang, I am so sorry.” Drakken coughed slightly and winced as his bruised ribs spiked with pain. “The plasma ring didn’t hold her. That was my fault, I was so certain I had calculated all of Shego’s abilities.”

Stroke… keep him calm, you need him. You need him to help you speed the processes! Shego has taken too long and could yet be my ruin! For Kim Possible San, I will need something far more effective if I am to… no, do not think of it now, focus on the present!

Kara’s face remained neutral. “I must admit Doctor, her ability to generate an ion field is also new to me. How can we plan for something neither of us has ever seen? If anything, I should apologise for the… the laughable way my Ninja’s protected you!”

I will remember she can do that. Most dangerous.

Drakken shrugged. “Shego’s dangerous. Why else would I have employed her as a bodyguard as well as a thief. She’s a very capable fighter and her plasma powers extend that into lethality. That’s why I employed her… never been a good fighter myself,” Drakken mused. “Must have been all that grey cabbage they made me eat at school.”

Kara stared at the blue man’s face in total disbelief. Control… Control!

“Fascinating, Doctor. Most… fascinating.” Kara glanced at the ruined consoles. “Tell me, even though she has escaped. What you told me, before I left to meet my Master… we do have a working control?”

Drakken sighed. “Oh yes… total integration has been achieved. I just hadn’t turned it on, as I wanted to run more tests. It’s still there, waiting quietly… but we have no way of activating it right now. I think, by my calculations at least, it will take a week or so to get the system up and running once more. Only then can we risk recalling her to the lair.

“I see.” Kara cursed inwardly. A sudden hiss of a door made her glance over and she narrowed her eyes at the masked female who entered quietly, her head hung in shame. “Doctor, would you please go with Dojo Master Quia and examine the control and communication system. I require an estimate please, a far more accurate one.”

Drakken nodded and wincing slightly hobbled out of the doorway. Quia followed, pausing only to glare at the masked female Ninja.

“A Jade bodyguard, who has failed as badly as you, reflects on her Mistress… remember that!

The young woman shrank back slightly and Quia sighed in dismay. Turning his attention to Drakken, he walked out.

As both men left the huge room, it remained silent, only the whistle of the air conditioning could be heard.

Kara remained where she stood, examining the plasma ring and the damage that Shego had caused it, while behind her, the other occupant of the room remained as still as possible, wishing she was anywhere else.

“I am very, very tired of you always making mistakes… You know how vital she was for my… our plans to succeed.” A quiet whisper. Not angry, much to the young Ninja’s surprise, but weary and scathing. “If we cannot locate Shego, fix this problem and resolve it within two weeks, all our plans will fail and you and I will find ourselves at the mercy of the Jade. Mercy that they DO NOT HAVE!”

The female Ninja flinched, her chocolate eyes wide with fear as Kara turned to her, her mouth drawn back in a snarl. “My master would be dead in a few days if it were not for your idiocy! I should be in his place, my rightful place! And Kim Possible would have been mine… along with this corrupt country!”

“I-“

“I leave you with one job to perform. One! I tell you to guard Shego, to keep a minimal guard presence around her without raising suspicion! I tell you to stay close when my Master came to examine her, using the control chip to have her kill him for me! The perfect assassination for my rise to control the Jade itself! I told you to not let her loose, until the time was right to do so! And what happens?”

“She-“ The young Ninja began, only to close her mouth as Kara glared at her.

“She escapes while I am gone, wrecks the laboratory and the equipment needed to control her mind, assaults Drakken in front of your very eyes and then defeats your squad, unarmed!”

“Mistress, I… she found a weakness and used it.” The young Ninja slid to her feet. “The very reason you wished to use her for this was because she is so deadly! We stood little chance with her free.”

“I have seen the security footage.” Kara growled. “You should have used the tranquilliser darts I gave you the moment the ring sparked! No, the secondDrakken San looked worried! That’s why I gavethem to you! Having watched the footage… only oneof you had even a can of mace… Mace! Where were the tranquilliser darts, Shia?”

“I-“

“They were in the training room, were they not? On the belts you left behind, because you thought Shego was helpless! You acted rashly, stupidly and…” Kara walked across to her and slapped her forcefully across the face. Her nails raked across the mask, yanking it off. “You have shamed me… sister!”

Shia, a spitting image of Kara except for her chocolate brown eyes and her light blond hair, swallowed. Her hair unravelled behind her into a long ponytail as the mask bounced on the floor, rolling to rest between her legs. She stared up at her sister and gently rubbed her cheek. “I apologise for-“

“Oh, save it! I saw the fight. Even unarmed and wounded, Shego humiliated my so called body guard!” Kara whirled away from her and threw her hands up in the air. “You have lost me my toy, and that annoys me to the point that I am tempted to punish you.” Shia blanched. “Oh yes, you remember what happened the last time.” Kara sighed. “However, the annoyance I feel towards losing my plaything is nothing to the fact that you have single handily ruined this stage of my plans and endangered the later steps! And,” Kara turned, her face twisting with rage. “You damaged Shego… You damaged the tool I need!”

“She was leaving, I had to act.” Shia bowed her head, only to cry out in fright as Kara grabbed her hair and twisted it, tilting her head and resting a hand gently on her neck. Her fingers are so close… no not again!“Sister, I am sorry! I made a foolish judgement, leaving the darts behind, so I had to stop her with what I had to hand! Sister, please!”

“So, you broke her leg and left a potentially deadly wound in her shoulder! More importantly, you did notstop her!” Kara let go of Shia and paced the room, glancing at her sister when she opened her mouth.

“We did what we could. I did what I-“

“Oh, save it. I saw the whole fight on the security footage. I know Shego will survive because I know the limits of her endurance!” She watched as her sister sighed with relief. “But I can only thank the universe that it will take her only a week or so to recover, due to her gifted powers. With a lot of luck, Shia, my plan to rule the Jade will remain on track. No thanks to you!”

Shia flushed and slid to her feet. “Sister… I-“

“I will give you one more warning.” Kara strode back to the young Ninja and gripped her face tightly. “We are only half-sisters, Shia and you came to me, running from that bitch who gave birth to the both of us. I took you in, fed you and trained you to be my bodyguard. Three years of effort!” Kara growled. I warn you, though. If you keep making mistakes… if you keep following the honour code you stupidly came to believe when I had you infiltrate Yamanouchi, you will become worthless to me! I cannot have anyone, even a blood relative, destroy what I have worked sohard to accomplish! So, if my Master gets one tiny scent of what I am planning due to your stupidity… I will haveto kill you!“

Shia’s face blanched and she struggled against Kara’s grip. “I will not fail again!”

See that you do not!” Kara growled and she let go of the struggling woman. “Now, we must find her and bring her back… by force if necessary, but unharmed! Well, unharmed any further! We needShego! No, I… need Shego!”

Shia flushed. “Yes, sister.”

Kara held up a single finger and she gazed at Shia with cold eyes. “For now, you have lost that privilege, Shia. You may call me by my rank in the Jade until I deem otherwise.”

“Yes… MistressFang.” Shia’s face twisted and she slid the mask of her uniform across her face to hide the scowl. “The problem with tracking down Shego is where would she go? She has had training from the Fox, so she could vanish if she wished.”

Kara held up a hand and Shia fell silent. Her sister stared into the distance.

Where would you go, Shego? The Villain community is out, I doubt you could find the Fox in time, with wounds as bad as the ones Shia gave you… Where would you go? Somewhere safe, somewhere you knew people could hel-

Kara’s eyes gleamed. “Oh… Oh of course you would go and see her! Why did I even ask myself where you would go? You have always been a creature of reaction, Shego… you go where your instincts tell you. In this case… you trust her and you love her. No matter how confused you are about the matter. And of course, her mother is a doctor. Yes Shego… you have gone there, haven’t you.”

Shia frowned. “Mistress?”

Kara ignored her, staring into the distance and a knowing smile crept onto her face. “You have gone there… and they will help you, shewill help you. You will tell her what has happened, but, thanks to Drakken San’s cleverness, I doubt they will be able to find the little strings on your soul.” Kara began to laugh and Shia shivered at the cruel sound. “Oh yes, the disaster has suddenly become a gift!”

“Mistress… I do not understand.”

“I know you do not.” Kara turned to her and shrugged. “You do not understand our prey… but I do. I want you to send some undercover agents to the Hospital in Middleton and have them shadow Doctor Possible.” Kara paused. “Actually, if you wish to redeem yourself, you go. Next, send a second troop back to Kim Possible San’s house and have them set up another shadowing post. If either see Shego, or hear them talking about her, they must inform me immediately! I want to know if my hunch is correct. If it is, then we are in an excellent position to take control of the Jade with not one, but two puppets!”

“Mistress?” Exasperated, Shia stepped forwards, only to have Kara grip her shoulders and twist her towards the lab exit.

“I do not have time to explain it all, Shia. Go! In the meantime, I will return to the hotel and convince my Master to delay the inspection for a later date. My plans for taking the Jade leadership will have to run on a different timetable now. So, instead of trying to think, just do!”

“Yes, Mistress.” Shia smoothly slid out of the lab and Kara glanced around her at the wrecked equipment.

Enjoy the time you have to recover and flirt with Possible, Shego. As soon as we are ready… you will do everything I say… everything! Possible will be mine, the Jade will be mine. You… youaremine!

A plan forming in her mind, Kara walked out of the wrecked building and strode to the hanger. She had to meet her Master and convince him that she needed more time. Once that was done, she would have to talk with Drakken.

Poor Kim San. If I do this right, it will be a very nasty surprise…

---

Shego

“Sis, I just don’t understand why you keep saying no to this. This is a great idea!”

Shego sighed. She was dreaming, if you could call the drug addled past a dream.

Drugged again, but at least this time it’s willingly. Whatever Kim’s mother gave me must have been quality stuff. Can’t feel my body at all. Still, why have I started to dream of my past so much? Doy, maybe Morphine and me don’t mix well.

She knew where she was. When she was… Sitting around a campfire on a small island in the middle of GO-City’s ocean basin. Shego sighed. There they all were. Hego, her younger self, Mego and the twins. Not dressed in their uniforms… but ordinary clothes. Back then, they didn’t even have uniforms. They came a few months later. Back then, she was still calling herself-

No, the past's the past… and that frightened young girls gone. She’d pretty much vanished when we came here too… I was then, and I still am, Shego…

As she watched her younger self gently stick a marshmallow into the fire, she shook her head. This was the empty site of the GO Towers… This was the evening Team GO was formed. Not a sad day, but one she wished had never happened. A camping trip… turned into a discussion of their future.

Yes, this was the evening after they had accidentally got caught up in a robbery at the local store. Five nervous, sweaty teenagers… from the local crack house if she remembered correctly. Five teenagers who had run into a man who could rip solid concrete apart and bend metal like paper and his sister…

A scary green woman, who fired bolts of plasma onto their guns, making them so hot, the bullets melted before they could ignite, and they had to drop them. Hego bending the guns into cuffs… what a show-off. Shego shook her head. They all cheered us in the store, when the cops arrived. All of them. But, of course, Hego wandered off, and as I went home… more taunts, more insults…

She turned her attention back to her younger self and watched as, dressed in a green T –Shirt and slacks, she leaned away from Hego’s excited babbling.

“Just imagine it. We could be real life action heroes! Saving the world from evil, doing good deeds… heroic stuff! We could do so much for everyone… Sis, come on! Why don’t you want to be a Go member?”

Shego stared at the younger version of Hego and shook her head. She knew how this played out, so why disrupt the flow? As she sat there, she heard her own young voice echo into the night.

“Because I don’t want to be a hero, Joh-“ Her younger self paused as Hego glowered at her. Sighing, Shego continued. “Hego, then. I want to be left alone… I want everyone to leave me alone.”

Oh, it was so true then. Maybe it’s true now…Her elder self thought.

“Everyone stares at me now, like they did while was at school and college. Everyone hates me…”

Eighteen years old,Elder Shego closed her eyes, listening to the familiar wind blowing in off the ocean, the slight bite of the cold airBut I felt like I was fifty with my brothers. They all had their heads in the clouds. Idiots! I’d grown up. Being taunted at school and college… the street. Oh Yeah, I grew up. At least Hego could walk around normally. No change tohis skin tone! But not me, Oh no.

“That’s cause they’re jealous! They don’t hate you, Sis… ” Hego grinned, his fist slamming a huge hole next to him in the sand. The blue glow that appeared round his fast fading as he pulled it free. “They’re jealous of the gifts that the universe gave us!”

“Oh yeah… they’re jealous of me.”

Shego closed her eyes. The bitterness in her voice had the same heat as it had done all those years ago.

“The kids at school taunted me. Now, people I meet in the street call me a green freak, kick me… some actually spit on me, Hego. Hell, a few late at night try to beat me up until I have to scare them away with my glowing fists and a bit of ass kicking… Yeah, they really want to be me! I bet they allwant to be called a ‘radioactive slut’ to their faces on a regular basis. They want everyone to keep away from them, shun them, never sit with them at lunch or serve them in a shop!”

“Woah, sis… tone down the anger!”Hego stared at her in shock as Shego stood for a second, fists balled tightly. Mego and the twins poked the fire with sticks, desperate to do anything but look at their sister’s rage.

“Easy for you to say! You were never alone at school or college. Mr ‘Quarterback for the football’! You had friends, people who liked you! Not me!” Her elder self shook her head. The anger… oh yeah, she’d forgotten how it burned then. She supposed it was still with her now, but it simmered. “You fit in! I neverfit in while I was there. I don’t fit in now! You have no idea what it’s like to be this way!”

“I do have super strength you know.” Hego reminded her.

“Yeah, but you’re a normal colour! You can walk down the street without them staring at you!” Shego glared at Hego and he swallowed, while her other brothers stared at the arguing elder brother and sister. “As for Mego and the twins, hell… they’re popular anyway! Their powers make them popular! Shrinking and making copies… harmless and amusing.”

“Hey!”Mego chimed in. “My powers are cool!”

“I know, Mego… I know. Very powerful.” Young Shego sighed, trying to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Okay, lets say that they don’t find them scary! But not me… my powers are able to do one thing.” Her hands ignited, and even her own flesh and blood flinched. “They destroy… I destroy! I don’t know if this power can do anything else… it makes people frightened of me.”

You’ll find out that you can do other things with it… lots and lots of things. Shego shook her head. But it takes so much time… so long. Training, day after day, to learn how to craft the burning power inside you. Not just to make it do what you want… but to stop it hurting you, stop the pain they never realised I felt when I first used it. Oh yeah… I remember how long it took to reach the level I am now.

“They just don’t understand.”Her brother waved a hand, uncomfortable.“They find you…”

“What?” young Shego whispered, slumping back to the sand.

“Different and a little abrasive.”Hego moved closer to her, but young Shego slid back from him, shunning the arm he offered. “Sis… The public needs help in Go City. You know that! So many criminals, some of them true super villains! We can make a difference! When we do, everyone will know our names!”

“You have no idea what’ll happen to us if we do.” young Shego muttered. “Oh, we’ll be super heroes, how could you miss us? The colours we are… You could use it as a gimmick,” Shego sighed as the sarcasm was lost on Hego. He was staring at her in sudden, thoughtful, delight. “Have all of us in different coloured uniforms! A ‘secret’ base… in our team’s logo. Even a special transport! Hell, I’m sure we’ll be popular and even become famous…”“Well then!”

“But I don’t want to be a hero! I want to be left alone, Hego. I want to just be left the hell alone!” Shego tried to stifle the anger in her tone. “I don’t give a… a fuck what the public wants! I don’t care about anyone else! Well, except you lot…”

“We can make a difference.” Hego told her, his voice soft.

A difference for them! They never cared about us! About… me!” Young Shego turned away, her voice bitter. “They didn’t try to help us… Not while Mom and Dad were alive.”

Hego watched as his sister ran a hesitant hand across her face. A scar had been there once… But, the meteor power that had made Shego green skinned had healed it. Now, her young face was perfect, beautiful… and haunted. He sighed as young Shego began to draw patterns in the sand and her voice was distant.

“They never had to endure the stuff Mom would say… or try to punch us when drunk. They never had to watch Dad leaving and then making it worse by coming back! Did they rescue us? No… Not till the meteor hit us… Killed Mom and Dad… and then what? Sympathy, uneasiness and then, cause no family would take a green freak and her brothers, a ‘communal’ house. Lots of simpering do-gooders, wringing their hands helplessly at us.

“They were trying to help!”Hego countered. “They did try and find people to look after us.”

“Oh yeah, that. You remember their answer to housing us all… don’t you! Trying to find families to take us in! Splitting us up! Sending me to a doctor’s family, you to a FBI agent’s house… Mego and the twins to a scientists home… we all know the real reason why.” Her brothers flinched at her tone. “Oh yeah, a great idea, doy!

“Sis…” Mego began.

“Bastards the lot of them!” Shego’s younger self snapped. “They wanted to know what made us tick! It took us months to hook up once more… To fight through the courts for freedom! So why should I help them, eh? Why?”

The elder Shego stared into the night sky, listening to the echoes of a question that she had asked in this place. A question which had plagued her entire life since.Why does Kimmie help them? Would she have been able to choose the hero life if she stood here instead of me? If what had happened to me had happened to her… if we had swapped places, would she still be… her? Would I still be me?

Hego stared at her quietly. “If we could help someone who had the same experience as you, as us… would you use your powers to aid them?”

Young Shego glared at him. “That’s unfair! You know I would! Nobody deserves to-“ She broke off, flushing. “Nobody deserves to be subjected to that.”“Sis… you can help people, we can help people like that! But there are other innocent people who do not deserve ranting madmen and women trying to kill them with disrupto-rays and other weird things. Ones who just try to live day by day. Nothing to do with the government or other shady stuff. We can save those people in life threatening situations! We can make a difference! Please?”

“Do it on your own! I just want to find somewhere quiet, where I can be left alone. No more prodding by confused medics, scientists… government people. Nobody from the military, trying to have us taken in. Stopped only because the papers knew about us. I want to be free! I want to think and relax and feel…”

“What?” Hego glared at her, angry she had mentioned the military incident. Something he had tried to keep hidden from Mego and the twins.

“Safe.” Shego whispered. “Maybe the only way to do that is to stop anyone coming close. A hero’s life would kinda stop that from happening.”

“Then maybe it’s our duty to use them for good!”Hego watched her turn to him, a look of total astonishment on her face. “They were a gift, Sis.”

“A gift…” Shego replied, her voice flat. “Tell me, Bro… did you feel your skin burning you when you had your gifts? Did it feel like something was forcing you to swallow liquid fire? Have you taken over two years to learn how to live with it? To work out how to control it so that the bed you sleep in doesn’t ignite and burn if you have nightmares while you sleep? To stop your hands being damaged by green flame each time you get angry?”

“Sis…”Hego sighed. “You know we didn’t feel the pain you did. You know we all managed to work out how to control our powers quite quickly.”Hego paused as Shego’s hands burst into flame, melting the sand before they spluttered out as she glared at him. “But then you have the most volatile and energetic power… Maybe you have the most powerful of our gifts. Maybe that’s why it’s taking you so long to learn to use it.”

“I don’t see this as a gift, Hego. It destroyed what little of my life I’d kept in one piece. It’s a curse.”

“We can create a new life. One where people adore us for being this way! One where we’re safe… and together! We can look after each other… We can be a… a family between ourselves.”

The elder Shego felt the same anger well up inside her, mimicked by her younger self.

“Hego… don’t! You know how I feel when people mention that word… don’t! Family means something different to me, something bad. You know that!”

Hego ignored her and held out his hands. “Sis, We’re family. We are! And family sticks together! Don’t leave us alone… Don’t hurt us the way Mom did. Don’t walk out on us like Dad did!”

“Oh… You… you… FUCK YOU!” Shego, her eyes glazed with anguish, slid to her feet and stormed off to the edge of the beach. Quietly, her older self followed.

And there you have it. Hego hits out with the one thing we can’t fight against. The idiot uses the family card… You both hate that idea, yet you… we, yearn for it to make sense! You watch other people with their children, watch them love each other, and it confuses you. But, he’s your brother and Mego, the twins… they can’t be left alone yet. You can’t let them down. You do it for them.

Shego watched her young self wipe a tear hurriedly from her face and glance back at the campfire.

So, even though you know it’s not for you, being a hero. You agree. It’s a bad idea… you know that you’re fooling yourself. You don’t have the morals Hego, Mego and the twins have. You’ve been a loner almost your entire life.

Her younger self angrily picked up a pebble and it glowed bright green as her hands flared. Young Shego pitched it into the sea around the island, and it skipped, shattering as the cold water cracked the red-hot surface.

You don’t get it… and feel people should look after themselves, like you’ve had to. Besides, people have constantly let you down… always. They’ve always tried to insult you, shun you… belittle you. Why should you endure god knows what to save them?

“And that’s why, eventually… it falls apart.” Shego whispered, closing her eyes. “That’s why later, you end up turning… well, evil. Because… because they let you down! Your own brothers let you down. Oh god, why did I have to remember this?”

She watched as her younger self walked off into the distance, to face a life that didn’t suit her, and Shego felt something shift inside. A quiet voice, one that she heard rarely these days. Maybe you let them down too… You weren’t the sister they needed.

She laughed bitterly.Maybe I wasn’t. But I am who I am and the Fox gave me the answer to staying…sane. They may not have been able to understand it. I know I hurt Hego most of all when I left. Hell, he saw it as me turning totally evil, super villain evil. Maybe he was right… becoming a thief. And now I sound like I actually know something. Doy!

The world around her shuddered suddenly and Shego blinked. The familiar sensation of reality beginning to reassert itself made her sigh and close her eyes. As her body trickled back to her, something whispered in her mind.

Kimmie won’t let you down like they did. She wouldn’t. She’s… special and you love her, no matter how much you wish it were otherwise.

---

Middleton Hospital 12 PM.

Shego groaned and slowly her emerald eyes flicked open. Blinking, she stared at the roof of the room she was in. Around her, she could hear the quiet chime of machinery and the gentle murmur of other people. She gazed at the grey tiles on the roof, and then at the beige walls.

Must be in Middleton hospital. Great décor. Jeez… is this designed to make people feel worse?

To her relief, as she glanced down, she was wearing pyjamas. Shego normally wore nothing in bed herself, she liked the freedom. But, in here, it was a relief to see she was given some dignity. They were not green, to her slight disappointment, but a soft white.

Tilting her head, she glanced at the readouts of the machines by her bedside. Being a hero early on in her life, she’d learned how to read medical displays. It had been, useful.

Let’s see… Blood pressure 120 over 80… okay. Heart rates… a little high. Well, for anyone not having a supercharged body. Temperature, heh… higher than a normal person, natch. I seem to be, fine.

Turning in her bed, trying to slide from between the sheets, Shego winced. Oh… ow!

Her hand slid to her shoulder, the burning sensation of the muscles making her bear her teeth, and she blinked as her fingers inspected the wound and the bandage that had been expertly bound over it. The stitches that she could feel were tiny. Kim’s mom… got to be.

Her eyes swung down to her leg. She wanted to inspect the break. As she looked down however, she paused to stare at the pool of red hair that draped over the bed covers next to her waist. She knew that hair, the dark rich red making her heart ache slightly. As she stared, trying to resist the urge to stroke it gently, the pool of hair moved softly and Shego smiled faintly as a feminine intake of breath slid from it.

“Kimmie…” She whispered, her breath hitching. “Oh… oh, man. You actually stayed with me, all night? God, I must have been really banged up for you to bother, or care. But… thanks for staying with me.” She paused, realising that thanking a sleeping woman was pointless. “I’ll um, tell you when you wake up.”

Gently, so not to wake Kim, Shego pulled on the other side of the bed covers.

To Shego’s surprise, her leg was not set in plaster. Instead, a transparent cast covered it. She prodded it gently, pausing as a sleepy murmur slid from the pool of red hair, and she frowned. It was made of plastic, or it felt like plastic, and it was filled with some sort of liquid. Her eyes took in a cord that slid from a tiny box mounted on the surface and she traced it to a machine sitting at the end of the bed.

“What the hell is this?”

A sudden quiet knock at the door made her look up. The stirring of the red hair next to her made her quickly flip the bed covers back across her body. Her emerald eyes gleamed as Kim’s soft, beautiful face slid up from the covers, her green eyes gritty with sleep. Yawning, the teenage woman noticed that Shego was gazing at her and she smiled sheepishly.

“Hi… what time is it?”

“I… um.” Shego glanced around her room. “I have no idea actually.”

The knock at the door came again, more insistent this time and Kim glanced over, rubbing her eyes. “Whoops.”

“Whoops?” Shego blinked.

“Yeah, um… that’s probably Mom.”

The redhead slid to her feet. Shego quietly noticed that her rumpled clothes were stained with dark, dried blood. Her blood, that much she remembered. Her attention slid back to Kim as she wandered over to the door. With a quiet click, she opened it and her head slid out for a second. A muffled conversation took place, before Kim’s mother and a nurse walked quietly in.

Shego felt something inside her tense at the sight of Kim’s mother… an instinctive reaction from her past. But she forced it away and gazed at the doctor calmly. “Dr Possible.”

Kim’s mother smiled softly, much to her surprise. “Hello, Shena.”

Coughing, Kim scooted over to Shego’s bedside and gripped her hand. “Mom wants to make sure that you’re feeling okay… Shena. After that nasty mugging.”

“I see.” Shego glanced over towards Kim and smiled slyly. Let’s play along! “Do I have concussion? Should I remember what happened to me?”

“That remains to be seen.” Mrs Possible muttered quietly, picking up her stethoscope and slipping it onto her ears. Fast, isn’t she… and smug. “Lord knows that you look ridiculous enough, in all that skin dye. Fancy dress?”Skin dye? Is that the best they could come up with?

Shego glanced at the nurse, who was busy counting pills into a paper cup and rolled her eyes. “Yeah… I thought I’d go to a party as a villain. A cool, sexy villain with super powers. Best thief in the world and… ow!”

Kim smiled. “Sorry, did I squeeze a little too hard? Clumsy of me.”

Shego wanted to slap her, lightly, for doing that. But as the nurse turned back to Dr Possible, casting a smile at her, she sighed. “No… big?”

“Okay, Shena, Sit up please. Kim, could you help her?” Kim’s mother asked quietly as Shego winced. As Kim’s hands gently assisted Shego to sit up, carefully guarding her shoulder, Dr Possible gently slid the pyjamas down slightly. “This may be cold… but I want to check your heart for damage. Someone in here really took a beating.”

“Well, they were a little… rough.” Shego closed her eyes as the stethoscope ran over her body. “I suppose I should say thanks, Doc, for saving my life.”

“You’re welcome, Shena. But my daughter deserves the credit don’t you think? She was the one who found you… and called me.”

Shego’s emerald eyes slid to Kim’s face and she stared at the redhead, her expression indecipherable.

Oh, Kimmie… do you still hate me for kissing you? Is that the nerves I can see? I can’t tell right now. Not in here… maybe when we’re alone I’ll be able to find out. Damn it, I have to know, soon!

She leaned in close and whispered gently into Kim’s ear.

“I’d say thanks, but I think a few simple words aren’t going to cut it this time. I mean, you… me, always fighting, and now you saved my ass. You should have let me die. Nobody would have blamed you or disagreed with you…” Shego breathed in Kim’s gentle perfume. “So, a simple thank you isn’t enough.”

Kim looked away for a second. It would be for me.

“Maybe it would. If you meant it.”

Shego blinked and she smiled, squeezing the hand that gripped hers gently. “Then if I say, thanks… for saving my life and not kicking me away, is that good enough for now?”

Kim turned back to her, eyes bright. “Always. I’m… I’m glad that you’re alive. I was… worried when you… left.”

Please forgive me… Shego. I’m sorry for what I said… what I did. Kim thought quietly. I wish I could just say that I think I love you… but… but it’s so hard for me and right now, I’m just glad you’re alive. Kim glanced up at her mother. Better see what mom thinks of her condition.

“Mom? What’s the verdict?”

“Well, young lady… I’ll tell you if Shena wants me to. I need to update her as well.” Dr Possible glanced up at the nurse. “Jan, could you give us a second. I need to talk to these two alone.”

“Certainly, Doctor.” Jan nodded and walked across to the door. “I’ll go and get her medical chart for you to fill out.”

“Thanks.” Dr Possible watched quietly as the nurse wandered out cheerfully and then turned back to her patient. “Well, this may not come as a shock to you, but it has to me. Your body is repairing the damage at a phenomenal rate. The cuts on your body have faded to tiny scars… and even they are slowly being healed. Half the bruising, and we’re talking bone deep, is fading. Some has gone completely. The neural shock you were suffering, probably from repeated electrical discharge, is reduced to some localised areas… there, you have some neural damage but it’s repairing itself. The wound in your shoulder has also already started to repair itself… As for your leg-”

“Yeah… what the hell is around it?” Shego prodded the cast with her other foot. “This thing… feels weird.”

“It’s a new design. Something we are trying out for the first time. Liquid based repair gel. Contains painkillers, healing agents, nutrients… everything you could need. Also has a special calcification-aiding chemical so that your leg heals more efficiently. The bone is kept steady by nodes that regulate the pressure of the liquid inside the cast. Pretty new and very handy.”

Shego nodded. “Feels weird, but my legs not hurting. And anything that stops it itching… big plus!”

“I’m astounded actually. When we got you into X-ray, the bone had already started to knit itself together. Tell me, has this happened before?”

Shego shrugged. “I’ve got a enhanced healing ability, thanks to my power. Though the damn thing doesn’t work if I get sick… can you believe that? I can heal up from any beating, but a cold can floor me like anyone else. Someone in the universe has a sick sense of humour.” She missed Kim’s smile. “But yeah, if I want to, I can concentrate and it’ll heal me even faster. Though I get tired and need plenty of food if I do that.”

“I can believe it. You must soak through nutrients like a sponge if you do that.” Still, I think it might be a good idea. How long would it take you too-“

“Heal a broken bone and everything else? I have no idea.” Shego paused. “I… have had a dislocated shoulder once.”

“Oh? When?” Dr Possible smiled. “Because if you hadn’t told me, I wouldn’t know… both your shoulder joints are one hundred percent, when I examined you.”

“I… Well.” Shego glanced at Kim. “It was when Kim and I were fighting and she threw me into the… um. Actually, you don’t need to know. It happened, I got better in about three days or so. But I almost ate Drakken out of his lair.”

“Hmmm…” Dr Possible quietly ignored the fact that Shego had damaged herself while obviously attacking her daughter during a previous battle. The fact that Shego seemed… reluctant to talk about it was oddly calming to her. “Well, I’ll put you on a glucose drip… and I’ll get someone to increase the calorie level of the food you’ll get. Sound good?”

“Hospital food…” Shego groaned. Her eyes clamping shut. “Look, I’ve been through enough torture at Kara’s hands… I’ve been cut, electrocuted and beaten. Hell, I think I’ve managed to block out the rest… So, please. Not you two as well. Hospital food… haven’t I suffered enou-”

She paused at the gasp she heard echo around the room and she opened her eyes to see both women staring at her. Dr Possible’s expression was one of sympathy, but Kim’s was smeared with guilt. “You okay?”

Kim flushed and looked away. “I should have believed you. If I had… Kara Fang would never have… have…”

Shego sighed. “Kimmie, I honestly didn’t think that Fang was as close on my trail as she came to be. I forgot that she had the same training I did, to a point. Should have kept my eye on the ball. I should have been focused on escaping, not kicking the stuff I had around the-“ Shego broke off as Kim winced. “Kimmie, don’t worry. It’s not your fault, Pumpkin.”

“I…” Kim broke off as the Kimmunicator chimed. Picking it up, she turned it on and stared at Ron’s face as it flickered on screen. “Ron?”

“I’m coming to hate that thing.” Shego muttered, blinking as Kim’s mother smiled and winked at her. “Look, can I get some painkillers for my head? It’s agony… I think I’ve got a migraine, that chime’s made it worse and-“

“Kim, is Shego okay? She’s okay, right?” Ron’s worried voice made Shego stare at Kim in disbelief.

Hello? I’m someone who usually attacks you all! And I’m damn good at it!

“Yeah, she’s fine, Ron.” Kim turned away from Shego and held the Kimmunicator closer. Ron stared at her, saw the tears of relief welling in her eyes and smiled supportively. “She’s going to be fine… She’s not dead, Ron!”

“Well, booyah to that.” Ron whispered quietly, before cheerfully raising his voice. “Look, sorry to drag you away, but considering that this Fang woman managed to almost take Shego out of the equation…” He swallowed at Shego’s warning growl. “Um, I kinda asked someone for help.”

“Who?” Kim asked, puzzled. “The GJ?”

Shego sat up in bed violently, glaring at Dr Possible as she slid a warning hand onto her shoulder and pushed her back. “He’d better not have! Or I’ll kick his-“

“No, no… come on I have somesense.” Ron coughed and, to Kim’s surprise, a faint blush slid onto his face. “I, ah, called Yori.”

“Yori…” Kim repeated, wondering why, even now as she struggled to sort out her feelings for the woman behind her, she felt a pang of jealousy. “The Ninja.”

“Well, yeah. Look, you were worried and I thought we could use the extra help and… she knows about her.”

“Who?”

“Fang… She kinda flew off the handle and told you not to confront her, at all, until she got there. Some bad blood between Fang and Yamanouchi from what I could gather. She’ll fill us in when she arrives, I’m sure. Kim, look, I know you’re not sure about her but she wasgoing to help us find Shego.”

“Excuse me, but how many people did you tell about the fact I’d been kidnapped?” Shego asked, huffing slightly and crossing her arms, winced. “I mean, my reputation is going to be shot to hell and back if you keep this up. How about the local news? Do they know? Oh… or maybe the cheerleading team you have back at Middleton High? The local gossip column? I mean, stop me if I get to someone who won’t laugh when I walk by and-”

“Shego, please.” Kim ran a hand through her hair as the villainess smouldered. “Look, as far as I know, only Monique and the GJ as well as Ron and now Yori knows you were kidnapped. Oh and when you turned up on my door, bleeding and, well… dying. Mom knew.”

“The GJ? They know I was kidnapped?” Shego sighed in sudden realisation. “The jet… it was the jet exploding wasn’t it. Damn! I bet they got my stuff… my bag I was trying to escape with. That had all my remaining suits and…” She flushed. “Other stuff… lots of stuff. Including my diary.”

“Don’t worry about the diary, I’ve got that.” Kim flushed as Shego’s eyes narrowed. “It’s in your bedside table, close at hand. As for the rest, I think Ron has the bag with your suits in it. Right Ron?”

Ron nodded, realising that Kim had forgotten, or had chosen to forget, that there had been pictures of her in there. “I’ve got it at my home. I forgot to take it out of Mara when we arrived at your house, but remembered when I got home.”

“Mara?” Shego frowned. “I feel like I’ve been asleep for months and everything has changed. Who is Mara?”

“My… um, car.” Kim muttered. “She was… unhappy with me this morning. Someone got blood on her upholstery.”

“What?” Shego blinked and turned to Dr Possible. “What drugs did you give me? I could have sworn Kimmie said her car was unhappy with her…”

“She was. I had to put up with moaning for half an hour when I drove to get some breakfast for Kim and myself. On and on she went, about the blood stains.” Dr Possible’s eyes sparkled as Shego stared in horror at her. Chuckling, she relented. “The car has an AI inside it. She speaks.”

“Oh.” Shego ran a hand across her forehead and sighed. “This has been one very strange day and I only woke up about ten minutes ago.”

“Look, getting back to the matter at hand. I need a favour KP.” Ron winked. “Someone has a car… far better than mine. Any chance we could-“

“Pick up Yori in Mara? Sure, I don’t see why not. But you’ll be explaining to Yori about the bloodstains, okay? I haven’t got any cleaning stuff to get rid of them yet.”

“Sure, KP. She’s arriving at about 3PM. She phoned to let me know. So, we need to get to Middleton airport as soon as we can.”

“Okay, Ron. I’ll, um… make sure Shego is comfortable, and that mom says everything’s fine. Once I’ve got that okay from her, I’ll pick you up and we’ll go and get Yori. Who’s she going to be staying with?”

“Oh, me. I’ve already got the okay for her to stay in the den at home.” Ron grinned. “Give me a call on my Ron-Com when you know.”

“Ron-Com?”

“I got tired of using Ronuminator. It was quite a mouthful. Wade likes the new name for my communicator.”

“Well, as long as he doesn’t start calling mine a Kim-Com, I don’t mind.” Kim smiled and shook her head. Men… “I’ll see you later.”

“See ya, KP.”

“So, the sidekick has a new interest.” Shego grinned as Kim flushed slightly. “Do tell, Kimmie. I love to know about people I’ll probably end up working with… or against. But, if she hates Kara Fang, I like her already… and I could use someone, other that you, to watch my back as we take her out. God, I can’t help but wonder what it’ll be like to pound her smug, evil face into the ground!”

“You’re not going to be beating anyone up, young lady.” Dr Possible gently slid her hand onto the bandage covering Shego’s shoulder and carefully checked the tape holding it in place. “You’re staying here, in bed, and I’ll be keeping an eye on you while you heal up.”

“You can’t be serious!” Shego complained, trying to struggle out of bed. Kim caught her mother’s eyes and walked quickly over to Shego’s bedside, gently placing a restraining hand on her arm. Shego stared at the hand and then glared up at the redhead. “Kimmie, let me go! She’s out there! Kara Fang is notgoing to wait for me to get better! If she can’t get me, she’ll be going after you!” Shego’s voice raised. “I won’t let her attack you. I have to stop her!”

Kim stared in shock at Shego, but her hand increased the pressure on the green woman’s arm. “Shego… calm down. What do you mean she’s after me?”

“She told me what her plans were and…” Suddenly, Shego’s face paled and a memory slammed into her.“Did you do it? Did you put a mind control chip on me?”

“Oh my god! I’ve been sitting her, chatting to you, and I could have a-” Shego’s hand slid to her neck and frantically searched around before running across her forehead once more. “Is there a chip? You diddo a full scan for a chip? X- ray! Something!”

“What chip?” Dr Possible stroked Shego’s hair, trying to calm the young woman down. The young green woman didn’t even feel it. “Shego, we did a full x-ray, yes… a full MRI scan and a few others… believe me. I was checking you for damage, not for a chip… but it would have picked something up.” She sighed. “You know, if I wasn’t the one who ordered them, we’d be getting some stiff questions as to why I ordered such a batch of tests. But to put your mind at rest, and to stop you firing any plasma around, to my knowledge there’s no chip on your body… and the scans have picked up no metal inside or on you. True the X-ray missed a few spots due to the meteor power you have. It couldn’t scan the core of your body. However, the MRI could, and we scanned your brain as thoroughly as we can. There’s nothing inside you, or been put on you. I promise.”

“I don’t believe that.” Shego whispered. “Drakken said… he toldme that stage one had been completed successfully. I don’t know what that means, but he was grinning. He did… something! I have to stop them turning it on!”

“Shego, they would have used it already, surely.” Kim shook her, earning a scowl from the emerald gaze. “Think! You’ve been out for a day, why not turn whatever it is on and use it now? Maybe it fell off… maybe stage one is preparing you for a chip.”

“I… No! Not the way Drakken was smiling, I know that smile, Kimmie, I know it! He’s done something to me!” Shego snarled. “Maybe I damaged something and he has to fix it. I wasn’t exactly polite when I left!”

“Well, if Mom says there’s nothing on or in you… then there’s nothing.” Kim sighed. “What else could there be?”

Calmer, Shego shrugged. “I don’t know! But I have to do something about Fang! I can’t just stay here. Kimmie, please! Look, I know you and I have fought for years, but… I was right about Kara Fang. Don’t make me stay here, feeling useless!” Shego closed her eyes. She never begged, never. But this time she…was. “Please…”

Kim glanced across at her mother. “Mom, can you give us a few minutes alone?”

Mrs Possible sighed and nodded. What did Shego mean when she said she’d stop Kara getting Kim?“Sure.”

As she walked out, the door clicking shut gently, Kim turned to Shego and gripped her hand.

“Look, first off. Yeah, you were right. I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, I’m so, so sorry you were… hurt… tortured because I ignored you.” Kim bit her lip and looked away. “I know it was my fault, no matter what you say.”

Shego shook her head, dark hair sliding over her pale green face. “I kissed you, freaked you out. I… I shouldn’t have done that and-“

Please, don’t say you hate me, or that you never meant it, Shego. I can’t take it right now! Kim felt her blood freeze. Not when you’ve come back to me… alive! Not while I’m trying to work all this… stuff out in my head!

“Shego, please. Not right now… not that.” Kim turned back to the green-eyed thief and felt her heart plunge into her stomach at Shego’s dismayed expression. “We can talk about that, later. Right now, I need you to understand something.”

“What?” Please don’t say you hate me… Kimmie. After everything I’ve been through, not now!

“We have no idea where Fang is. The hoverpod you came to my house in… the GPS was fried when we got to it. No idea how. Wade says the chance of pulling data from it is impossible. So, right now… unless you remember how to get there. We’re kinda… stuck.”

“I don’t remember where I was. Being practically naked and freezing slowly to death in a downpour made it hard to pay much attention. Sorry.” Shego cursed. “Oh damn! That means we have to wait for her to make the next move! Knowing Kara, that’s going to be something either violent… or very bloody. Plus, right now, it probably will involve me…”

Kim gripped her hand and Shego’s eyes widened at the strength behind it.

“I won’tlet her get you again! I may have… I mean, I’m still having trouble-” She broke off. “Look, I won’t let her get you, because you’re… we’re friends now.”

“We are?” Shego blinked, feeling something melt inside. “Kimmie, I’ve been trying to kill you for years! Now you say I’m a… a friend? This is… new. So there is something there… for us?”

“You saved my life a few days back… You… you… kissed me in the lair and said you were in love! Are in love with me! Was it a lie?” Kim felt something icy clutch her heart, until Shego shook her head gently. Instantly, it melted and she sighed. “Shego… I… I still don’t know what that’ll mean to me, I really don’t. But right now, I think I can safely say you’re a friend and I don’t let friends down.”

“Then don’t make me stay here!” Shego fought against Kim’s restraining hand and snarled as the young woman gently placed both onto her shoulders. “Kimmie, if the police get wind of where I am, who I am… I’ll be under arrest! I can’t protect myself in jail!”

Or you, Kimmie.

“They don’t know you’re here. ‘Shena’, remember?” Kim slid closer on the bed and Shego closed her eyes as Kim’s perfume gently drifted across her. Assaulted her. “Shego, please… stay here, let my mom take care of you. Let me worry about everything for a while. You said it yourself that you’ll only be out of action for a few days… When you’re a hundred percent again, I swear to you that you and I will take her down together. Okay?”

Shego struggled against the perfume, the closeness of Kim’s smooth skin and her soft lips. She failed. Her emerald eyes softened and she slid down the bed gently.

Not going… gone. I’ve gone soft on Kimmie Possible. Just fantastic.

“Fine. But I’ll be holding you to that promise, Pumpkin.” She blinked as Kim smiled. “What?”

“Someone said exactly the same thing, when she was half unconscious in my arms.” Kim watched a green blush slide onto Shego’s face and she failed to resist the tiny part of her that wanted to tease the green woman. “Does this one override the other? About begging me not to let someone go to jail?”

Maybe not THAT soft. Shego glanced up at Kim and she smiled dangerously.

“Shut up, Kimmie. I may have a broken leg, but I can still fire plasma… painful, nerve tingling plasma.”

Shego closed her eyes, avoiding the smirk she knew slid onto Kim’s face as she realised she had touched a nerve.

“Go help the sidekick pick up this new girl. Oh and ask your mom to get me something powerful would you? I’ve got a splitting headache.” After a second, she felt the pressure and perfume leave the side of her bed and she found herself leaning forwards, unable to suddenly keep something back. “Kim?”

Kim paused at the doorway and turned around. “Yeah?”

“I… I do love you. What I said, at the lair… was the truth.” Shego let out a huff of breath. Never going to be easy to say to her… damn it! I wish she’d say it back… make life so much easier!“So, watch your back. Fang has plans for both of us, she told me. I’m worried that you could be next. Don’t go anywhere Fang’s been sighted without the buffoon.”

“Shego!” Kim managed, while her heart pounded.She loves me… oh man it’s so easy for her to say the words.

“Stoppable… I mean Stoppable. Or this new girl, Yushi, or whatever her name was.” Shego leaned forwards and her expression was serious. “If you get captured like me…I’ll kick your ass around Middleton, after I save it!”

Kim felt something warm pass through her and she watched as Shego closed her eyes once more, moaning slightly.

God, why can’t I just work this out? Why is it every time I try to sit down and puzzle out how I feel, I get flustered. We’ve been fighting for years and now… I want to… what? Love her back? It’d never work, we’d fight all the time and… and.Kim sighed, feeling part of her sit back, amused with her frantic protest. Ah, I’d better get to Ron. I… we can work this out once Fang’s behind bars.

“I will. Shego?” Kim watched as the green skinned woman opened her eyes and stared at her. “Get better… okay?”

She walked outside and saw her mother standing next to the door, quietly running a pen along a clipboard. Pausing, Dr Possible frowned and then scribbled a note. Kim noticed the clipboard contained the paperwork for ‘Shena Gordon’s’ medical records.

“Mom?”

Dr Possible looked up into worried green eyes. “What is it Kimmie?”

“Look after her, okay?” Kim licked her lips gently, nervous. “I… mom, she’s… Oh, I don’t know. Just take care of her and make sure she’s comfortable. Please?”

Dr Possible nodded. What’s wrong Kimmie? A mother’s intuition is a powerful thing… and something’s upsetting you. Something big… what is it?

As her daughter moved to leave, she paused. “Oh, Shena says she’s got a splitting headache. Wonders if you could give her something for the pain?”

“I’ll take care of her, Kim. Go and fetch Ronald and this new girl, Yori. Shena will be waiting for you here when you get back, I promise.”

As her daughter quickly walked down the corridor, Dr Possible sighed and slid the door open to Shego’s room. “I hear someone has a painful headache. How bad is it?”

---

Middleton Airport. 2PM.

Ron glanced up at the arrivals board and frowned. The flight from Japan had arrived almost fifteen minutes ago, and yet he and Kim were still waiting. Had he missed the right flight? Had he forgotten the arrival time that Yori had phoned to let him know?

If so, I’m gonna look like a total goof. To both Kimand Yori!

“Ron, are you sure she was supposed to be on this flight?” Kim glanced around. “We’ve been waiting here for twenty minutes and, well, no Yori.”

“This is the flight number she gave me, KP.” Ron muttered, glancing down for the fifth time at the scribbled number. “Yeah… this is the flight.”

“Well, where is she?” Kim asked, frowning. “Twenty minutes… any longer and the next flight’ll arrive and we-“

“Ron San!” A sudden exotic voice echoed along the corridor towards the two friends and both Kim and Ron turned. Yori, her athletic body dressed in her black cotton combat outfit, pushed a trolley quickly towards them, waving. “Hello!”

Ron grinned and waved back, unconsciously brushing his sweaty hands against the blue slacks he had chosen, with surprising care, to wear to greet her. As he rubbed, Rufus popped his head out of Ron’s pocket and squeaked in delight, jumping out to run up to the young Ninja.

“Yori!” Rufus jumped onto her thigh and swarmed up to her shoulder, where the young woman grinned and patted him gently. “Hi!”

“Hello Rufus San.” Yori glanced across to where Ron stood awkwardly, until he staggered forwards, pushed gently by an amused Kim. “So, I hear Ron and Kim have been… busy since I have gone. Really, Kara Fang?”

The Molerat shrugged. “Yeah… nasty!” Jumping off her shoulder, Rufus waved his hands and walked along her luggage, pointing at himself. “Shego!” Suddenly his own hands grabbed his throat and yanked him off his feet. “Kidnapped!” Rufus jumped up and as Yori clapped appreciatively, he bowed. “Ta daaa!”

“I see.” She looked up. “Tell me, quickly, before they arrive. Has she been found? If not, I will have to move fast for her sake, as well as Ron’s and Kim Possible San’s.”

Rufus nodded. “Escaped… hurt. Stabbed!”

“But alive?” As Rufus nodded, Yori sighed. “She was most lucky. Most lucky indeed… or fated to escape.”

The young Ninja picked Rufus up and gently walked the last few steps over to where Ron and Kim waited.

“Hello, Ron.” Yori bowed. “Hello, Kim San. It is agreeable to see you again.”

“Likewise.” Kim smiled and held out a hand. “Glad to have your help. Really glad.”

“Yeah… and…” Ron swallowed. The few years that had passed had made Yori turn from a pretty young girl into a beautiful young woman and as Ron stared into her dark almond eyes, he felt a flush building on his face. “I’m… glad to see you. I missed you, loads.”

Yoir smiled and bowed. “I hear from Rufus San that Shego is safe?”

Kim nodded, hoping her intake of breath went unnoticed. “Yeah… she got away from Fang. But she almost died doing it. I won’t let this… person take her again. Fang is going down!”

“Then you know where she is?” Yori’s eyes hardened. “Tell me.”

Kim paused and sighed. “No, I don’t know where she is. The vehicle that Shego managed to escape with was damaged in the landing. I have no idea where she is. But I willfind her. She’s going to jail!”But not before I break her face, for what she did to Shego!

Ron watched Yori sigh. “What’s up?”

“Kara Fang is a… a ghost! If you do not know where she is, then you will not find her. She has the advantage and she will use it. Believe me.” The young Ninja walked back to her luggage trolley and rummaged in her bag. “I see my request was wise. Sensei agreed that we would need all the help that Yamanouchi can provide.”

Ron blinked. “That means…”

Yori nodded. “Every single student on the planet has been notified. We know she is in the United States, thanks to you both, so our efforts are located here. We know what her… bodyguard Shia, looks like… to our shame. We know what to look for. Kara Fang may remain hidden for a while, but not forever. When we know where she is, Yamanouchi will assist you both in any way it can. Including something that Sensei thought Ron would need more than the school right now. I have it here.”

“Um, okay.” Kim watched as Kara gently took a box from her bag and turned to Ron. If she was confused by the reverent way the young Ninja held it, Ron’s gasp of shock and pale face made her completely perplexed. “Ah, Ron? It’s just a box.”

“The Lotus Blade…” Ron whispered, eyes glazed. “He gave me the Lotus Blade. Oh man!”

“Okay, I’m lost and…” Kim blinked as Ron slid the box open and inside lay a blue bracelet. “That’s the Lotus Blade? A Bracelet?”

Ron nodded and grinned. He glanced up at Yori, who blushed. “Customs have a few questions?”

“Why I was delayed? Yes, I had my Katana, but I forgot to obtain a permit for it. Luckily, Sensei knows how to manipulate the Lotus Blade… to an extent. He did this before the trip. So this is at least safe. My Katana is confiscated however.”

Ron slid a hand onto Yori’s shoulder. “Sorry to hear that.”

“It is being transported back to Japan. I am not concerned.” Yori bowed. “I am at your disposal Ron and Kim.”

“Uh, great.” Kim shook her head, staring as Ron gently took the bracelet from the box, examined it and then slid it back, closing the box almost as reverently as Yori had held it out. “Ron, can we go? I want to talk to Wade as soon as possible.”

Ron blinked and then smiled apologetically. “Sorry, KP. Let’s go. Yori? Kim’s car is just a few minutes away. Let me push the trolley.”

“It will be my honour to agree.” Yori smiled and, as Ron pushed the luggage trolley behind them, Kim escorted her to her car.

“So, What’s the deal with you and Fang anyway?” Kim glanced across at the young Japanese woman as she frowned. “Personal reason?”

“Did Ron explain to you what happened at Yamanouchi?” Yori glanced over as Kim nodded. “Then you know about the student that was taken. She was… a friend. Jasmine was my friend. The trauma she suffered while they attempted to escape with her was enough to make Sensei send her home. I was most heartbroken. Indeed, I do not think I would have been happy for quite some time without the assistance of an older student… Tara Aish I think her name was… I thoughtit was.” Yori sighed ansd shrugged. “An old pain… but Jasmine was a gifted student, and a close friend. I… I intend to obtain vengeance for her.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” Kim sighed. “What trauma?”

“To ensure we would… understand the gravity of the situation Jasmine was in, they removed a finger and left it in her room with a note. The amount of blood, and the way it was taken from her was-” Yori broke off, and eyes flashed. “I know who gave the order to do that… I know who is to blame and she will pay.”

“This can’t be about revenge, Yori.” Kim watched as the Ninja flicked her dark hair away from her eyes and stared at her. “You understand? Fang must go to jail. I can’t let you do anything else.”

“And if Shego were still in her clutches… if you had received herfinger? What would you do?” Yori tilted her head as Kim paused in her walking and stared into the distance. “If you can honestly say you would send Fang to jail, I will abide by your request. Otherwise, I shall decide what to do if I am the one who confronts her.”

“I…” Kim paused. What would I do if she’d hurt Shego that way?“I… I would still have sent her to jail, Yori. It’s all I could do. I’m not a killer!”

“Then I shall agree to that…” Yori smiled slightly. “I am no killer either, though I was hoping for a balance of the scales.”

“Glad to hear it.” Kim glanced at her, worried about the tone of her voice. “Come on, there she is.”

Yori glanced in surprise at the blue car in the distance. Gleaming in the sunlight, the blue four door sports looked futuristic. Impressed, she turned to Kim. “This is yours?”

“A birthday present… don’t ask.” Kim sighed and her fingers pressed the remote. With a click, the boot slid open and Ron pushed the trolley close to it. “I did, and got told to stop complaining. She’s mine. She keeps telling me enough!”

“You keep moaning a lot. If you just accepted that I amyour car, life would be so much easier!” The car replied, making Yori pause and gasp in shock.

“Kim… Ron… why is the car talking?” Yori glanced across at Ron and blinked as he grinned and winked at her.

“Long story… To cut it short, my car is… alive and she talks.” Kim shrugged. “Yori, this is Mara. Mara, this is Yori. Ron’s friend.”

“Hello.” The soft voice of Mara echoed into the car park. “Pleasure to meet you.”

Yori glanced at Ron, and then bowed slightly towards the car. “The honour to meet… you is… mine?”

“That’s nice. Well, come on Ron, load up.” Mara’s rear doors clicked open. “I look forward to getting to know you, Ms Yori. Oh, one thing…”

“Oh no.” Kim muttered, slapping a hand over her face. “Ignore her, Yori.”

“What?” Yori asked, confused.

“Are you bleeding anywhere?” Mara asked, her voice cautious. “Blood is so hard to get out!”

“Um, no.” Yori shuffled backwards slightly. She could almost swear the car was examining her somehow. Her senses, refined to a razor edge, were yelling at her “Out of what?”

“My upholstery.” Mara broke off as a foot kicked one of her wheels. Her sensor strips focused on her owner and she huffed. “Kim… all I’m doing is asking a reasonable question considering that-”

“Stop it…” Kim hissed, interrupting her as she climbed into the driver’s seat. Man, this is so embarrassing!“She’s a guest!”

“All right… all right!” Mara’s voice echoed around them, annoyed. “Nice to meet you, Yori. Sorry about that, but the last passenger I had bled everywhere! ”

“I see.” Yori moved over to Ron and helped the blond man load her luggage into the boot. As she did so, Yori glanced over at him and gently slid a hand onto his shoulder. “It is most agreeable to see you again, Ron. I missed you. Yamanouchi has not been the same since you left.”

Ron paused in loading the bags and smiled back. “Hey, you missed the Ronster… Every woman does when he leaves.”

Yori laughed. “Always with the American humour, Ron.” Yori pushed the boot closed and stood back as the car rumbled to life. Smiling at the blond man next to her, she inclined her head. “Come. Kim is waiting.”

“Yeah…” Ron watched as the young woman slid into the car. The faint scent of lilac hung in the air where she had been and he shivered, remembering the way her black outfit had clung gently to muscular curves. “We’ve got a lot to cover… maybe more than I thought at first, too.”

---

Drakkens Lair- Training Room 6PM.

Kara Fang prowled around her target, hands weaving in a circle as she focused her entire attention on her enemies hands. Her blood red cat suit, the same one she had worn while she had knocked Shego out, whispered softly across skin and muscle as she glided dangerously around her blond haired opponent.

A sudden flash of movement had her bringing her arm up to block an impact that would have smashed into her temple. She countered, rolling forwards on the mat, her fingers extended into a claw, ready to slash at the stomach muscles of her attacker.

Her attacker back flipped. The speed of her reactions, making Kara seem like she were standing still. A naked foot whistled through the air and slapped against Kara’s side, making the dark haired woman cough as the air left her lungs.

She back-peddled, her hands gripping the foot before her opponent could pull it back. She fell to her knees, muscles snapping her into a twisting roll along the mat. With a slap and cry of escaped breath, her opponent fell, her leg trapped under Kara’s body weight.

Her victory was short lived. A hand smacked into the back of her neck, the side of the hand impacting precisely against Kara’s pressure points and she fell backwards, pain shooting up her spine. Rolling, her opponent slammed a fist into her stomach, making Kara grunt.

Kara dodged the foot that flew up and tried to hook around her neck. Her hand lashed out, the flat of it snapping down onto the inner muscle of her opponent’s leg with a crack. As her opponent let out a cry of pain, Kara followed through, her own fist smashing into her enemies jaw, her foot slamming into her opponent’s chest.

Both rolled, springing upright, and Kara’s smile turned vicious as she lunged at her opponent once more.

Her blond opponent moved smoothly to one side, the back of her elbow connecting with Kara’s spine and overbalancing her so that she staggered forwards. The blond woman crouched as she overbalanced, her leg sweeping out in a vicious arc, intent on knocking Kara over.

The Mistress of the blood Jade grunted with effort and she bent backwards, her muscles screaming at her as she jumped into a standing backflip. It was her opponent’s turn to overbalance, and as she fought to regain it, Kara’s foot whistled round to collide with her head. She fell face down on the mat.

Using her advantage, Kara gripped her opponents blond hair and held it tightly, while her right lag slammed into the small of the woman’s back. She pulled on the hair and pushed with her leg, eliciting a whimper of pain.

“Surrender!”

The blond woman nodded and Kara let go of her hair, her opponent falling forwards and rolling with a grunt. “Interesting counter.”

Kara grinned as her bodyguard fell back against the mat and she paused over her body, Sweat trickling down her face. She smiled. “How was that?”

Shia nodded and ran a hand across her forehead, wiping the sweat onto her black combat slacks. “Good. Very good. Anticipation, judgement and counter. You are improving.”

“What level would you say I am now?” Kara slid off her sister and strode across to a fridge. Sliding the door open, she pulled two bottles of chilled water from inside and threw one to Shia. “More importantly, when will I be as good as Shego?”

Shia, already drinking her water deeply, coughed. “As good as…”

“Shego, yes.” Kara sipped her water and sighed as her sister continued to cough violently. “I take it that the answer is ‘a long way off’.”

Shia stared at her sisters annoyed expression. Even I, after all my training am not as good as Shego. Beaten, dehydrated and exhausted… she still managed to avoid almost all of my strikes. If she had been… at the peak of her abilities, I would have had little to no chance of even hitting her!

“You are good.” Shia replied, careful of her sister’s mercurial nature. “However, would you say you are equal to me?”

Kara scowled. “Not yet… I will not lie to myself, far from equal!”

Shia sighed and nodded. “I was only able to wound Shego due to her physical condition. If she had been at peak ability… I doubt I could. So…”

“That means I am far from matching her in combat.” Kara muttered. Her hand that gripped the water bottle convulsed, splashing water across her cat suit. “A shame.”

“Mistress, why did you ask me that?” Shia frowned. “Surely the reason we have gone to the effort of capturing Shego, is that that she and she alone stands a chance of taking Kim Possible alive. A chance of even stopping her! You cannot challenge her to a fight, not Shego. We need her, Mistress!”

“Yes, yes… but part of me wants to face her in combat. To show her that my shame,” Kara pointed to the front of her cat suit and the hidden scar. “Will not be repeated. You know how much this shames me, Shia.”

Her sister nodded. She knew that she had been one of three people to see that scar in the Jade. Out of the three, she was the only one who remained alive. “Yes. But you cannot face her, especially not now.”

“I know that!” Kara snarled. “I can dream however. Besides, maybe one day… when Shego is older and has outlived her usefulness as an assassin, I can finally take my revenge and face her in combat… Face her in combat and win, so that her broken body can sate my hatred!”

Shia moved backwards slightly, as Kara’s face curled into the mad beast she knew lay hidden. Sometimes, I wish I never knew I had a sister. Sometimes I wish my lessons at Yamanouchi were not a cover for Kara’s wishes.

“Yes… but she is vital to your pla-“

“I know!” Kara’s eyes blazed and Shia bowed her head. “I know she is vital to take over the Jade, I know how useful she will be with Kim Possible! I know for I devised the plan. But I hate her Shia, never forget that!”

“I will remember in future.” Shia nodded, sipping her water once more.

Kara’s anger cooled as quickly as it had come. The dark haired woman sighed. “Anyway… I require a status report. Have you located her yet?”

Shia nodded. “Yes, and she was exactly where you thought she would be, Mistress. According to our recon teams, she was at the Possible household. They found the hoverpod being loaded onto a truck for Dr Possible’s laboratory. I presume he wished to examine it. The computer was erased en route by our strike team.”

“And what of Shego now?”

Shia bit her lip. She had traced Shego to Middleton hospital and had stared at the readouts in the nurse’s station of Shego’s condition. Shia had been impressed, Shego had survived a terrible brutal torture and then physical assault. For her, that was a problem. The Blood Jade did not agree with her own personal idea of honour. If she had any choice in the matter, Shego would have been left alone. Shia knew she had been bested in battle and to attack such a foe while she lay helpless in hospital… it was wrong.

Such thoughts will get me killed, as Kara has said often enough. Remember, for the Jade, only success brings honour. An enemy alive is a shameful thing for us… we must kill for the Jade, we live for the Jade, and we follow… the Jade.

Still, as Shia glanced up at her sister and sighed at her curious expression, she wished otherwise.

“I have located her personally for you. I followed her daughter, she was coming back from her home, and she went to the hospital. Her mother has admitted Shego to Middleton Hospital, under the name ‘Shena Gordon’.”

Kara laughed, amused despite herself. “A clever play on words. Dr Possible is obviously an amusing woman to talk to. Bright as well. Mind you, as she is one of the most recognised brain surgeons in the world, I am not surprised about her intelligence.”

Shia nodded. “Regardless, Shego is not guarded there… nobody seems to realise she is a wanted villain. Odd, considering her green skin.”

Kara shrugged and placed the empty water bottle into the trash. “I would expect Dr Possible or Kim Possible to have come up with a workable cover story for that. It is of no matter. We know where she is and now we can-“

A sudden hiss of a door made Kara break off and she turned. There, standing consciously in the doorway and staring at her tight red suit, stood Dr Drakken. He swallowed.

“Um, am I disturbing you?”

Ah, the idiot, with my report.

“No, Doctor. Please… do come in.” Kara inclined her head and Drakken glanced round. Once a storage room, the space had been painted a dark red and black. A weapons rack slid along one side of the room, while a small fridge and area for hanging clothing sat next to it. In the corner, an incense stick burned gently in a small holder. “I hope you do not mind. This empty room makes an excellent Dojo… a personal one for myself and Shia to practice.”

“No, no. This is perfectly acceptable. Shego has… had, her own next to her room. I was thinking of making it into a pool now. Would you care to use that instead of here?” Drakken smiled hopefully. “Least I can do.”

“I prefer this room, Doctor.” Kara smiled, while part of her recoiled. She intended, as soon as possible, to have Shego’s quarters turned into her own. Starting with the dreadful green decoration. “Now, do you have my report?”

“Oh, yes.” Drakken picked up a dossier and flipped it open. “The news is not great, but its not too bad. I can fix the transmitter.”

Kara sighed. “Excellent. How long?”

“With Carl and the others helping me… two days.”

Kara smiled. “Better and better Doctor. What about the bad news?”

Drakken licked his lips. “I’m having trouble adapting the Pareo Servus technology for Kim Possible.”

Kara stared at him and her eye twitched slightly. “Doctor, when I asked about the possiblity of capturing Kim Possible as well as Shego, you said it would be easy to do so. That the technology in Shego could be easily adapted to Possible!”

Drakken swallowed. Come on Drakken, get a grip. You’re the evil genius here! It’s your lair and your technology! What does Kara have? Except a slowly growing army of Ninja’s downstairs… and her own deadly abilities. Um, best to keep her happy and try to get out of this problem.

“It’s not my fault!” He whined. “When I designed the control technology fro Shego, it took me over a year! I had access to her personal details, especially her own DNA and a brain scan.” He shrugged. “Part of the healthcare plan. Anyway, I used that information to solve the problems with the Pareo Servus control system. It was always intended to be used on one person, her!”

Kara gritted her teeth. “I still do not understand the problem!”

Drakken sighed. “While all brains are physically identical, there are subtle differences. Density, mass… blood vessels. To allow Pareo Servus to work as a mind control system, I had to plan their destinations and which neurones were to be locked onto carefully. Also, I had to design it so that Servus wouldn’t be attacked by her own immune system… and that took the DNA. That’s why Shego has no visible chip! That’s why mine canbe internal. But, it looks like it could also be an Achilles heel.”

“Explain!” Kara snapped as Shia closed her eyes.

“The technology is too specific for multiple people.” Drakken admitted reluctantly. “I could and will mind control Kim Possible for you. But it’ll take time… three to four months to program the system to infiltrate and subjugate the correct neurones and also design the correct coating for her immune system to ignore the technology and not attack it.”

Kara snarled and span away from Drakken as he tapped his fingers together worriedly.

He has such tiny hands…Shia thought for a second, before blinking and focusing on her sister.

“So, this system cannot be used to control others either?” Kara glanced over and Drakken shook his head.

“Not unless we can get some medical information and a DNA sample. Even then, as I said, it will take time. I still know how to make the normal mind control chips… but they can be removed too easily… as I know very well.”

This is unacceptable!” Kara snapped, kicking the incense burner across the room. “Why can you not program or solve the problems?”

So close… to be denied now! No… unacceptable. If he fails me, I shall break each and every one of his bones, in sequence!

Drakken swallowed. “I had to outsource for a lot of the biological side of Shego’s technology. A lot of it is ex-military… The main reason…” He paused and his blue faced darkened in a blush. “I’m not an expert in neural tissue! So I have no idea even where to begin to solve that problem! The DNA I might be able to solve on my own… but someone with medical knowledge would be useful in aiding me to find the solution.”

Kara calmed herself and closed her eyes. “Tell me. If I managed to locate such an expert willing to work for us, how long would it take then?”

Drakken blinked. “I have no idea. It depends on the person I work with I suppose. If they are the forerunner in their field, it could be less than a day. Heck, could be hours.” Drakken raised his hands in a calming gesture. “As I said, it’s not insoluble even for me… I just don’t have the expertise right now and because of that, I have no idea what to program into the system… what parameters need to be set. I think you could program them to adjust for varying density of tissue and also what type of neural cluster to locate, but I don’t know what to program in! I’m sure an expert in neural tissue could solve it.”

Kara took a deep breath and focused on the problem at hand. She needed control of Kim Possible as well as Shego… that she was certain. While killing the young woman would make life far simpler for her in the long run, having Kim under her control was more appealing.

Two obedient, mindless assassins… who do what I say, nobody else. Who will kill whomever I say… will never reveal their employer if caught and will remain loyal for their entire lives. Yes, the benefits of this outweigh the problem that Drakken has produced. Now, how to solve it…

Kara turned back to Shia and Drakken, thoughtful. “We cannot have Kim Possible as a prisoner for that length of time, Doctor. I have read your reports on her, seen the footage of her rescues and raids on the television. She would escape, and our plans would fail if we waited that long.”

Drakken tapped his fingers again. “You have a point. But I don’t know how to solve the problem.”

“You need an expert… a neural expert and…” Kara paused, a slow smile slipping onto her face.

“What?” Drakken asked, noticing her expression. He felt a slight tremble slip through him at her sly smile. It was quite attractive. “You have an idea for someone we can employ? Someone who will help.”

“Possibly. Doctor, you said that you still have the basic mind control chips available and can fix the transmitter to manipulate Shego in two days?”

“Yes… I can. I’ll have to make a chip, but I have the blueprints from the first stored in a secure internet server. Why?”

Kara held up a finger and Drakken petered off. She turned to Shia, who bowed. “Shia, you said Dr Possible works at the Middleton Hospital.”

Shia nodded and then blanched. “Mistress, surely you cannot be thinking of-“

Kara smiled cruelly. “Oh yes… yes indeed. The irony would be most delicious.”

Drakken scratched his head. What is she talking about?

“Um, Ms Fang? What are you planning?” Drakken flinched as Kara turned to him, eyes wide with cruel amusement. “Unless you do not wish to tell me, that’s fine!”

“Shhh, Doctor. I am thinking of killing two birds with one stone.”

“Eh?”

This man is such a fool! Why am I forced to work with idiots… and how has he managed to make a name for himself?

“The first problem, Doctor is that you require a neural expert to solve your little problem. A problem that would stop us from using Kim Possible.”

“Okay, I can follow that…” Drakken nodded.

“The second problem is how to lure Kim Possible to the lair… In case Shego fails and ends up being incapacitated by her.” Kara grinned. “I am nothing if not… cautious.”

“Okay, you lost me again…” Drakken scratched his head. “I don’t see how the two problems are related. Nor can I see a solution. Do you?”

Kara nodded, and glanced across at the pale face of her sister. Shia knew… and it shocked her. “Yes, I do.”

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense!” Drakken growled, impatient and Kara laughed. “Well? Come on!”

“Oh, very well, Doctor! I apologise for keeping you on edge.” Kara’s smile darkened and an evil expression slid across her face. “You need a neural expert… someone who understands the human brain. Who better than a brain surgeon… more importantly, one of the top brain surgeons in the country.”

“Well, certainly but where would we get one?” Drakken scowled. “The only person who even comes close to that is Kim Possible’s mother and she-“

Drakken stopped and a look of shock slid across his face. Kara’s smile widened. “Keep going Doctor.”

“She’d never work for us!” Drakken exclaimed, eyes wide. “She’s as goodie, goodie as her daughter is! More importantly, she’d never help us mind control her own flesh and blood! Heck, we’d need to have her under mind control to-“ Drakken paused again. “Oh… but we can make… I see!”

“Yes…” Kara smiled. Idiot. “You begin to see the beginnings of my solution.”

“I can see that, and I understand how we can lure Kim Possible to the lair when we are ready… but how would we kidnap Dr Possible?”

“It just so happens, Doctor, that we have someone in a perfect position to kidnap Dr Possible with minimal fuss. Someone they will not expect until it is too late. Someone who will leave Kim Possible devastated. Leave this to me.”

“Very well.” Drakken nodded. “Shall I continue with the transmitter?”

“Oh yes.” Kara smiled. “Please do… it is even more important now.”

Drakken glanced one final time at Kara in astonishment and walked out of the Dojo. Kara turned to her sister. “You wish to make a comment?”

“This is wrong. Making her own mother come up with the technology to control her. It is evil. Pure evil!” Shia swallowed. “Mistress, please.”

“You know what I intend, Shia. Just obey me.” Kara sighed. “No weakness, Shia… no weakness. If you keep this up… I’ll have to do what I told you earlier.”

Swallowing, Shia nodded and closed her eyes. “I live to serve.”

---

Shego

It was dark in the house. No moonlight as the sky was wall to wall with thunderclouds. Shego, clad in dark black, stood quietly in the corridor and smoothly glanced around.

She knew what she had to do… what she had been doing for months. Her eyes slid over to the kitchen and she moved silently towards it. Inside, her eyes, a dull emerald, glanced at the drawers and she walked over to them.

Pulling open one drawer, the gleam of dull metal reflected in her eyes and she reached in. The gentle whisper of sharp metal echoed quietly into the room as she turned, brandishing the kitchen knife against her side.

“No…”

She walked quietly up the stairs, her booted feet making no sound on the plush carpet and her gentle breathing controlled. Reaching the top, Shego glanced left and then right… spying the door she knew she had to go to.

“No… NO!”

The doorknob was cool to her touch as she turned it. The room inside was dark, cool from the open window and the breeze from the stormy clouds outside. All of this barely registered to her, for the woman in the bed, her chest rising slowly as she breathed, she filled Shego’s entire attention.

“NO! NO!”

Quietly, Shego walked over to the sleeping figure and gently pulled back the soft sheet that covered the sleepers body. She raised the knife, it gleamed dully in the tiny flash of moonlight that broke through the cloud and her eyes shone as she stared at the face on the bed.

With one swing, the blade shot down and slammed into flesh, making the figure lurch up in a blood-curdling scream of agony. Red hair slashed across her face and Shego stared calmly into the face of the woman she had just killed, even as she choked and vomited blood, terror in her eyes. Blood poured out of her, a warm and sticky sensation, onto Shego’s hands and spattering her face.

The woman managed one tiny whimper that echoed quietly around the room, as she curled like a fish around the steel in her body.

“Shego… why?”

“KIMMMIE! NOOOO!”

---

Middleton Hospital- 10PM.

Shego shot up in bed, a scream clawing at her throat and sweat drenching her skin. Her wild eyes shot round the room, looking for Kim’s dead body. Her hands trembled and she stared, looking for the blood that coated them.

“Oh god… Oh god!”

Vomit clawed at her throat and Shego curled under the sheets of the bed she had been sleeping in. She fought with herself, determined not to puke as her hands clenched and shook, fighting the sensation.

“Won’t… I won’t.” Shego muttered the vision of Kim’s dying body assailing her. “I wouldn’t… not Kim. Not then, not now!”

Shaking, Shego realised she was still in her room at Middleton hospital and she whimpered. A hand gently slid up to wipe her brow and she choked.

Ah, god… a dream. Calm down, Hon, it was a dream. Just a dream.

Her hand reached out and fumbled with the glass of water that slid around on her table. Grabbing it eventually, she sipped the cool water and it helped soothe the burning in her throat.

With a sigh, she slid the glass back onto the table and curled under the sheets, eyes glancing around with a haunted expression. As the moonlight flickered across her bed, Shego swallowed. For the first time in her life she wished someone else were in bed with her… someone she could hug tightly until the shivers vanished.

I’m not a killer. Never have been. Never will be!

The thought ran though her head again and again and her eyes stared into the night sky as she lay in bed. Sleep the last thing on her mind.