Mind, body, and Soul

The Present: T-Minus 7 Days and Counting

“She thinks she’s all that, but she’s not!”

The scream echoed around the tiny darkened room, reverberated past the threadbare sofa and rattled the massive steel shutters across the grimy windows. In the quiet that followed, the only sounds came from the tiny bench lit by an angle-poise lamp propped against a laptop. The sickly yellow light also flickered across the figure of a man fiddling with gleaming computer chips on the pitted surface.

“I’ll show that little redhead what’s what! I’ll show her! And Shego! Shego will pay for betraying me, for beating me and taking away my lair!”

One of the chips snapped as a hand carelessly put too much pressure on a tiny probe as the hunched figure snarled in outrage. “How dare she turn away from our plans, our calling… from me… how dare she!”

Spinning on the ratty chair, the weak light from the lamp played across a face full of rage, a face with a scar running along one cheek and a pale blue complexion that highlighted the figures dark and angry eyes.

Doctor Drakken.

“Oh yes, Shego. You will rue the day you betrayed me, betrayed your evil brothers and sisters! I promise you that, I swear it! I thought we were family, but, oh no, you wouldn’t have that would you! Well, I’ll show you just how little I needed you, or Kara Fang! I can do evil stuff on my own!”

Drakken swung back to the pitted bench and picked up his tools. Attacking the chips once more, his tongue slowly slid out of the corner of his mouth while he concentrated.

I may have lost all my money, all my beautiful toys in the lair, all my plans I had stored up, but I’m not beaten!

Unable to help himself, Drakken recalled the exhausted, yet grinning face of Shego as she had watched Possible manhandle him into a huddled heap at the base of his main computer.

There had been no lost love for him in her eyes as she’d glanced briefly across at him. None! How dare she betray him not once, but twice to Possible and her friends!

The frantic escape though the emergency tunnels while the lights were out had been humiliating for him. When he had popped the hatch that lead into his own private quarters and lab, had heard the shouting voices of his henchmen retreating, followed swiftly by the military shouts of Global Justice, he had been fast.

His woefully small emergency stash of cash, a gun, medical supplies, and a few technical gadgets had been swiftly scooped out of the hidden safe, as had the shiny steel case sitting on the bench in his private lab. Only once he was sure he could make a quick escape, had he swiftly seated himself at his private computer terminal.

The images that he had seen on his own private network of security cameras, especially the one of Kara loading her gun with the dose of Servus intended for Possible, had worried rather than calmed him. There was something in Kara Fang’s gaze that had frightened him as she had vanished from the screen into the escape tunnels once more.

At first, after flicking frantically through the network of cameras and watching Kara shoot Kim with the Servus vial, he could only stare in horror. By doing that, she had to have brought the wrath of Shego down upon her, and Drakken remembered wincing at the thought of how his ex-employee would respond.

The sudden flaring blasts of green energy that had pock-marked the wall around the Jade Assassin as she crouched had only confirmed his own fears. When Kara had ended up swinging at the base of the walkway and Drakken had seen the insane gleam in her eyes, he knew it was time to go.

The frantic and gibbering dash he’d made for the submarine hidden at the base of the fusion core had been quickly decided with little care for the Jade he left behind. His own survival had always been number one, especially around Shego and Possible.

His only thoughts as the submarine had detached, and the reverberation of the fusion core’s secret access system closing back up had echoed across the hull, had been of escape and revenge. Both would require money. Drakken had known that and had patted the silver case comfortably.

What had been in there had set him up with enough cash to prepare his little surprise.

“Not beaten! Not now I’ve managed to get a little more cash, enough to buy myself a safe rental lair. You’ll never find me, never! And soon you won’t have time, my green freak!”

Grinning insanely, Drakken picked up one of the chips and held it triumphantly.

“Ahh, how many times will my genius be allowed to pervert the things others create? When will my genius for outsourcing be recognised! With these two improved neural compliance chips, I can find a couple of rich targets, woo them at the door with my charm, and slip them on! With their funds at my fingertips, I can plan for world domination! I can plan for revenge!”

Grinning, Drakken finished his modifications to the chip.

“Both Kim Possible and you, Shego, will be mine! You will pay for the humiliation, the betrayal… everything! Revenge will be sweet. Sweet I say!”

As the pale blue man began to cackle insanely, sliding off the stool to dance around the bench in the fetid cool air, a sudden flash of blue sparks on the far side of the lab, plunged in shadows, made him blink. The lamp suddenly flickered and died, plunging the room into cold darkness. The only light came from the windows coated in grease and protected by the massive shutters across them

In the pitch black, Drakken let out a gasp of fear and then a squeal of pain as he fell over the stool and went crashing into the darkness, the chip springing out of his hand and bouncing along the concrete into the inky black.

“Nooo! That cost me my last few thousands! The blue man screamed and slid to his feet, peering into the darkness. The sudden quiet rattle of metal on concrete made him scowl and he huffed in annoyance. “Damn rental lairs, I really should learn my lesson. They never put in decent fuse boxes, and this one’s seen far, far better days.”

Sighing, Drakken began to fumble around his desk for a flashlight, his fumbling becoming more certain as his eyes adjusted to the murky gloom. Spying the light blue plastic of the cheap torch, Drakken reached out to pick it up.

A sudden agonising pain shot through his hand as a glowing object suddenly flew through the air to ricochet off his blue skin. As he shook off the sharp shock, Drakken cursed loudly as whatever it was rattled onto the concrete near his foot. As he pulled his hand back, he blinked as the sharp pain increased and, examining the flesh, he realised he had burned the skin. Plus, the shape had felt… very familiar.

“No… my chip…” He whimpered into the darkness, sucking on the reddened flesh of his hand. “But, what made it so hot?”

“Dr D…”

The sudden cool, throaty, familiar and female voice that echoed out of the darkness like an ice cold whip had Drakken’s eyes widening in terror and his fingers spasmed on the gun. Or they would have, if the weapon itself hadn’t been pulled free by another figure, the fast moving outline of a black cat suit and flash of red the only sign she been near him.

Even as he watched this new player stroll across to his desk and pounce up onto it, then turn to gaze at him through a strange set of goggles, Drakken could only gibber at how quietly she had sneaked up on him. Almost as good as Sheg-

A faint green glow began to gently light up the room, and Drakken stared in horror at the figure, at the angry smile, at the eyes that glared at him as the glow illuminated the face he thought he would never see again. He swallowed.

“We really need to talk…”

---

The Past: Middleton Hospital: T-Minus 13 Days and Counting.

“And how are we both feeling today?”

The middle-aged nurse announced as she walked into the room containing her two patients. Lying on separate beds, pushed close together, one set of dull green eyes watched her reach up and turn off the droning television. Shego, however, only glanced up past the spine of the book she was reading once she had registered the TV had been switched off, before rolling her eyes before returning to it.

The redhead, lying stiffly next to her, stared once more into the distance, uncaring. The Servus programme barely registering the nurse’s presence. Inside however, Kim herself rolled her eyes at the fake cheer in the woman’s tone.

Smiling and fixing the vitamin and energy shot for Shego, alongside the usual pain medications for both of them, she cheerfully burbled. “Rested I hope?”

This was too much for Kim.

“Rested? Rested? I’m trapped in my own body by something I can’t fight! Servus only uses the bathroom when absolutely, vitally, necessary but I’ve wanted to go for twenty minutes! And to top it all off you thought watching four hours of ‘A Thousand and One Uses for Peanut Butter’ would be therapeutic!”

Trapped inside her motionless body, which slowly turned its head to stare at the nurse as she fluffed pillows, Kim snarled in uncharacteristic anger and continued to rant.

“I’ve had to watch Shego deal with hostile GJ, FBI and CIA agents trying to rile her into an arrest, watch my mother cry, my brothers jump on my bed for twenty minutes, and if that’s not enough now my legs started itching! Other than that? Everything’s just peachy!” Sarcasm slid into her unheard tone. “How are you?”

“She’s not happy.” Shego quietly murmured, glancing up from her book and the nurse stiffened, glancing around with an expression of fear on her face.

Shego couldn’t really blame her.

Considering that, when she had listened to the explanation Kim’s mother had given her, along with Mego and the Wego twins hauling a half conscious Hego into the emergency room- and her amusement and pleasure at seeing that had been well hidden- for treatment, Shego had felt an uncharacteristic urge to blush.

She hated drugs, and the events in the corridor outside Kim’s room were the perfect example of why.

After the event in the corridor, events had moved swiftly. Shego had quickly been moved into Kim’s room at her mother’s insistence. Though Will Du and a few of the doctors had protested at such a move, many fearing Shego was a plant, or would simply take the opportunity to take Kim out while she was helpless, Doctor Possible simply ignored them.

Shego herself had found that, while still technically a GJ prisoner awaiting transport to a secure cell, she had been classed by Doctor Possible as ‘medically unfit’. To her surprise, Doctor Director had nodded once while the thief had stared in disbelief, before walking out and leaving a single guard on the door.

If that had left Shego confused, then the sudden gift of hot coffee, a warm set of pyjamas in green, and a shot of painkiller that had her floating happily for the best part of the day, had left her totally bemused. She wondered if this was all a way of thanking her for saving her Kimmie, and she couldn’t help but wonder when the bubble would burst.

Unfortunately for her, Hego’s visit the next day almost had her good nature, and the charm of being a ‘guest’ of Middleton Hospital, violently wearing off.

“Will you please just listen to me!”

“Why? Why the hell would I want to waste so much of my time?”

“Damn it, Shego, I helped save your life! You could be more appreciative!”

“And you think getting in the way of Stoppable’s work repays what you did? Why you arrogant fuckhead!”

“Oh sure. Great maturity sis, calling me names!”

The argument had been going on for hours in the private room assigned to Shego. It had begun quietly. A simple visit from brothers visiting an injured sister. Too quietly. Almost as if both sides were biding their time and energy for the screaming match that it had quickly become.

“Names? I meant that!”

“Damn it, Sis, why not admit you were wrong to leave us?”

Outside the door, sitting on the cool blue plastic chairs next to their sister’s room, Mego and the Wego twins glanced at each other with each fuming exchange in the room behind them. Mego sighed at the last hissed comment, heard the outrage trembling inside the tone and gently ran his hand across his forehead.

“I told him, guys.” Mego glanced across at the twins, watched them shiver at the thought of their sister’s face. “I told him not to ask her, at least not yet. Did he listen to me? No. Because I’m the second in command and Hego is our glorious ‘leader’.” Mego snorted at the word. “If he’s such a great leader, then why didn’t he know this would happen? Anyone would have known, even Kim. She’d know not to piss our sister off like this.”

“He just wants Shego to-”

“Come back.” The twins pointed out softly. “Why doesn’t she want-”

“To come back to us?”

“You know why. There’s a list of reasons. But I don’t think the reason is something now, but in the past. Hego muttered something about it not being his fault and that maybe she’d forgive him this time while we were in the waiting room. I think he may have kept something from us, something about the way she left.”

“We thought Shego-”

“Liked the idea of evil? Isn’t that why she left us and joined up-”

“With Drakken?”

Mego frowned, and tried to get past his own ego for a few moments and think like his sister.

“That’s not much of a reason, is it? I mean, come on. Sis was aggressive in her combat, sure, but she never killed anyone.” He frowned. “Detonhater doesn’t count. That psycho would have blown the lift anyway. We all agreed on that, right?”

The twins nodded and Mego scowled.

“Something’s going on, and I don’t like being out of the loop. And before you even say it, this has nothing to do with my ego, guys.” The twins glanced at each other in surprise. Mego had always cared about number one, first and foremost, but now he was scowling and worrying over his sister and brother. “I’m beginning to wonder if Hego had a hand in making Shego leave, her becoming evil or not.”

The snarling voices suddenly rose in pitch and the members of Team Go in the corridor winced.

“I saved your life! The least you could do is forgive me for what happened! It was for the best, for you and for us! You were the one who couldn’t control herself! And now, when I save your ass, you refuse to see how helpless you were!”

“Bastard! Bastard to say that to me! I was doing fine before you showed up! We were already fighting free of that Psycho bitch and her goons! Hell, Mrs P has more ability in her little finger than you, Hego. And she’s never stabbed me in the back! Not even when I-” Shego’s voice broke off into a choking cough.

“Sis, you fucked up! What more can I say? You gave your allegiance to Drakken, to evil, and now when it slaps you in the face, you refuse to admit you were wrong? Even when I’m happy, even eager, to forgive your sins against us and the public?”

“Oh god, don’t say that! Please don’t say that to her.” Mego slid a hand across his face.

“Sins?” The choked female voice heated rapidly. “Sins! You think that what I’ve been doing with my life is sinful!”

“Well, lets see shall we? You’re a thief, you’ve been working for a man trying to take over the world, have stolen god knows what and from who, and part of your duties involved trying to kill a teenage kid. What the hell would you class your life as?”

“Free! Trying to survive the betrayal of my family, everyone else, and especially you!” Shego’s voice snarled the words. “I wanted freedom! I didn’t want anyone to tell me what to do, how to live my life, criticise my decisions! Everything that they did when I was a hero! I was free as a thief, I had freedom!”

“You stole other people’s things!”

“Rich bastards who didn’t deserve things like that! All those times I saved those baubles and watched the guy who owned it barely give a damn! So, I decided to take a few back, in payment for all the crap I had to put up with!”

“That was wrong, sister!”

“Bite me, Hego! I don’t have to justify my existence, what I had to do to make money, to you or anyone! I had reasons and they’re mine and mine alone!”

“And Kim? I find it odd that you seem to care for her, considering how often you’ve tried to kill her.”

“That’s my business, my personal fucking business! If you even think about going there, brother, I won’t hold myself back…”

The warning tone was missed on Hego, but not on Mego who stood up. “Don’t say it…I don’t wanna have to risk my pretty face saving your ass you dumb idiot.”

“Sounds to me like you haven’t even thought about how she feels. But then why would you? You’re the great Shego.”

“Shut up.”

“Ex-heroine, thief, merc, villainess that she goes up against time and time again, and someone who wants to kill her. Why wouldn’t the Kim Possible fall for the great Shego? The beautiful, all powerful Shego! The Shego who’s been trying to kill her, hurt her, attack her all these years. The Shego who wants to steal and cheat, maybe rule the world and hurt people! Because she can… because she’s Shego!”

“Shut up!”

“Oh hell. This is going to go on all night, and I have a hot tub waiting at Go Tower.” Mego stood and slammed the door open to see his brother, arms crossed, glaring at the svelte female outlined by the sunlight as she stared out of the window. Even as the purple man opened his mouth to defuse the situation, Hego snorted.

“This has been the thing with you all these years, sister. You never care about anyone else, until it’s too late. You have a massive ego that means you never think about how what you do affects others! That’s why you were ousted at school, that’s why you screwed up as a hero, and that’s why your life has been one big mistake! That’s why I did what I did! Because I always cleaned up your messes! And now that Kim Possible seems to have taken over that job, look where it got her!”

“SHUT UP!”

Shego span around, and her hands clenched tightly against the urge to fire the plasma that trickled around her fingers into Hego’s smug face. Seeing Mego, his face pale and eyes wide, standing next to the hulking blue form had her fighting for self control.

Licking her lips, the thief turned back to the window, and desperately avoided both the gaze of her own reflection and the memories of betrayal, of bullying, of cruelty done to and by her.

“You damn well leave Kim out of this! She’s got people who’ll move heaven and earth for her. A family full of experts trying to help her, determined to save her. Not a family of screw-ups! One of which betrayed another to save his dream, no matter how much he tries to defend himself.”

Hego bristled. “I-”

“As for Kimmie and our… relationship? One day I’ll make it up to her, I swear… somehow, if she wants. As for how I feel about her, about our battles and what I did? That’s my business and mine alone. Bring it up again, Hego, and you’ll be too busy swallowing your teeth to speak to me again!”

Mego glanced across at Hego. The blue man’s face was bright red, and his own hands were clenching tightly, fighting against his own desires. Taking his life in his hands, and wondering why as he did so, Mego coughed into the room full of tension.

“Hey, how’s it going you two?”

“How’s it going?” Hego hissed the words. “She’s as stubborn and unforgiving as ever! Let alone the fact that her ego is still bigger than a mountain!” As Shego trembled next to the window, Mego swallowed. “She won’t come back to Team Go!”

“Well, that’s our sister’s choice, isn’t it-”

“I’m giving her a goddamn second chance and she’s throwing it away! Why the hell do I bother!”

“Well-“ The purple man began, only to duck quickly as the lamp that had sat on the table next to his sister’s bed slammed into the wall next to Hego and shattered. Both men glanced up at Shego, who stared at them and literally shook with anger.

“I don’t want a second chance at joining you! I never wanted to be part of fucking Team Go! When are you going to get it into your big, blue, thick as pig shit head, Hego?” Shego hissed the words and waved a hand. “If that’s all you have to say on the matter, you’re boring me and pissing me off! So get the hell out!”

Mego grabbed his brother’s arm and tugged. “Shego’s made her decision, come on.”

Hego bristled but allowed Mego to tug him towards the door. As they reached it, Shego turned around, the sound of her bare feet slapping on the linoleum making the two brothers pause. The stare she aimed at them was for Hego only, and he reddened at the icy and emotionless gaze.

“What you did today pays about one thousandth of the debt you owe me, Hego. You betrayed me, all those years ago.” She ignored Mego’s choked “What?” and stared at her brother with loathing. “You forced me out, made me run and find another way, another life. You’re partly responsible for all of this, as much as I am anyway.”

“You think I’m to blame for this?” Hego stared at her in disbelief. “You ran away from your debt to society!”

“That was bullshit the second they said it! Bastards the lot of them! And you tried to manacle me!” Shego snapped. “For nothing other than to save face you bastard! Some of the choices were mine, but not all of them.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “Not all of them…”

“Fine, if it makes you sleep better at night, believe that if you want.” Hego turned away, and ignoring Mego’s look of disbelief and the question forming on his lips, paused.

“Even if some of this is my fault, and you know how often I’ve reached out to you… What happened to Kim Possible is yours and yours alone.”

“Go away.”

“I am. But remember, Shego, that you got Ms Possible into this. Even if she gets free, you know that there are others who’ll see this turn of face as an open licence to attack you and anyone who helped or is close to you.”

The slap echoed around the room and Hego rocked backwards. His sister had been a green blur and she stood in front of him now, hand raised and trembling.

Shego stared at the red mark that slowly faded into view and bit her lip. Turning, she lowered her hand and hoarsely whispered. “Shut up and get the fuck out of my room!”

Hego nodded, rubbing his face. “Fine! But tell me this. Can you defend yourself? Let alone Kim Possible or anyone she cares for? Nobody can stay vigilant all the time. Not even you or Kim. What if they go through her to get to you? Is this more than just an infatuation, or is this just you being selfishly indulgent again?”

“I said get out.” Shego managed, her face bright green with mingled shame and anger. “Get out right now!”

“I’m gone. Come on Mego.” Turning smartly, the blue man, with five perfect red streaks on his left cheek, stormed out.

Mego, following on his heels with puzzlement and worry on his face, glanced back in time to see Shego turn back to the window with what sounded like a sob. Turning back to his brother, the purple skinned man ran up to Hego with anger on his face and grabbed his arm.

“What the hell was all that about? What did you do to her back then?” As Hego shook him off and continued walking, Mego stared in disbelief. “Hego, what’s going on!”

“Nothing you need to know about.” Hego snapped, glancing back. “Shego’s made her choice! She made her position about… things, perfectly clear!”

“Yeah, she did. Obviously it’s got something to do with when she left. And she left when you were the only one in the tower with her! What the fuck did you say or do to her?”

“That’s none of your business!” Hego roared, making Mego take a step back and swallow in genuine fear. “What happened, happened. What I did and what made her leave is the reason you damn well have the money, prestige, and ego to match of being a Team Go member. Remember that if you ever find out what happened!”

“Dude, you’re scaring me.”

“If I am, I’m sorry.” Hego turned away, his demeanour cooling slightly. “Mego, I can’t tell you what happened. I can’t because I’m legally bound against that. The only ones who know are Shego, and myself. If she ever wants to tell you, she can and I won’t stop her. But I can’t, I won’t risk the scandal of revealing that dirty secret myself.”

“Scandal?”

“Scandal, Mego. Leave it at that because I’ve said too much already. If Shego wants to remain out of Team Go, then so be it. I offered a hand back to the path of good and she slapped it away.” He paused and then sighed. “I don’t regret saving her life, of course I don’t. She’s my sister, always will be. But that’s where it ends for now. I’m going back to the Go jet and heading to the city. If you want to come, then come.”

Mego swallowed and glanced back at the room which his sister occupied. “I’ll be down in a minute. You’d better let the twins know we’re going. And if they want to say bye to Shego?”

“I won’t stop them.” Hego told him quietly, the anger vanishing and a tiny tremor of guilt creeping in. “She needs to know that some of her family can be trusted… by her anyway.”

As Mego turned and jogged back to where Shego’s door had quietly closed, Hego walked down the corridor and through the stairwell doors. Jogging down a flight of stairs, through the lower level door, and spying an open door through which he could see an empty gym, the blue man walked in. Closing the door softly, he turned to where the resistor straps sat quietly against the wall and, setting them to their maximum, gripped them in his hands.

“Idiot…” Hego whispered as he pulled the straps effortlessly out of the wall. “You went in there to reconcile! Not to end up making things worse!”

The zirr of the straps as he let them slide back into the wall echoed around the room, but Hego ignored the complaining devices and yanked on them again, the friction making the straps smoke.

Blaming her for Possible’s situation? What the hell was I thinking? Why can’t I just say sorry whenever I see her? Why can’t I damn well try to mend the bridges that I burned down all those years ago?

The straps in his hands suddenly slackened and the blue man glanced back in dismay as the mechanism set into the wall gave a distressing mechanical groan, before the material that made up the straps in his hands began to spill onto the floor in long coils.

“Hell! Something else the Go chequebook is going to have to pay for. Just great.”

Striding away from the broken machine, Hego wandered across to the dumbbells stacked in the corner and picked up two of the heaviest. Balancing the grips on each of his little fingers, the blue man began to rep slowly.

I can’t help myself I suppose. She can be so damn infuriating. Worse when she’s right. She’s oh so right about what I did. No matter how much I try, all I can see is the look of betrayal on her face when I think of that day. Stupid fool, believing that keeping her chained up was the solution, the solution and a way of keeping us together as a family. Ah, hell. What a damn mess.

But when you come down to it, all this… all of it, was thanks to my sister not being adult enough, understanding enough, to step up to the plate and take one for the team. Hell, there was no other choice, for me or for her. All those lawyers, ready to rip Team Go apart. All those lawsuits they were threatening. Even trying to have sis declared clinically dangerous to herself and others around her. I saved her from all of that, I saved her with a nice bracelet that all she had to do was keep on for a few years.

But what does she do? She ends up taking on a thief at Go museum and then vanishing. God, all the questions, the accusations, the damage to Team Go’s reputation! All the simpering and apologising I had to do to keep it going. All the legal threats that Mego and the twins didn’t know about, thanks to me. I kept the damn Team together as much as I could! Kept us from fading away into nothing!

“Why couldn’t Sis just tow the goddamn line?” His breathing fast, almost making it sound like a snarl, Hego swung his arms upwards violently. “I was trying to protect her… to help!”

The crunch of plaster, followed by a fine spatter of white dust pattering onto his costume made Hego blink and glance up. Above him lay two dumbbell shaped holes in the ceiling and the superhero stepped back quickly as the heavy weights dropped out of the darkness, slamming onto the mat in front of him.

Damn! Stupid… stupid! Losing your temper like that, just like Sis does all the time. Maybe it is an easy as she says it is. Ranting at the crap the world lays at your feet sometimes. Maybe I… I could have been more understanding? Maybe… oh god, maybe I should have been, well, a brother first.

“Oh hell… what a mess.”

Hego closed his eyes, recalling the look of hatred Shego gave him all those years ago. The same look had been in her eyes today. That much he knew. The same look though far more tired and scarred with the events of the last few days. He had hoped for her to be a little grateful, just a tiny bit. And who could blame him? More, he had hoped Shego would tell him to forget that damn day, the bracelet, the way she had flinched as it had slipped quietly on.

Even deeper, deeper than Hego could admit, he had hoped that his sister might do more than just forget what he had done. In his soul, all he wanted was for her to forgive him for that day. Not even return to Team Go. Hell, even talk to him any more, not if it meant she would whisper “I forgive you.”

Wishful thinking now, you big lummox. Come in, be civil, lose your temper because she tells you that Ronald got there first, helped spring her and Ms Possible free, rant, rave and then… then… He sighed. Then attack her for everything she’s done with her life and blame her for the cruelty of this Kara Fang.

Besides, maybe you were right, maybe you were wrong. But that means nothing and it certainly isn’t an excuse for stabbing her in the back then… and now. Groaning, Hego shook his head, the guilt in full flow now. Jeez, what a mess and I’ve made it worse.

Hego closed his eyes and, shaking his head, turned and walked out of the gym. Bypassing the reception desk, the hulking blue man headed for the main entrance and the hospital car park, where a bemused security guard was currently keeping an eye on a multicoloured jet.

Pausing, the blue man glanced back towards the lifts and imagined the young green woman staring out at the evening sky. He sighed. “No way of fixing it for now, especially not after we both exchanged… words.”

Turning, Hego strode towards the exit, which hissed open automatically at his approach. As he strode through the sliding doors, the blue man glanced behind and upwards to where he knew his sister’s room was located. The window showed a single outline, that of the spiky haired figure of Mego. Hego wondered why, considering that Mego’s personal ego annoyed Shego to no end that his brother seemed to at least be able to, well, talk to Shego without it descending into a screaming abuse match.

Maybe he was just right… maybe Shego and himself were inconsolable. If that was so, then he possibly would never see her again. The thought of this had Hego staring at the window with terribly mixed feelings. Finally, he nodded once.

“Come what may, however you and I feel about each other… Take care of yourself, Sis, and stay safe.”

With that, Hego headed for the Go Jet to await his brothers and to depart Shego’s life until such time, if it ever came, that she would want him back.

Shego sat on the edge of the bed, pointedly ignoring the spiky haired person she knew was leaning against the doorjamb. The presence of her brother, Mego, who had been standing there for over fifteen minutes.

Her self-obsessed brother was annoyingly intuitive over her relationship with Hego and had questioned her at length about the things that Hego, the idiot, had blurted out. She supposed that somewhere, under the huge volumes of spiky hair that topped that thin gangly form, was a brain. Something that she was trying to come to terms with.

“Sis, he’s asking for you to forgive him. Can’t you do that?”

“Why should I?” The snap in her voice should have had him stumbling back, backing away, doing what everyone always did when she was so angry. Should have, but for some reason, didn’t. Instead, Mego stared at her… and it had made her uncomfortable.

“Sis, I’m not going to tell you why, or how, or even if you should. Mainly because I know how stubborn you are and how hard you hit. I’m just asking for you to move on regarding Hego. Okay?”

“Screw you! Since when did my self-obsessed annoyance of a bro grow enough brain matter to give a damn about anyone else?”

Mego sighed. “I’m doing this because of selfish reasons if you really want to know. Selfish because I like having a family! Because I like being part of the family! We may not get along very well. Hell, half the time we want to kill each other. But sometimes I like having people to party with and to blow steam off with. Most importantly, I like having Hego around so I can look superior to him in front of the public.”

Shego stared at him as her purple brother grinned and examined his nails. She rolled her eyes as he winked at her. “Oh, blow it out of your ass, Mego.”

“The team shattered when you left.” He watched her quietly even as she sneered at him. “Shattered badly. You know it as well as I do, Sis. Hego closed in on himself, made the tower feel uneasy and caused friction within the team. Hell, you leaving almost caused us to permanently break apart for good. When you ‘visited’ us during that Aviarius business it got worse, not better. We teamed back up, but Hego hasn’t been the same since he saw you again. He’s changed somehow. I’m worried all the effort I’m putting into becoming a Go member again is going to be wasted if we shatter again.”

“I didn’t leave to try and destroy the stupid team! That wasn’t why I left!”

“I know,” Mego had shrugged at the venom and defensiveness in her tone. “I told you, I don’t care. Whatever Hego did to you must have been something really bad to make you finally leave. God knows that you, me and the twins have all had reasons to do it before and will probably do so again. But you actually left though, and that means it was a serious betrayal… right? Something even family ties couldn’t fix.”

Shego hunched at his tone, at how close he was getting to old wounds. “It’s none of your damn business!”

“I know.” Mego repeated quietly. “Sis, let it go… whatever it is. Please? And if you can’t do that now, at least consider it sometime in the future. For Hego, for the twins, for yourself and most importantly for me. I don’t want Team Go shattering again any time soon. Hell, I’ve just managed to re-establish myself in Go City’s clubs, and the prestige of being a hero is building up again.”

She turned away. So many emotions swirling through her, she didn’t know how to feel. Her usual sarcastic and icy demeanour had struggled to assert itself. She glanced back at Mego and snarled at him with as much effort as she could, considering her belly felt as if it were full of ice water.

“Get out.”

Mego nodded and smiled calmly at her. “Okay, but before we go, a couple of others want to have their chance at saying goodbye.”

With that, he turned to leave. The sudden bounding of the twins coming into her room had Shego groaning in horror. Her gruff and hostile attempts to rebuff the two annoyances were half-hearted, which had egged them on into trying to hug her.

Fighting to free herself, Shego pushed away the deeply hidden parts of her that enjoyed the physical contact of her younger siblings. That the stupid sensation of them touching her, brought back old memories of how they, and she never knew why, had been the two most likely to cheer her up after a miserable day. How, somehow, they’d always known, back in her Team Go days, how to get her to calm down, even to smile and laugh and tolerate Mego… even Hego.

She ended up fighting back tears that had no right to be there as the twins reluctantly left, wishing her well, no matter what she chose to do with her life.

Wondering why she was bothering to do so, Shego wandered across to the window of her room and gazed out at the car park. Watched as two flashes of red jumped aboard. Watched as the huge jet engines flared into life. Watched as the jet vertically took off, with quite a few wobbles that had her rolling her eyes in disbelief, and quickly vanished into the night.

If anyone had been in her room to see the tears flowing down her face that night, she would have been unable to explain the maelstrom of anger, sadness and pain swirling through her. But nobody visited her that night, and nobody saw the powerful and cruel Shego curled up in bed; her emerald eyes gazing into the dark as she fought with painful memories.

---

The visit from her brothers had disturbed Shego on many personal levels and opened old wounds she thought were closed, or at least beginning to heal with her new evil life. Now, after her mistakes had been thrust into her face thanks to Kara, coupled with Hego ripping open the memories of betrayal that had started this, she was torn.

Shego relied on herself and loved nobody but herself. Friendships? No way and no how! She was her own person, had been for years. Rely on nobody but yourself, your own skills, powers, and cunning!

Because if you didn’t, if you had to rely on others, you’d be betrayed at some point in the future. Friends, they were fine… as long as you kept them at arms length. You had to! If not, then they came dangerously close to your secrets.

Shego knew, knew all too well, about friends. About how such… people could, and would, betray you when the time came. She knew that when it came to it, you could only truly trust yourself!

Real family was different, though just as pointless. They clung to you, weakened you and would betray you just as quickly, as she had found out, as soon as their needs changed from yours. Relationships? Those were a bad idea from the start as they gave a trail for law enforcement to track. Besides, love was for the weak, the needy, and pathetic!

Damn it! She didn’t need all this emotional crap getting in the way of her life! Especially of plotting a way to escape Global Justice!

But every time she turned away from it, more seemed to pile on her. Especially with the way she felt about a certain red-haired goody two-shoes in the bed next to her. The whole situation was painful for her to even consider. She hated the idea of having… well, needs that couldn’t be sated by a good fight and plenty of cold cash.

She hated knowing that for once in her life, and god she wished it were otherwise, that her enjoyment of the coming years could, hell… did rely on someone else. Let alone it happened to be someone who not only matched herself against her for years on end, but who also seemed damn good at being able to piss her off.

And she… she enjoyed knowing that Kimmie had such power!

She was even more worried that her attitude had already travelled swiftly past ‘going soft’ and she was possibly approaching the dangerous, forbidden and above all terrifyingly… well, gooey, territory of being… nice?

Now, with this bubbly nurse fluffing Kim’s pillows, twittering on about entertaining the two of them, and treating Kim as though she were a brain dead moron, Shego felt the need to release some emotional pressure, and maybe to prove something to herself regarding her attitude to life in general.

The thief shook her head and placed her paperback to one side and stared coolly at the woman with her emerald eyes. As she glanced across at the gaze aimed in her direction, the nurse swallowed and she backed away, much to Shego’s personal satisfaction.

Oh yeah, she still had it!

As this thought ran through her mind, Shego suddenly fixed her green gaze on the uncertain nurse and her eyes widened, as a deliciously evil idea popped into her head.

Maybe… just maybe, it was time to have some good, old fashioned, Shego fun.

Sniffing with distain, the thief glanced across at Kim. “I think we need her mother to come in with the controller so we can find out what’s wrong.”

“H… how…”

“How do I know she’s pissed?” Shego grinned. “I’ve fought Kimmie here, on a personal basis, for years. No matter how much Servus tries to control her, little tremors of Kim herself get through. Wanna quick rundown of how I know?”

Not waiting for an answer, the green thief slid to her feet and hobbled across to where Kim stared blankly. Shego quietly gazed into her young eyes and felt the same baffled thrill at the way her stomach clenched. The same feeling she’d mistaken for something else when they’d first met.

“Her left foot twitches ever so slightly, and her pupils dilate just a little, when Princess feels strongly about something.” Shego glanced across, watched the nurse pause in her attempt to sidle towards the door. “Personally, I think it’s a sign of when she’s angry or upset. Of course, that’s thanks to me seeing it whenever we fought. Now, I’d bet that she’s a little ticked off at you thanks to that drivel on the TV.”

“I thought Ms Possible would like some entertainment.” The nurse managed, shrinking under Shego’s megawatt stare.

“Entertainment…” Kim, listening with half an war at Shego’s attempts to reassure herself that she as still a ‘bad ass’, now just stared out of her paralysed mind in total disbelief. Wait… she seriously just said it to you that she thought that… program was entertainment?”

“Peanut butter manufacture? The benefits and advantages of eating the stuff? For four hours? What are you, a moron?” Shego snorted as the nurse’s mouth dropped open in silent outrage. “And you shoved the remote on top of the TV. Thanks to my injuries here, I couldn’t get to it to turn it over or off. So, I can’t say I blame Princess in feeling angry. Personally, I wanted to pitch the lamp at the TV. Or the nurse who’d turned it on.”

She watched as the nurse flinched. “Wh… what?”

Shego smiled evilly and made a point of examining the black nails of her right hand. For just a second, a splutter of green flame flickered at the tip of one.

“I wonder which of the pretty angels in blue that was… hmmm?”

Shego! Kim admonished half heartedly, as she fought to keep out the satisfying images Shego’s words had put into her mind.

Shego grinned as the woman in question cowered. Her reputation preceded her and boy it really did feel good.

“But, sadly, I’m being a good girl for now. Plus, if I did throw you into the TV I’d be hurting nobody but myself.” The green woman sighed and hobbled to her feet, making the nurse whimper slightly. “Oh, shut up. I’m not gonna hurt you, cause you give really, really good pain meds here. Considering the agony my shoulder’s dishing out while it heals up… well, hell, my whole body actually, they’re the best thing ever. Sadly, as you’re the one who gives them you get to stay in one piece.”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying them, Ms Shego.” The cool voice of Doctor Director wryly slid into the room as the woman herself strode through the door. “Considering Global Justice is paying for them.”

Shego and the nurse both blinked at the smooth tone and turned to see the one-eyed woman standing, a little too calmly, in their room.

Kim blinked and felt a bubble of hope rise to the surface. “Doctor Director?

“Hey, free drugs are part of the bennies for saving the redheaded one over there.” Shego countered. “It’s the least GJ can do, considering you lot were as much use as a screen door in a submarine.”

“Charming as always,” Doctor Director murmured, deadpan. “But trading barbs isn’t why we are all here.”

Shego’s sarcastic smile faltered as Mr and Mrs Possible, a beautiful-almost knock out gorgeous- blond woman she didn’t recognise, and Ron all filed into the room after the GJ leader. Every single one of them looked grim and Mrs Possible looked sick on top of that.

“Woah, what is this? Family reunion time?”

“Mom, Dad, Ron, and… hey, what’s going on?” Kim leaned forwards, and wished her own body would respond, not lay there staring up at everyone stupidly. “A cure right? Wade did his thing with the GJ and helped you all come up with a cure. Better, the government decided to stop messing around and gave you all the information that you needed, right?”

“Shego please, this isn’t the time.” Mrs Possible snapped, motioning to the two orderlies behind her.

“You’re certain about this?” Doctor Director asked Vivian, turning away from the thief. The beautiful blond Doctor of Robotics nodded, even helped the orderlies drag in a table on which sat a gleaming steel cylinder flickering with multiple lights. Mara’s core.

“Yes. I read through the instruction set twice, Mara’s gone through it countless times and so has Wade. There’s no error.”

Mara’s holographic form flashed into life and Shego scowled in dislike.

“Oh great, the walking part of Kim’s jalopy. This is turning into a real party… Oh, and I love the weight loss program you’ve been on.”

“What?” Mara stared at the thief in shock and then anger. “Why you… Okay, so I may have lost my body shell, thunder thighs, but at least I can have it rebuilt. It’s harder for you, getting rid of all that cellulite.”

“Thunder thighs? Thunder thighs! Why you little jumped up filofax!” Shego snarled, her hand clenching into fists. “I’m going to-”

“Stop it!” Doctor Possible snapped viciously at each of them. Mara flushed a deep purple and Shego blinked at the furious gaze aimed at her. “Both of you right now! We have important things to discuss, about Kimmie. Now, if you two want to stay in this room, you’ll both behave yourselves!”

“This happens to be, partly, my room!” Shego countered after a few seconds. “It’s not like we asked you all to come in here! So, what’s the big deal that means you have to come in here and piss me off?”

“Shego, please. Just for once try and rein yourself in.” Kim closed her eyes and sighed. The urge to hug her mother for warmth, for reassurance was so strong, yet she had no way of letting her know how much she needed her. “Mom, I really, really need some good news about now.”

Mara scowled at her. “How about that If we don’t find a cure for Kim within three weeks then our time’s up.”

“Our time’s gonna be up? What time limit?”

“Twenty one days and six hours from the time of Servus standby signal failure. Considering that was eight days ago, we have thirteen days left.” The AI gazed as her owner, her friend, sat calmly in the hospital bed and felt a sick sensation swim in her stomach. “Servus is on a countdown to activation, Shego. How’s that for spelling it out for you? Damn, Kim, why’d this have to happen?”

“Hey!” Shego snapped, their conversation chilling her to the bone. “I didn’t risk my life saving Possible, beating the hell out of Kara and collapsing, so Stoppable says anyway, out of exhaustion to be ignored!” The thief glanced left and right. “A countdown to Servus activating? How, considering Kara is dead? What exactly is happening!”

“Yeah, I agree with Shego! What countdown? “Why are you all staring at each other like that? What’s going on?” Kim called out, unheard.

“Shego,” Doctor Director began, as two GJ agents stiffened in readiness. As the leader of Global Justice stepped towards her, the green thief hobbled back her eyes narrowing. “Shego, please you have to-”

“Leave? Leave when you’re obviously talking about Kimmie, about a failsafe and giving each other all these shit scary glances at each other? Are you insane!” Shego growled as the agents took another step forwards. “Anyone trying to prise me out of this room, until I know exactly what’s going on, is going to get a plasma enema!”

“And this is exactly why I can’t trust you enough to be in the room at all!”

“Just try to have me removed and see what happens to the men or women who attempt it.” Shego growled, before turning to the flicking image of Mara. “I want this in clear English, not techno babble.” Shego told the AI, her voice shockingly calm. Too calm in Mara’s opinion.

“The failsafe is actually part of the program Servus has encoded into the network it established in Kim’s brain. I can’t tell who put it in there, Drakken or Kara, but it does have a unique purpose. Kinda neat programming actually. Very slick for a human.”

“I’m sure.” Shego replied, as she stared at the AI.

“Stay calm Shego.” Kim watched her Nemesis-turned-friend carefully and saw faint signs of rage, signs that she alone would have picked up on. “Stay calm, please?”

“Ahem, well. Basically, it looks as if the Servus programme was designed to be activated by Kara herself, using a unique code embedded in its programming. Without that code, Servus is basically in a ‘wait’ mode. It’s waiting for instructions that will never come, from a person who is no longer around. This is where we have our problem.”

Mara glanced at Vivian, but the blond woman motioned her hand slightly, indicating her to continue.

“Because Kara destroyed part of the cure, and because Kim’s father says it’ll take weeks, maybe a month to work out the way the stage one protein in your blood has been altered to fit only your Servus nanites, we’re facing a countdown. One that activated a few days ago. ”

“I’m on a countdown?” Kim glanced around at the people she could see from Servus’s rigid gaze. “A countdown to do what?”

“You haven’t told us what it will do.” Doctor Director murmured impatience in her voice.

“Yeah, Sorry.” Mara sighed and glanced at Vivian before continuing. “Viv and I took a good long look at the code. It’s been confirmed by Wade as well. Once the countdown is complete, Servus activates.”

“What?” Shego snapped, a sudden cold trickle of fear gripping her spine.

“Oh god… it’s going to take me over!” Kim whispered, terror shining in her eyes at the thought. “I’m gonna become Kara’s killer after all. But I’ll be doing it on autopilot. Jesus, I feel sick!”

“It’ll activate and carry out the secondary programming instead. Programming that is basically an instruction to infiltrate, incapacitate and assassinate the targets chosen. There’s a list of targets stored, all of them with full bio data. Quite a selection of people too.”

“Oh, just great.” Ron muttered, closing his eyes. “Is this nightmare ever going to have an ending?”

Mara glanced around, shrinking inside at the sight of Kim’s parents clutching each other in desperation for their daughter. Mr Possible’s face had gone white, and he clutched his wife tightly as silent tears spilled down her face.

“Who?” Doctor Director murmured her face almost as pale as Kim’s parents. “I take it I’m on there?”

“Y… Yeah, Doc. Sorry. As is Kim’s family, Ron, various heads of state around the world and… and…” Mara glanced across to where Shego sat quietly on her bed, staring, just staring, at the redhead in front of her. A redhead who stared back with a ghoulishly vacant expression.

“You… Kara wants me to kill you.” Kim closed her eyes. “The only revenge possible now… a way of her reaching you even after death. God, I should have just let you… no, no I couldn’t have. You care for me, and that’s still a shock. To let you kill Kara… well, it would have destroyed you. Not just you though, now I think about it. More… us.”

“And Ms. Psycho knew that. What better way to exact revenge if it all goes to hell, than set me on a timer and, because I think she thought nobody would be able to check, wait until everyone is relaxed and unguarded. Then I strike and kill you and everyone she wanted dead. Not because she can profit from it, but more an ultimate spite for losing to us. No… losing to you, Shego.”

“You mean me.” Shego glanced across. “I’m a target. And, seeing the expression of your face, I’m number one on there too.”

“Yeah.” Mara shuffled. “Um, sorry.”

The sudden violent crack of metal being put under intense pressure and cracking echoed around the room. Shego, her gloves curled tightly around the bar at the base of her hospital bed, glared into space, her lips curled back in a snarl. With a second crack, the bar came free and everyone in the room stepped backwards.

“Damn her. Damn that fucking woman!” Shego hissed, her hands flaring brighter and brighter.

This is Marie all over again! I shouldn’t have listened to you, Kimmie! Just like I shouldn’t have listened to her all those years ago! Both of you urging me not to hurt Kara, to take her… no, put her down! And all for what? So I wouldn’t have the stain of being a killer on my soul? Fuck that!

“Shego…” Doctor Possible began, but the green woman ignored her as thoughts and anger, at herself, swamped Shego’s mind. “Shego?”

I should have smashed my fist into Kara’s face and kept pounding until I went through the wall! No, I should have burned her to a crisp! But slowly! Yeah, slowly… so she could feel every single agonising second of that pain! Now that’d be payback, Kimmie! For me, Marie, your mom, for you!

The bar began to glow a cherry red.

But I had to listen to you, listen to you tell me to be the better woman and step away from the madness, the violence she was trying to push me towards! What was I thinking? I know better! I’ve lived longer than you, fought more people like me than you! Fought more people like Kara Fucking Fang, and yet I did what you asked me! Stupid, stupid!

Tears of anger, of helplessness, began to pour down the green thief’s face, though Shego herself barely noticed. Kim’s parents, friends and associates glanced at each other with horrified shock. Nobody had been prepared to see a woman, classed as one of the most dangerous thieves around, to sit before them, tears running down her face.

“Stupid… so damn stupid!” Shego whispered, the smoking metal bar held in her hands totally ignored.

“Shego stop!” Kim struggled and thrashed in her prison, desperate to get free. “Stay calm! Don’t force Doctor Director into actions she’s currently fighting against!”

“Shego, calm down!” The one eyed commander of Global Justice stepped forwards, and the thief’s emerald eyes flicked towards her, full of anger.

“Don’t tell me to calm down! What have you been doing to help, eh?” The green thief watched the GJ commanders face carefully and then turned away in disgust, “This is why only idiots work for the government or want to be heroes. You can’t do anything! Can you!”

“Of course I can, and in fact am!” Doctor Director snapped out, turning to match Shego’s glare. Everyone in the room, including Kim, blinked at the anger and guilt on her face. “I’m doing everything possible to help her! You think I like seeing Ms Possible like this? Because if so, you’re a fool, much to my surprise, and I’ve misjudged you all these years!”

“That was good acting, Doc. But I’ve had far more experience with people like you than the others in here and I know a goddamn pencil pusher when I see one.” Shego snorted, ignoring the way Doctor Director’s face flushed ever so slightly. “So what have you been able to do?”

“I… they…” The one-eyed woman huffed out a breath and rubbed her face, glancing guilty at Kim’s parents. “Certain groups want this to be dealt with in a particular way. I’m fighting them, but it’ll take time. ”

Shego snorted and turned to where Kim lay still on the bed, the redhead’s emerald eyes taking in everything quietly, glossily. Like a damn puppet.

“Typical government! Typical cloak and dagger crap! God, when the comet gave me this healthy colouring I had to put up with this shit once. I’m not putting up with it again! And certainly when what’s mine is lying there, helpless. I don’t like things that are mine being injured, hurt… attacked!”

“Whoa, Shego!” Ron waved a hand. “Chill!”

“Hey, I can hear you, you know!” Kim stared out of her body in disbelief. “I’m not a thing!”

“I’m not sure my daughter would or does appreciate your labelling of her as your ‘property’, Shego.” Mrs Possible whispered quietly. The way Shego hunched her shoulders at the voice, though possibly more at the tone, made it look as if she had been hit with a sledgehammer.

“Yeah, well Kimmie can try thumping an apology out of me once she’s free. Because I care for what’s mine! I… I love what’s mine! Especially when it’s taken me so long to accept it, to understand what happened to me, to her, us. I won’t let the fucking government play with her life, her goddamn freedom like they tried to do with me!” Shego was almost yelling again, but she reined herself in after catching the looks Kim’s mother sent her. “I won’t let Kara win and take her away, turn her into what she wanted. That’s why Kimmie’s mine!”

“Oh, Shego…” Kim closed her eyes, her emotions swirling into a confusing mess. “Just when I think I know where I stand with you, where our relationship is, you do stuff like this. God, I’m so scared, confused and… man, I’m terrified.”

“I would agree,” Doctor Director murmured. “So, we need to consider our options at this time.”

Shego glanced around the room. “Well, come on! You guys are ‘supposedly’ some of the finest minds that Middleton has to offer, if Drakken’s excuse for being here is correct. Start doing the boffin thing!”

“It’s not that easy, Shego.” Vivian Porter sat down next to Kim and entwined her fingers on her lap. The green woman watched her owlishly and she sighed. “The main thing you have to understand is that Servus, although being something Drakken is taking credit for, is not actually something he has designed. This is a government designed project, and a shadow project too.”

“I will pretend that I didn’t hear that, Ms Porter.” Doctor Director smiled thinly. “I’m certain that I don’t want to know how you understand what a shadow project is, considering they are usually offered with clandestine and ironclad non-disclosure agreements attached.”

“Good, because I won’t tell you.” Doctor Porter replied briskly. “Anyway, Servus is one of these projects, and it’s military in nature. Because of this, the nanites making up the neural network that controls Kim are pretty much hardened against attack.”

“Yeah, yeah. If that’s so, how come you were able to disrupt mine?” Shego muttered.

“Because we had yours to examine, Shego.” Kim’s father replied. “My wife managed to work out how to get us a sample of the loose nanites in your blood so we could examine them. It was hard, but we disassembled them, quite quickly considering, and managed to find the frequency yours were broadcasting on.”

“So why not do that with Kimmie’s?”

“Because the stress, the physical assault, and the neurological feedback on your system almost killed you, Shego.” Kim’s mother sat down next to her husband and worried her lip. “When we got you in here, you were suffering from a wide range of injuries, but what worried me the most was what happened in your brain when the disruption device was activated. I’ve never seen so much neurological damage before. It’s a miracle, or thanks to your powers shielding you somehow, that you’re still breathing and not in coma or vegetative state.”

“Kimmie can handle it. She’s always been able to hold her own befo-”

“Kimmie’s strong, Shego, yes. But she’ll never be able to take what you did. Not this time. Not because she’s weaker than you, but because she doesn’t have anything like your powers, healing or otherwise, acting as some sort of shield.”

“Looks like you’re better than me at something after all.” Kim murmured with a half laugh. “And for once, I bet both of us wish we were equal.”

“Okay, so the disruption device is out. Surgery?”

“How? I’m one of the best there is, Shego, but I’ve been racking my brain for days trying to come up with a way to surgically remove the things without killing my daughter.” Doctor Possible gripped her husband’s hand. “I’ve come up with nothing.”

“Okay… um, okay. What about the fluids that Kara tried to keep me from? They have to be the way to help my Princess, right?” The silence had Shego glancing around, her black lips turning down into a scowl. “Right?”

“Well you managed to get the vial that contains Kim’s personal deactivation key,” Mara paced at the end of Kim’s bed. “But the primary fluid, the one that prepares the nanites to deactivate, is missing.”

“It isn’t missing, the bitch destroyed it! She did it because she knew Kim would make me happy and-”

Shego suddenly staggered back and dropped down on her bed, sweat suddenly beading on her face. As Doctor Possible slid to her feet, worry etching itself onto her face, Shego, irritated at the compassion being shown to her, waved her off. Sitting straighter and masking a wince, the green woman took a deep breath and then glanced at the hovering form of Kim’s mother.

“S’okay, Doc. The drugs are just wearing off and I need to sit for a bit. Kay? This sucks! There has to be something… even if Kara did nuke the vial.”

The desperation in Shego’s voice made Kim wince. For all her tough woman attitude, for all the sarcasm and bitterness, the redhead knew Shego better than anyone. And as she’d admitted her growing admiration and love for Kim, the redhead could only hear the hidden… well, loneliness in her voice.

“Well, we don’t have it anymore.” Doctor Possible sighed and ran a hand through her red hair. “Without it, we’re left trying to use the residual protein that was in the blood sample we took while you were in surgery. As that has folded and changed shape as it locked into your nanites core, and then was changed again to, well, open that lock by the second liquid, we have a big task ahead of us.”

“We’re working to unfold and then refold the protein structure via computer simulation until we find one that fits both your and Kim’s nano-locks.” Kim’s father told Shego, who gazed wearily at the frustrated expression on his face.

“I kinda see that this is gonna take some time.” Shego glanced across as Vivian shuffled on her feet, glancing down at the dull grey hospital linoleum. “Ah, crap. Come on, sweet stuff. Lay it on me and Kim.”

“Estimated time to solve this puzzle, considering Mara has been unable to find any files on its creation, probably deleted by Kara, are running to a good… a good…”

Vivian turned away, unable to tell Kim, who she knew was trapped but able to hear and see quite clearly, the news. Shego glanced at Kim’s parents. “How long!”

“How long?” Kim mimicked inside her body. “Tell me, please!”

“Four months… maybe longer.” Mrs Possible whispered. “Doctor Director has agreed to let us use the GJ central mainframe to run the computations, but even then-”

“Months?” Shego stared in disbelief. “You’re telling me that Pumpkin’s only hope for this crap to be yanked out of her head will take months to make? Kimmie has about three weeks left before she turns into a programmed killer! Three! Weeks! Not months!”

“Months to find a cure, and I’m going to try and kill Shego, Mom… everyone I care about in three weeks time.” Kim felt the frustration well up into a scream that echoed around the dark and empty corridors of her trapped mind. “Oh god… what am I going to do?”

“I know how long we have!” Kim’s mother snapped at her. “This is my daughter we’re talking about and… and… it’s less than three weeks, you idiot!”

Doctor Possible turned away, shoulders shaking while Shego stared in mute shock. She and the others were subjected to something nobody wanted to see. The sight of such a strong and intelligent woman fighting back tears.

“Oh, Mom. Come on, don’t cry. We still have a chance to do something, and I’m still in here, no matter what Servus makes me do.” Kim glanced at Shego, who in turn was staring at Doctor Possible with a horrified, guilty and embarrassed expression. “Oh Shego, you’re going to have to remember to think before you say anything like that. Mom and dad are under massive amounts of stress. I know you are too, no matter how well you hide it, but you have to understand them, and how all this has affected them.

Damn it! Way to go Shego. Shego felt her skin flush a deeper shade of green and she cursed inwardly. Sarcasm and ranting at Mrs P right now? Not a good idea!

“Look, Doc, I… sorry.” Shego managed, her eyes locking onto the scuffed lino of the floor. “It’s been a trying week.”

“I hear that.” Ron agreed and gently laid a hand on Mrs Possible’s shoulder. “Doctor P… cut her a little slack would you? We’re all worried about KP and Shego’s not very good at dealing with…emotional stuff.”

The woman in question opened her mouth to sneer at him, but suddenly snapped it shut as Ron glared at her.

Shaking her head, Doctor Director tapped a hand against the wall for attention. “While Ms. Shego attempts to pull her foot out of her mouth, the question remains. What do we do about Ms Possible?” While Shego glared at her, the GJ leader glanced around the room. “Anyone?”

“The best I can suggest is that we dose Kim with some long term sedatives to keep her sane and restrain her body until we can reverse engineer stage one of the cure.”

“What? Knock me out… for months?” The thought filled Kim with horror, but at least she knew her parents, Ron and everyone who mattered, including a certain scowling green vixen, would be safe. Dreaming for months on end, her body violently fighting the restraints that would prevent her attacking people as she did so. Kim’s blood ran cold “I… months? Oh god, I… I… If that’s the only way, I suppose it’ll have to do. Not like I have a choice, is it? I refuse to hurt you, Shego, or Mom or Dad or Ron… anyone for that dead psycho!”

“Tie her down and drug her?” Shego muttered, looking away. “All this brain trust around her, and that’s Kimmie’s best hope?”

“It’s the best solution, yes.” Doctor Porter admitted, shuffling uncomfortably. “Unpalatable, but for the best. This way Kim won’t come to harm, either mentally or physically. God knows what it would be like to be trapped like this for months on end.”

“Vivian, do you have any idea what you’re asking friends of mine to do?” Kim’s mother looked up, horror in her eyes. “Doctors that are friends to my family? You’re asking them to put my daughter into a chemical coma! Do you have any idea how dangerous that’ll be? Let alone the difficulty in maintaining it with adrenaline spikes going through her system every time Servus tries to break free!”

Vivian closed her eyes, swallowed. “It’s our best option. I’ve talked to almost every doctor in here, every scientist at the centre and even a few that Doctor Director put me through to. They all agree it’s the only option. Until we get those nanites out, Kim’s a danger to herself, us and anyone she has programmed into her to ‘remove’.”

“You mean assassinate, Doctor Porter! God help me, but they’re right. It is our best option. The only other is to let me go around brutally taking people out.” Kim closed her eyes. “I won’t do that!”

“I… I can’t listen to this anymore! It’s not a patient on that bed, it’s my daughter!” Kim’s mother turned and strode out of the doorway, clasping her arms across her chest to stifle more sobs as they threatened to escape. Mr Possible glanced around quietly, his own eyes full of grief, before running after her.

“Well, that went well.” Mara murmured softly. “This is slowly turning into a total disaster.”

“No, what this is happens to be fucking bullshit!” Shego snapped and turned to Doctor Director. “You’re supposed to be an all powerful international agency for fuck’s sake! What about the blue son of a bitch? Where is he?”

“We have no idea where Doctor Drakken is right now. But I currently have agents out searching for him as we speak, including the one or two moles GJ has inside WEE.” Doctor Director tilted her head. “What about you? Surely Drakken kept you apprised of safe houses he owned and-”

“If I knew where Drakken was, I’d not bother to tell you. Though I would deliver his plasma burned body into your care once I got everything I needed out of him.”

“You have quite the cruel streak in you, Ms Shego.” Doctor Director told her quietly in the silence that filled the room. “I’m certain Kara Fang would approve.”

Ron closed his eyes. “Ah hell, Doc.”

Shego jerked as if slapped, hobbling towards the GJ leader as the one eyed woman headed for the door. “You take that back! I am nothing like her!”

“You’ve certainly been heading in the right direction. First a thief, then a mercenary and finally a sidekick to a mad genius.” Doctor Director raised an eyebrow. “How long could you have kept balancing on that tricky rope you set for yourself, mmn? Working for various masterminds and enjoying being evil, only to refuse to kill for them. How long until you would have lost your grip, and ended up killing for pleasure, trying to rule the world on your own? I’m sure you would be good at it. All our profiles suggest you have the intelligence and the cruel streak needed, if you wished.”

Shego’s mouth worked silently and Kim, noting the way Ron winced again, closed her eyes inside her numb body.

“That wasn’t called for, Doctor Director! She’s having enough of a hard time already. If you keep pushing, she…she could leave me. I… I don’t want that.”

“I’m sure you’re trying to think of a witty retort, Shego, but I really haven’t got the time.” The GJ leader turned to Kim’s staring form. “Ms. Possible, I know you’re in there. Keep it together and try not to worry. We have the best minds working on any cure, and I swear to you that I will dedicate every waking moment to pushing through this red tape.”

And every non waking moment as well. She added silently to herself and made a note to check her coffee supplies.

“That’s true, KP.” Ron laid a hand on the still body and shivered, as lifeless eyes turned to examine the contact like a well oiled robot. “You should see the think tank GJ’s got working on this. Your parents, Viv, Doctor Freeman and other guys and gals I haven’t seen before. Even Justine’s giving a hand through net conferencing from France.”

“Everyone but me! What am I supposed to do?” Shego asked quietly, staring down at the floor. She heard Mara snort in disbelief and glanced up angrily. “I have to do something, damn it!”

“Then I suggest you try and work out if revenge or saving Ms Possible is more important to you. If you decide to help us, I need anything you can recall about previous lairs, safe houses and habits that Doctor Drakken has. If we can find him, then we may have a valuable source of information on how he perverted Cerberus into Servus.”

The others in the room, Kim included, watched Shego fight with herself, fight to rein in her temper. After a few seconds, the green woman sighed and, hobbling back to her bed, gently lowered herself onto the mattress.

“I’ll… I’ll see what I can do. But I’m going to need a telephone, un-bugged and unmonitored, in a room with the same.” Shego glared at Doctor Director. “That’s non-negotionable!”

“I think that can be arranged, Shego.” The GJ leader nodded once and turned to Doctor Porter, Ron and Mara. “We have a deadline, so lets do something positive. Ronald, I’d like you to thank Yamanouchi for aiding us and inform them their help was greatly appreciated. Vivian I’d like to you to return to the space centre and continue to repair Mara, but remain available to Kim’s parents for technical assistance.” Both Ron and Vivian nodded. “Mara, you’ve gone above and beyond the requirements you were created for. Well done. But I’d like to ask you for more…”

Mara felt her guilt shrink and she smiled faintly. “Anything.”

“Thank you. I’d like, if possible, for you to continue going through the information we obtained from the mainframe in Drakken’s lair. Be careful though. A lot of that data is still encrypted, and we lost a mainframe to a viral infection the other day.”

“No problem. I’m not stupid and I’ll keep a careful eye on what I’m going through.”

“Excellent. Then, if there’s nothing more to discuss, let’s get on shall we?” Doctor Director turned to where Kim lay. “Ms Possible, you hang on in there. Consider that a direct order from Global Justice… and a request from a friend as well.”

As everyone filed out, leaving only Ron, Kim and Shego in the, now quiet, room, Shego glanced at the teen and her ex-nemesis. She tilted her head to get Ron’s attention and as the blond teen looked over, inclined her head to the door through which Doctor Director had left.

“Is it me… or does that woman get her jollies giving people orders?”

---

The Present: Drakkens Safe House: T Minus- 7 Days and Counting

The thud of flesh on concrete, as Drakken fell backwards onto his ass with a slap at the sight of her, had Shego’s green eyes slanting with amusement.

“You never gave me my redundancy pay, or my last pay check for that matter.” Shego stepped forwards, hands glowing and a cruel grin flicking around her face. “And we never talk anymore. That’s just rude.”

“Shego! Get away from me!” Drakken screamed, his feet scrabbling on the concrete as he pushed himself backwards, away from the slender form of his ex-sidekick. “Get away!”

“Not in this lifetime, Doc. I told you, we have a lot to discuss tonight… and you have a lot of information I need.” The green woman crouched in front of him, and Drakken stared up into pitiless emerald eyes. “If you don’t have the answers I’m looking for… well, let’s just say you can forget about having kids for the rest of your life.”

Her left hand, coated in plasma that curled around the sharp tips of her gloves, moved down and Drakken’s eyes followed it with growing alarm. “Wh… what do you want to know?”

“Oh, lots of things.” A sudden thud from the side of them had both Shego and Drakken glancing sideways. The cat suited figure that had taken the gun from Drakken strolled around the bench she had been crouching on and waved a hand in a complicated motion. Shego nodded. “Good idea.”

“Wh… where’s she going?” The blue man managed, choking back a scream as something warm briefly washed across his lab coat. The smell of burning fabric filled the air. “Who is she!”

“Oh, my friend there is taking a little walk around, here and there. As for who she is? None of your business, and I’m the one going to be asking questions now.”

“Wait! Shego, listen to me!” Drakken scrabbled on the concrete, but the thief had leaned her thigh against his lower leg, trapping him against the floor. Swallowing, the blue man tried to stay calm. “I only did what I did because you betrayed me and-”

“I never betrayed you, Doc! When are you going to get that into your thick skull?” Shego hissed, and Drakken let out a shocked cry as the warmth at his groin flared into something hot. The smell of burning fabric returned, far more acrid. “Kara played you like the stupid, idiotic fucker that you are! She turned you against me, and I had to go to Kimmie, of all people, for help. Imagine my surprise when she was more helpful than you were. My enemy turned into my ally. The universe is a fucked up place, you know?”

“You’re in love with her! In love with that damn teenager! How could you do that to me? How! I thought we were a family and-”

“Don’t talk to me about damn family, you blue son of a bitch! It’s not like I chose to fall for Princess! And even if I had, I’d have stayed loyal and not betrayed you… somehow. That was part of the contract we had, a contract I valued!” Shego snarled and leaned forwards, making Drakken whimper. “You are the one that keeps breaking it, time and time again, and yet I stayed with you. Now, I realise why. The pay was good, and of course the fights with Kimmie kept me going. But you’re the one that betrayed me Drakken. Betrayed me to Kara!”

“She showed me the truth! And it doesn’t matter anyway!” Drakken managed, trying to push some bravado into his voice. “I’m not taking you back, Shego. Not this time. I don’t appreciate betrayers in my organisation… in my fam-”

Shego slashed downwards with her flaming hand and Drakken’s scream echoed around the room. Her emerald eyes regarded him coldly. “I told you not to say that word again! It’s a sore point with me.” She let her hand shift slightly, away from his body. “And as for coming back to rejoin you? Don’t make me laugh. You betrayed me, you bastard! Gave me to Kara and stole my freedom from me. You made me do things I’d never thought I would ever do! Let her make me do things I thought I’d never do.”

She raised a hand, and Drakken watched the green plasma flare so brightly it made his eyes ache. “The things you helped her do to me, to people I care about? I’d normally pay you back by reducing you to a lump of burned and charred flesh. Alive… well, technically. I want to hurt you so much right now… and there’s nobody here who’ll stop me.”

“NO! Shego, please!” Drakken screamed as her hand shot down violently, only to jerk to a halt and tremble in mid-air. “Wha… wha…”

“I said I want to hurt you, Doc.” Shego managed, her breath shooting out of her teeth in violent snorts. “I want to hurt you. You took my freedom away, and I swore nobody would do that again.” The hand lowered slowly. “But you have information I need… to save someone I never thought I’d come to care for.”

“P… Possible.” Drakken managed, whimpering. “S… So, Ms. Fang was successful in shooting her full of Servus.” He risked a smile. “Impressive.”

“Doc, you’re one short thread of temper from ending up as a burned husk of a man, being fed lunch though a tube for the rest of his life. “ Shego watched this sink in and leaned in closer, dark lips curling into a snarl. “You tell me what I want, and I’ll only hand you over to the cops.”

“What! What kind of an offer is that!”

“The only damn one you’ll be getting from me!” Shego snapped. “Piss me off or fuck me about any more and I’ll still deliver you to them, but missing every single one of your limbs and-”

“Shego.” The soft call of her name had the green woman glancing up and Drakken frantically craning his head around. There, next to the bench, stood Shego’s cat suited partner. The woman raised a gloved finger in the air and shook her head.

Shego stared for a moment and then visibly shook herself. “Fine, yeah… right. Listen to me, Doctor D, and listen really carefully. I want to know how to make the first stuff that has to be injected into Kimmie to make Servus deactivate.”

“The first liquid? You mean the primer?” Drakken blinked and curled his lip. “If you found Possible’s override vial, then the primer should have been sitting right next to it. If you or your newfound goodie, goodie friends were too stupid to notice the other vial then that’s your problem!”

“Watch the tone… Doc.” Shego managed, trying to push images of her finger showing him the pain of plasma out of her mind. “Kara had both vials and she managed to nuke the… primer vial. I need to know how to make more.”

“Make more? You think I’ve got that information here, with me?” Drakken stared at her. “Servus is based on a government project and when I got you to steal it, it took me five weeks to read through everything on the disk before I even touched the vials in the case you gave me.”

“I’m not following. You made Servus, part of that’s the cure…”

“I made Servus by reprogramming the core un-programmed nanites that were in the case. That took me ages to do, as I said, by reading the notes and data on the files you stole. I just used what was there, knowing that the construction information was always available on the disk if I needed it.”

Drakken watched as Shego exchanged glances with her partner and then turned back to him. He wondered if her skin seemed an even paler green than usual. She leaned close once more, and he whimpered as her sharp claw tips dug into his skin.

“Get to the point, Doc!”

“Well, what do you want me to say!” Drakken cried out. “I reprogrammed them and because of the difficulty, I only managed to adjust them for you.” He paused and then glowered. “I should have seen this, looking back on our history together…or looking back on the history of you and her. That time with the neural compliance chips… how chummy you two were with each other. How easily you worked together. I should have known when I mind controlled you, because it removes any ability to lie!”

Shego stared at him and her stomach clenched. “Yeah, I still owe you for that, you son of a bitch!”

“Shego…” Again, the green woman’s partner whispered her name softly and Shego glanced up to see her walking quietly towards her, waving her arm downwards gently. “Be calm…”

“Easy for you to say.” Shego muttered and turned to Drakken once more. “I don’t need a damn history lesson, you bastard! What I want is the tech specs for the primary fluid. Stage two is useless without it, I got that much. So, spill the deets!”

“I don’t know what makes you think that I-”

“We went to the lair before coming here, you little blue shit! I remember what the original case looked like, how you went on and on about needing it to transport them! Only bit I do remember to be honest. Guess who I saw carrying it, when I went into your private quarters and accessed your panic room… Doc. One last chance before I start punching. You took the case, marked with Servus, out of your private lab stash and I followed your trail all the way to the escape sub in the core. Where’s the fucking case!”

“Now, now, Shego.” Drakken smiled slightly. He had a good idea what Shego wanted, and because of that, he decided to play her along. After all, she had more money that he did right now, and a cash injection on top of him bargaining for freedom would be welcome. “I said I don’t know what you’re talki-”

Drakken never saw the blow coming, let alone had time to avoid the impact of Shego’s fist against his jaw. For the first time in his life, Drakken felt the full force of Shego’s muscles. The crack of bone on bone echoed around the empty room, swiftly followed by the blue mans terrified screams. Shego, wincing as she cradled her fist, glanced up at her partner’s concerned face and grimaced.

“Never hit bone on bone. I’ve gotta remember that more often.”

“We need him alive.” Her partner murmured quietly.

“Yeah, yeah. ‘Do not let vengeance rule you.’ Blah, blah…” Wiggling her fingers, and missing the quiet smile underneath the mask of her partner, Shego stared down at the screaming man underneath her with little compassion. “Shut up!”

Drakken’s choked sobs and moans of pain settled down slightly, and he stared up at her with wide, frightened eyes. “Y…. Urr yuh insuhan! Yuve broken muh jaw!”

“Yeah, I have, haven’t I?” It was never really a question, and Shego nodded unable to keep the satisfaction out of her tone. “Must be a bitch to speak with, but we still need that information and you’re pissing me off and wasting my valuable time. Now, WHERE!”

“Uh dn’t have it!” Drakken screamed, another cry ripping itself from his throat as Shego drew back her fist, this time the skin exploding with steaming plasma. “AH DON’T HAV UHT! AUHH SOLD IT!”

“You sold it?” Shego stared at him. “You sold that fucking monstrosity to someone else?”

“YEUHS!” Drakken screamed, struggling to escape, but easily held down by Shego’s powerful body.

“Who in their right mind would buy something like tha-” She glanced down, suspicious. “Dementor?” Drakken’s shiver made her frown. “No, you hate him too much to sell him anything like this… WEE?”

“Nuh…” Drakken managed to splutter, horrified at the sight of blood mixed with drool spilling out of his mouth. “Yurr’ve killed muh! Luk at all duh blood!”

“No, Doc. If I’d intended to kill you, we wouldn’t be talking. So, not WEE then. What was the problem…Sheldon not interested?”

“Shuldon?” Drakken muttered, confused. “Whoh?”

“Never mind.” Shego shook her head. “Well… the only person I know who’d be interested, be right up their alley and have the cash to buy would be…” She paused, watched Drakken gaze back triumphantly. “Oh, shit. You sold it to Hench!”

“Yurr!” Drakken began laughing, the sound cruel as it echoed around the room, although the effect was ruined with regular whimpers of pain. “He wuhnted it! Suh badly when uh showed it tuh him!”

“And you sold it to him… a device capable of giving him the one thing he wants, with no danger of it being traced back to Hench Co. until it’s too late.”

“Emerald?” Shego’s partner whispered gently, making the thief look up. “What would this ‘Hench’ be looking to do?”

“Oh best guess?” Shego pondered it for a while and then growled. “Hench loves power… but none of the inconvenience of having to run crap. He isn’t in it for world domination, but I know what he would use it for.”

“What?” Her partner asked, the strange mask tilting slightly in question.

“Corporate espionage, sabotage, hostile takeovers. Imagine, you slip some poor shmoe a can of drink laced with this crap, to enter his bloodstream via the stomach… or, if you’ve got the knowledge, you inject it during a medical, dental or something based with needles. Once it’s in him without his knowledge, this crap could be pre-programmed to make him or her do something, say something, aid in a theft, or release data to handlers. And of course, do it right and I’ll bet Servus can be made to make its victim self terminate too.”

“No…”

“Oh yeah. Jack Hench hasn’t got any quibbles about killing. Anyone with a company that big in this market? I bet he knows where most of the bodies he crawled over to get there are buried… probably knows who buried them too.”

“We have to stop him…” Shego’s partner crouched next to the green woman, who nodded slightly. “Not only for Kim Possible’s sake, but for everyone in general. I am neutral in my dealings, Emerald. I will not allow such a device to tip the balance for this ‘Hench’. I intend to steal this and destroy it.”

“Fine by me. But we need the cure vials. Once I have those, you can watch me fry the damn case into a molten puddle.” Shego glowered at Drakken as he stared up in fear at the two women above him. “Blue boy here knows how much I fucking hate mind control. Right, Doctor Drakken?”

“What do we do about him?” Shego’s partner asked and the green woman smiled unpleasantly.

“Oh, Fox, you know me… I have some of the best solutions sometimes. Doctor D knows that too, right Doc?”

Drakken whimpered as Shego slid to her feet, allowing him to scuffle away and curl into a ball, clutching his jaw. “Luhve muh alone!”

“Oh no… no way!” Shego smiled cruelly. “Now, what shall we do, Fox?”

Shego’s partner sighed. ”Emerald, you are beginning to cross the line you wished me to warn you about.”

“Depends… I’m not going to kill him if that’s what you’re worried about.” The thief crouched down, her fingers dipping into the small pouch on her ankle. “No, I have something far worse in a way. Cradling something, Shego leaned forwards to where Drakken had begun to suck his thumb in terror. “Hey, Doc?”

He looked up, fear making his blue skin slick with sweat, and the would be ruler of the world had seconds to recognise the small piece of silicon on Shego’s gloved finger, before it smacked gently against the skin. His eyes went wide, his broken jaw slackened and he stared up at Shego with a neutral gaze.

“Mon Deu…” The Fox stared in horror. “What have you done to him?”

“Given him a fucking taste of his own medicine, right Doc? Amazing what you can find in the old lairs if you know where to go.”

“Yuhs, Shego.” Drakken managed to say quietly, the neural compliance chip glowing a dull red.

“Stand up…” Shego watched as her former employer slid to his feet. “Good. Now, here’s what you’re going to do, Doc. And I swear to you, once you find out what I want you to do? You’ll hate mind control almost as much as me. Still, at least this form is easy to break… all you need is a silicon disruptor, right? Oh, and someone willing to use it.”

“Yuhs, Shego.”

Motioning to Marie, who shook her head in disbelief, Shego took a cleansing breath and stared into Drakken’s slack face. “Payback’s a bitch, Doc. Now, here’s what I want you to do…”

---

The Past: Middleton Hospital T- Minus Ten Days and Counting.

Three days… Three damn days of searching for the blue prick!

In the private room assigned to her by Doctor Director, Shego paced the carpet and tugged harshly on her long dark hair. After five or so minutes of pacing, she paused suddenly and her foot lashed out to kick the desk.

“FUCK!” The green woman screamed as her boot impacted the Formica, making it splinter as she kicked a hole clean through the cheap material. “Useless! So fucking useless!”

Five plus years of being a thief, three plus of being a hero, and Shego considered her private network of people who owed her favours, money, objects, debts of gratitude and sometimes their very lives, second to none.

Well, in the private sector anyway. Global Justice had a far bigger network, but that was paid for by various governments around the world who wished to maintain it.

In fact, the only person’s network that beat hers was a certain redheaded thief. Marie had formed connections that Shego drooled over, that she dreamed of knowing about, using, keeping in her slender hands.

Then again, not even Marie had the… well, web of people willing to help that her Kimmie had. The fact that Shego had been the only one to realise just how interwoven Kim’s ‘favours’ system really had become in such a short time, had only added to the green woman’s fascination about the hero… and her determination to beat the cheerleader at this as well.

So now, after she had spent three days whittling her contacts down to those who were in the right circles, had enough influence and knew what to look for, Shego couldn’t believe the situation she found herself in. Despite all her contacts world-wide, legal, illegal and the ones in-between, Shego’s search for Drakken’s hideaway had been fruitless.

Even his mother, a woman with the uncanny skill to just drop in on them, and just as oblivious to her son’s career as always, had been completely in the dark about where the blue scientist had hidden himself.

Indeed, Mrs Lipsky had proved just how oblivious she was to events surrounding her ‘Drewbie’ by chuckling down the line at the thief and claiming that if her son was playing hard to get then Shego would just have to work at it if she wanted him to be hers.

Shego had, in her opinion, explained the situation succinctly, calmly and in a rational manner.

The four GJ operatives outside the transparent walled office, who ended up dodging balls of green plasma that melted and shattered the glass, would have disagreed. Especially when the plasma was swiftly followed by the melting remains of the phone receiver.

Now, a day later, Shego faced a decision that she was reluctant to decide on. Sighing, she hobbled across to the sofa and sank down onto it, before running a hand through her long hair.

There was only one resource that she hadn’t tapped yet. One resource that may have the reach to find the blue moron. A person who hadn’t spoken to her, or she in return, for years.

A heated argument, words spoken in anger, in upset, in fury was the reason for lack of communication. And what was worse, now that Shego was older, wiser and had faced the possible future she was heading for, she realised that the person in question had been right. Right about her choices.

“Fuck…” The green woman whispered, closing her eyes slowly. “Damn it, I don’t want to bring you into this, especially when we left each other so… so angry. But I need your help to fix stuff, stuff I’ve gone and broken. You did it for me once, and god I hope you’ll do it again.

Slowly, she slid to her feet, hobbled across to the desk and slid into the leather chair next to it. The back handset of the replacement phone, un-bugged as Director had promised and she’d had Kim’s Nerd-linger check too, sat waiting for her… almost gloating.

She picked it up, dialled a long number, sat back and tried to ignore the way her heart thundered in her chest, her stomach curled in icy knots and that she was nibbling her lip. She was Shego after all, and Shego didn’t get worried, anxious or fright-

There was a click.

“Bien. Marie Renard… Allo?”

Shego gripped the phone, and suddenly found herself unable to speak as the smooth tones of Marie Renard, known throughout the world as ‘The Fox’, took her back to the past. To a time when she had been genuinely happy.

“Allo!” The rich French accent darkened as Marie became annoyed, and then switched to smooth English just as quickly. “Hello? Marie Renard speaking… I know someone is there, I can hear you breathing and I dislike prank calls. Now, can we stop this foolishness?”

I could have been a government agent, but then you’d have known somehow… you always did. Shego felt her eyes moisten and frantically wiped at her face to ward the tears off. I’m NOT going to cry! I don’t do soft, damn it!

“If you don’t say anything, I’m going to hang up as I have better things to do with my time!” Marie snapped, obviously annoyed now. “Three, two, on-”

“Marie…” Shego whispered the words through a dry mouth, from a throat that suddenly felt like a desert. “It’s… it’s Emerald.”

There was a deep intake of breath from the other side of the line. Slow, laboured, and filled with shock. “Em… Emerald? Emerald… Cherie? You… Shego?”

The green woman nodded, ignored the sudden trickle of wet at the corners of her eyes. “Yeah, yeah… it… it’s me.”

“Shego… my student… my friend… You called me, you called!” Marie began to weep and Shego shifted uncomfortably at the sound. “Shego, it has been so long! So very long!”

“Y… yeah it has. I… I didn’t know if I’d be welcome to call, let alone visit.” The thief swallowed, trying to wet her dry mouth. “Listen… I…”

She had always been terrible at apologising. Not deliberately of course, it was just in her nature. So she was shocked to find her guilt spilling out of her. “Marie, I am so, so sorry. I hate apologising, but I’m so damn sorry! For all of it, the mess I left behind. The fight we had, the insults, the… the slap. All of it! So damn, damn uselessly sorry.”

“Shego…” Marie choked out her name around the sound of sniffing and the green woman bit her lip. “We were both at fault that night, both so full of anger and neither of us acted very adult in trying to settle how we felt.” A smooth quiet laugh had Shego blinking. “Oh, I’ve missed you.”

“You have?” The thief closed her eyes. “Ah shit, Marie! Don’t do this to me, please!”

There was another gentle laugh. “Yes I have, and I see you still have trouble with genuine affection, Cherie. Always worried it comes with strings attached, eh?”

“Don’t start that again either!” Shego let out a gruff snort and then sighed. “But that’s why I called. I… Marie…”

Her mentor sat back on the smooth red leather of her couch and gazed out of the window at the Eiffel tower in the distance. She heard the anxiety in her friend’s tone and the gaze became a frown. Picking up a glass of iced tea, Marie sipped and raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“I… I’ll explain later, but you should know that I’ve met someone. Someone I… I… fuck! Someone I care about and I think I may be in love with.” Shego blinked as a choked cough, followed by spluttering echoed down the phone. “Marie?”

“You found someone? Someone who would put up with you?” Marie wiped tea off her face and leaned forwards on the sofa, into the phone receiver. “Who?”

“Well, ah… I don’t suppose you’ve had much interest in keeping track of me and… what’d you mean ‘put up with me’?”

“A slip of the tongue, Ma Cherie. And as for keeping an eye on you? Well, there, Emerald, you are wrong. I have been following your career as much as I am able. Though you may not wish I had as it has filled me with worry, sadness and even fear.”

Marie glanced across to a black leather folder, which contained paper cuttings and information that her own personal network had gathered for her. At first it had been her way of keeping an eye on Shego, her friend and apprentice. Then, as the reports had become more and more worrying, a horrible chart of what their angry exchange, so long ago, had done to a woman she loved as a daughter.

The green woman nodded, a small frown on her face. “Should have known… and yeah, I bet it did. Well, you know the teenager I fought with at the start? The one who’s basically been a pain in my ass for years?”

Marie coughed slightly. “Yes, I know about Kim Possible. Both in the professional arena, I am still a thief even if I have retired, and of course personal when it had to do with you. Why?” The quiet pause on the phone had Marie’s eyes widening and she stood up in her flat, her hand trembling to against her breastbone. “Shego… no! A… a hero? Not you of all people!”

“Um, yeah… Yeah I have.” The thief shuffled and leaned into the phone, quietly murmuring. “Dunno how, but after that incident with the little toys from Bueno Nacho? Well, I kinda found I… well, I… Ah hell, I’ve got no idea how it happened, but I’ve fallen for Princess in a big way.”

“You and Kim Possible,” Marie repeated, slowly and carefully as she raised shaking fingers to her lips, pressing them together, “are in love?”

“Well, I am. As for Kimmie, I… well, that’s a long story that I’d rather tell you about later.”

“Later?” Marie shook her head. History, it seemed, liked to repeat itself. She was sure David would find this development with Shego to be hilarious. Chuckling suddenly, Marie smiled and raised the glass of iced tea to her lips. “You intend to call me again then? Mon-deu I have missed our chats. When shall we play catch-up then?”

“Not quite what I had in mind, Marie… I…” Shego swore quietly. “I need your help to correct something that’s happened to Kimmie. Something I let happen, thanks to a mistake I made. Someone I let walk away alive, all those years ago… Kara Fang.” Shego heard the coughing splutter again and winced. “Ah shit. Marie?”

“That venomous snake!” The redhead closed her eyes in memory, remembered how Kara’s attack on her person had been the catalyst for setting Shego and herself at odds with each other. Before she could resist, the glass in her hand ended up shattered against the wall. “What has she done!”

“I’ll tell you all about it, but I need your help!” Shego glanced around. “Without anyone else knowing about it too. Can you get to Middleton by tomorrow evening?”

“Yes…” Marie grabbed and flipped open the tiny personal palm computer, that sat in a pouch at her waist. “Where and when?”

Shego closed her eyes, remembered the code The Fox used to communicate targets, safe houses and everything else. A code she had been taught. Picturing Middleton Museum, Shego envisioned the city and the location of where she would meet Marie.

“Well, you know our history together, Marie. I’ll let you know. Hey, this reminds me. You and me, walking down the same roads, day after day. Taking in the sights around us.” She laughed smoothly. “You remember the bakery that was down the road from your home?”

“Oh yes.” Marie calmly murmured, typing into her palm computer while she listened carefully to every word, every nuance of Shego’s voice, filtering out the various words that told her where to meet the green thief. “The croissants there were to die for.”

“Yeah. I tell you, I think it’ll be a good six or seven years since I had anything as good over here in the west. I really miss Paris” Shego took a deep breath. “Though I have to say, the nail boutique here is classy. You’d love it.”

“Well, when I come to visit, I will have to investigate.” Marie frowned at the information she had scribed into her computer and nodded. “I’ll see you soon then.”

“Thanks, really.” Shego sighed. “Look… I’m sorry that it took this to make me call you. I… I’m just-”

“Stubborn as a mule? No I know! Rude, impatient, self obsessed and egotistical?” Her mentor interrupted, fingers clicking over her palm computer as she brought up the airport, where her personal jet was stored. She chuckled. “That is why I loved you when we first met, and why I still love you now, ma chérie”

Shego flushed. “I’m not egotistical! And stubborn is what idiots refer to believing in your own damn opinions… because they happen to be right!” She sniffed. “Doy!”

“Ah, I really have missed you. Especially your refreshing point of view on life and the public. I think Kim will find it… refreshing as well.” Marie sighed, her soft eyes closing for a second. “I am glad you came to me for help. I want to reconnect… if you will let me.”

“I… I’d like that.” Shego managed, her stomach quivering. “Marie? I… just… well, thanks.”

“Bon. Au Revior! And until later, my little Emerald.”

The phone clicked and went dead.

Shego stared quietly at it for a few moments and then nodded to herself. With a woomph of displaced air, the phone crackled and then began to melt. Shego was going to take no chances on her need for help ending up with Marie in prison, thanks to a phone call.

As the stink of burned plastic filled the air, the green thief slid to her feet and headed for the office door and the waiting GJ agents on either side. They stiffened to attention as the door opened and Shego shook her head in amusement.

“Relax you two. Tell your boss I’ve struck out trying to find Drakken…I’m not going to be any more use while I’m in hospital, so take me back to see Kimmie.”

---

“Sensei wishes me to tell you that he is proud of you, Shia.” Yori, dressed in a skirt of soft blue and a plaid blouse, smiled warmly at the woman propped into a sitting position in her hospital bed. Just visible between the top and bottoms of the light green pajymas she wore, the bandage covering Shia’s abdomen was a gentle reminder of how close Yamanouchi had come to losing one of its students. “He has given orders to the Dojo master, to have your old room cleaned and prepared for you. If, that is, you wish to return to us.”

Shia smiled, and though her face was pale with injury, there was no weakness in her gaze. “Refuse to return? I would not do that to you, or Jasmine. Especially after you risked a great deal to try and make me see sense.” The ninja gently ran a finger over her dressing. “A shame that it took metre of tempered steel to make me realise I had…”

Shia broke off and looked away, gazing at the pleasant image of the sky outside her window. She remembered sitting with Jasmine in one of the tall towers of the school, watching the sunlight flicker as it set, the way the sky bled from bright blue to pale orange. She had loved it then, and still loved to stare at the sky now. It gave her comfort, even now.

Jasmine, neatly dressed in jeans and a light blue T-shirt -which she nicknamed her ‘Tokyo wear’- gripped Shia’s hand tightly.

“It pains you, even now?” As her one time lover nodded quickly and bit her lip, Jasmine sighed. “Kara wasn’t worthy to have you as a sister, let alone your trust. It will take time, however, for the wounds, and even scars of this event to fade. Both physical and others…”

“I myself am glad that you have decided to return to Yamanouchi.” Yori waited for the blond haired Ninja to turn and stare at her. Now, she had decided, was a good a time as any. “Sensei will need someone who understands the dangers our school faces, understands that we need to be prepared to fight evil. He will need someone to take my place.”

“Take your place?” Jasmine blinked in shock. “Yori, surely you cannot intend to-”

“My place, now, lies with the Monkey Master… with Ron San.” Yori steepled her fingers. “He has power, but has admitted that while it is there, he is uncertain how to wield it. He has instincts, yes, and those instincts use the power for him. However, he finds little ease in controlling it. Sensei has asked me to guide him, and I can only do that in Middleton.”

“Here?” Shia asked her hoarsely, making Jasmine lean over and gently pass a glass of water to the pale woman. “Yamanouchi is surely better equipped to-”

“I must stay here to guide him, because Ron will not leave Kim’s side. Not at the present time, and I doubt for the very long periods Yamanouchi would require when she recovers.”

“I see. But why me?” Shia drank gently and cocked her head. “Why would Sensei wish a disgraced member of the school to be one of the few who train?”

“Bite your tongue.” Jasmine whispered, kissing her softly. “You are not disgraced in my, or the school’s, eyes. You were mislead, and very brave in fighting to free yourself.”

Yori nodded, wincing slightly as her healing shoulder twinged. “Sensei holds no animosity towards you, Shia. If the woman you wronged does not, then nor does he. I think Sensei recognises that this has been one of the lessons life teaches you. A dark one to be sure, but one nonetheless.”

“I don’t know…”

“Just talk to our Master, Shia. You can still refuse if you wish, but listen to what he has to say.” Yori bowed slightly, masking another wince of pain. “I would be honoured to have you take my place. Your skills with combat are as high as mine, your knowledge of evil is far greater and you knew peace once… and seek it again. Yes, I would be honoured to have you take my place.”

“I… I will consider the offer.” Shia whispered, battling back tears that threatened to fall. The offer of Yamanouchi… of the peace she remembered having there thrilled the blond woman. “I will never be able to replace you, Yori. I will forever be in your debt. When the time comes for you to return to the school, your position will be waiting for you.”

Yori bowed, and then broke into a smile. “Now, if you will excuse me, I wish to consult with Ron. I believe that he is watching over Kim San while she is… incapacitated.”

Jasmine and Shia watched the dark haired woman leave, and both noted the slight spring in her step. Jasmine turned to her lover and chuckled.

“I think Ron San should be very careful. Yori is not one to give her attentions lightly, if at all.”

Shia smiled and leaned back on the pillows of her bed, quietly watching the way Jasmines collarbone flexed with each movement and the lightly tanned skin gleamed in the light. She had forgotten how it felt to be in love, to know desire. With Jasmine beside her, feelings buried deeply rose to the surface and the blond woman reached out to touch her lover on the wrist.

“Jasmine?” Shia whispered, waiting for the beauty in front of her to turn around. As she did so, the gaze of her lovers warm eyes made the ninjas heart skip a beat. The hand tightened and tugged gently. “I need to show you how much I have missed you… if you will let me.”

Jasmine’s eyes widened, softened and she smiled so brightly that Shia barely felt the wound in her stomach at all and the pain from Kara’s betrayal faded until even the dull throb of it had vanished. Leaning close, Jasmines dark hair spilled across Shia’s head until they were both draped in dark silk.

Shia’s lover leaned into the blond Ninja, soft lips so tantalisingly close. “Then show me.”

---

“So, anyway, I thought you might like to know that the four universities you applied for contacted Mr Dr P a couple of days back. They’ve all let him know that your applications to join have been placed on hold until you recover. Oh, and they’re all offering you a placement. Cool huh?”

Ron watched the redhead in front of him mechanically chew the sandwich of ham and cheese he had brought her from his own home. Having been in the Middleton hospital before, Ron knew exactly how much like cardboard the hospital meals were and had decided his best friend did not deserve to be put through that as well as Servus.

“Doctor Director’s ordered Drakken’s mountain lair to be closed off until GJ has gone through the labs with a toothcomb. When they’re finished, the lair’ll be demolished, then backfilled with concrete in case anything nasty remains in there. Once less place to worry about, right KP?”

“Ron, give it up, okay? I can’t even scratch my foot, let alone speak. And to be honest? Your attempts at cheering me up are making me feel worse.” Kim sighed and watched her best friend shuffle uncomfortably at the end of the bed. “Besides, shouldn’t you be paying attention to Yori? She won’t wait around for ever you know, and I’m going nowhere for a bit.” She smiled slightly. “If I had to agree to someone dating you, she’d be the one.”

“Oh! I went with Yori to check on everyone working at the centre. Your dad was too busy to speak to me, but we found Wade. He’s hopeful about the protein sequence being finished earlier than everyone hoped… with a little help from Rufus of all people. He thinks that the protein is slightly similar to one in rodents. Our pal’s with him now, helping out by donating samples.” Ron smiled with encouragement, a smile that faded as his friend merely took another bite of the sandwich, staring into the empty air. “Damn, KP… give me a sign here.”

“Ron, I want to… you have no idea how much I want to right now. But… I can’t. I can do anything, except stop this crap in my head from running my life.” Kim shivered, suddenly feeling cold, and curled her feet tighter under her ‘body’ in defence. “Ron… I… I know you can’t hear me, but I’m really scared right now. I… I don’t want them to sedate me! God, the thought of being trapped, asleep or not, while my body fights to free itself from restraints? Makes me feel sick just thinking about it and… I… I…”

“It’s going to be okay, Kim.” Ron told her quietly and for a second the hero wondered if her friend had heard her. “I know you can’t speak, but I can guess what’s going through your head right now. You’re scared, ‘cause this is something you can’t fight, or dodge, or out think. You’re having to rely on other people to do everything for you… to find a cure. I know how scared you must be.”

“Ron, I’ve had stuff like this happen befor-”

“I know we’ve had stuff like this happen to us before, but we were always able to help do something about it… or do something to take our minds off the problem. The pollen thing with Drakken, you went on a date and I was searching for the orchid. The mind swap? We were still able to go after ‘em… same with the whole ‘glued to Bonnie’ thing.”

Kim blinked. “They weren’t the same th-”

“You don’t like feeling useless… and nor do I. Thing is, it’s worse for you because you’re the woman who can do anything…” Ron bit his lip and then leaned forwards, pulling Kim’s motionless form into a hug. “It’s going to be okay.”

Kim closed her eyes, feeling the chill grow stronger and wishing she could return the hug. “For once… I’m not sure it will be, Ron.”

“Stoppable that had better be a hug to reassure Kimmie. Because if it’s anything else? I’m going to kick your ass down the corridor and into the lift, face first.”

Rolling his eyes, the blond teen turned to see Shego, a scowl on her face and her hands on her hips, glaring at the two of them. Shaking his head, Ron gently let Kim go, who returned to eating her sandwich, now slightly crushed, with the same blank gaze.

“Any luck?” He asked, trying to keep the desperation out of his tone.

Shego stared at him, wondering if she should explain the plan that was forming in her head. He was a buffoon, there was no denying that, but Kim trusted him and she had to admit that, despite Global Justice storming the lair, it had been Stoppable who had saved her ass. No matter how galling the fact was.

On the other hand, he was very much like Princess, who would certainly tell her to forget what she was planning. To use other means to save her cute ass… not that she’d accept that. As for Stoppable? Well, while she wouldn’t even bother to listen to the idiot if he told her not to, there was a damn good chance he’d tell Director… and Shego couldn’t have that.

She made her choice.

“No… nothing. I tried every contact… hit every single damn person who owes me a favour from here to Sweden of all places. Not a damn thing. Wherever blue boy’s hidden himself? He’s savvy to the fact that I’d be looking for him.”

Ron’s face fell and he nodded. “Well, thanks for trying anyway…”

“I didn’t do it for you, Stoppable, I did it for Pumpkin.” Shego glanced at the mute redhead and felt her stomach lurch at the sight of her. She wondered if she’d had the same blank stare and slack jawed expression on her face while Kara had dug her invisible fingers into her brain. The thought made her shudder. “It’s her I should apologise to… in private.”

Ron blinked and then sighed, nodding. “Sorry, it’s still sinking in.”

“What is?”

“That if I leave you alone with KP, she’ll be in one piece when I come back.” The blond man smiled. “Takes some getting used to.”

“Well, go do it outside… or better yet, go and chase the cute ninja girl before she comes to her senses and realises you’re a complete waste of her time. She passed me in the damn corridor and was heading to the restaurant.” Shego snorted and her voice became bitterly sarcastic. “Can’t imagine why she thought she’d find you in there.”

Nodding, Ron slid to his feet. “Fine by me, I could do with a coffee.” As he slid to his feet and ambled to the door, Ron glanced at Shego as she pushed past him. “Shego, listen, if you really do want to… well, date Kim?”

Shego paused and glanced back, her top lip curling into a snarl. “Yeah?”

“Well, I just wanted to say that’s fine by me.” Ron smiled at the thief and watched her combative stance soften into one of puzzlement.

“It is?”

“Sure, just don’t break her heart… kay?” Ron wagged a finger at her and Shego scowled, fighting the urge to grab it and twist. “Let’s just say that I was warned about what’d happen if I did by Mr Dr P. Let’s just say that I doubt you’d want to see the inside of a black hole any more than I did.”

Shego snorted and rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

“You say that now… just keep it in mind. Anyway, I’m off to find Yori. Catch you both later.”

The green thief watched him trot out of the room and shook her head, glancing down at the redhead who continued to eat slowly. “What do you see in that… that… gah! I can’t even insult him, because I owe the moron one.”

“If you’d give him half a chance, you’d probably change your mind about him. Yeah, he’s goofy, but whenever I was in trouble, Ron’s always been there to help pull me out.”

“Anyway, now that he’s gone, we need to talk.” Kim watched Shego glance around, suddenly cautious, and felt her stomach tremble. The sensation only increased as the thief slid gently onto her bed and leaned in close. “What I told Ron, wasn’t exactly the truth.”

“What?”

“You see, Kimmie, I have managed to contact someone who, I hope, has contacts that can find Drakken for me… for us. She can help me track him down, and help me pay a little… visit.”

Kim felt the tremble in her stomach chill and morph into a block of ice. “Shego… no! There’s been too much killing already! You can’t go after him for revenge, not now! Doctor Director won’t stand for it, she’ll issue a warrant for your arrest!”

“You’re probably screaming about revenge right now, eh Kimmie?” The thief sighed. “If it wasn’t for the problem you have, then I’d probably be doing this to get revenge. Because nobody takes away my freedom like that! Fucking mind control!”

“Shego, please don’t do this!”

“But I’m not doing this for revenge, Pumpkin.” Kim stared at the thief and felt the ice in her stomach shrink a little. With a sigh, Shego leaned in closer and Kim, trapped, could only sigh as the warmth of the green woman’s breath trailed gently across her cheek. “You know how hard it is for me to admit shit like this, but I… I need you. I need you a hell of a lot, more than I want to right now, and I can’t let revenge get in the way of freeing you from this mind control crap.”

“You think that-”

“The way I see it is we’ve got little time left, Kimmie. The thought of being a ‘guest’ of Global justice, watching as your mom’s pals inject you with god knows what chemicals, and then be forced to watch you struggle to free yourself from restraints for months? Hell no!”

Shego wanted to pace, wanted to attack something in the room and shred it with her plasma. Instead, she slid her hands onto Kim’s shoulders and gently squeezed the muscles underneath. Kim groaned and wished she could reach out.

“You’re guessing that Drakken has a way to cure me, right?”

“Your pals say it’ll take months of that to find a cure… Well, sorry, but no thanks. I figure that if Drakken made this shit in your head, he can remove it as well. Remove it with, or without, the damn liquid your pals are trying to duplicate. He can make more of this crap if need be… and if he can’t, well…”

“No torture!” Kim pleaded, unheard. “There’s been enough of that for a lifetime as far as I’m concerned… for both of us. The last thing I want is Kara’s damn plan making you slide towards what she wanted you to become. Shego, please!”

“I have a few ideas to make him see sense, Princess. Trust me.” Shego leaned back and glanced around, cautious, before leaning in once more. “I need you to understand why I’m not going to tell anyone else but you.”

“Wait… you’re not going alone!” Kim stared in growing horror. She knew, thanks to Doctor Director filling her in on the details, and looking uncomfortable talking to an unblinking face, that part of Shego’s… accommodation, was that the thief wouldn’t try to escape. If she did, then GJ, and Doctor Director, would have no choice but to issue a warrant. “No! You can’t do this, Shego! What about us? You know I can’t date someone on the run from the people I’m hoping to one day work for! If you leave, then you’re going to throw any chance you have of getting your slate wiped clean. Of… oh god…”

“My contact is a thief, she won’t talk to anyone else but me, and I’ve got to be far away from anyone in your circle before I do so. What I intend to do, and how I intend to do it, means that I’m going to be cruising close to, if not over, the line of the law. But right now, after checking in with everyone else who owes me anything, it’s the only way to track him down.”

“But your freedom…”

“I made the mistake of letting Kara go all those years ago. She did this to you, but she did it with Drakken’s help. I… I can’t stand by and wait like the others. Doy! Hell, it’s more that I won’t wait around like the others! But, because of what I can do, it means I have to leave.”

Kim felt her world crack and splinter. All those years of wasted time, and now this. “No!”

I’m a thief, and I need to be in the company of thieves to find Drakken, to free you, to correct my fuckup! And it is my fuckup. I can’t trust in anyone else to do this, because people let you down. So, I’m going to do what I do best, which means leaving. I need you to understand that… and also why I need to do this.”

Kim blinked, and felt her breath catch in her throat, as Shego leaned in close and kissed her gently on the lips. The soft sensation of her skin, almost feather light, swiftly followed by the subtle flavour of Shego herself, made Kim tremble inside. The way she had given her such a kiss, the way it had left Kim feeling so worried, the redheaded hero knew… she just knew.

Shego was saying goodbye.

“No! You can’t throw this away!” Kim screamed the words in horror, watched as Shego leaned back and ran a gloved hand gently over her own black lips, before smiling and closing her emerald eyes gently. Savouring the touch, the stolen taste and recording everything she could. “You can’t throw us away! Not even to save me! Damn you, Shego. I don’t care about what’s going to happen to me, not if you stay! I want to find out where I stand, how far my own feelings go when it comes to you! I want to know if it’s you I want to spend my life with, live with, be in love with! You’re the one who kissed me in the lair… you can’t throw that all away, not even for me!”

“And that’s why I want to do this, Princess.” Shego whispered as she opened her eyes, a slow smile curling across her black lips. “The world would be dull without a Kimmie Possible. Even if it means I won’t be able to see you… as I want. It does mean that you’d be free, cured… and Kara’ll have lost.” The thief sighed and bit her lip. “I suppose that’s a good trade for… the other stuff I wanted.”

Kim could only suffer in silence, watch in the darkness of her trapped mind as Shego slid to her feet, limped slightly across to the door and then paused, glancing back. “Come back… please god, make her come back. Don’t take this away from me, please! All I want is this one thing from you, just one… for everything good I’ve ever done. Please don’t let her go!”

Shego cracked the door open an inch, watched the Global Justice agent shuffle and groan in annoyance as she sat in the corridor beside Kim’s room, and frowned. Shutting the door gently, Shego glanced back.

“Just like old times, Princess. Trapped, no way out, and either you or GJ breathing down my neck… well, I have a few ideas about that.”

Kim ignored her, could only watch through tear streaked eyes as the green villainess wandered over to where the gas pipes for the hospital ran down the wall.

“No, no, no, no! I love you, damn it! Listen to me… I… I gotta move, got to say something! Anything!”

Tracing the pipes, Shego smirked and, with a gentle pop, her glove tips exploded into sharp talons on green plasma. Placing them gently on either side of the main oxygen piping, She braced herself and then flicked her feet into the air, wincing slightly as her booted feet impacted silently onto the walls plaster.

“You know, it always amazes me that agencies such as Global or the FBI, CIA, never bother to think outside the box when it comes to the room they lock you in.” The green woman began to climb, just outside of Kim’s trapped vision. “Now, did you know that all hospitals in Middleton state have to have a human sized access way to any room with piped in gases?”

“I don’t care! Shego… don’t DO this!”

Kim could hear the quiet hissing pop as Shego’s fingers gently moved up the plaster again and again. Suddenly, the gentle scrape of the floor tiles reached her. She could picture the green thief gently pulling them away, and staring into the darkness above.

“They have to have something like this, Princess, because a pure oxygen leak is damn dangerous if it can’t be reached pretty much right away.” Shego gazed at the thin plastic coated pipe as it slid into the mouth of a large vent. “And here we are. The venting system, that leads to the gas distribution room on this floor.”

Climbing into the small space, Shego reached back down for the roof tile, intending to place it back and give her more time to make her escape. As she began to drag it back into place, she paused. Below her, Kim lay on the bed, but Shego had a terrible idea of what was running through the redhead’s mind… or more likely what she was screaming into the emptiness.

“Kimmie?” The words echoed into the small room, and were the most sincere Shego had ever said. “I want you to know that… well, we’d have been really good together. If there’s any way of staying together after this? I promise that I’ll work my butt off to find it.” Glancing at the door, Shego bit her lip and then, nodding, continued to slide the floor tile into place. “I’m not going to let you down, Kimmie. So, until later… my Princess.”

There was a quiet thud, a scrape and then silence.

Kim stared numbly at the wall of her room, the only thing Servus permitted her to see, before suddenly feeling an overwhelming need to cry.

For the first time in her life, Kim surrendered willingly to it.

---

The Present: Hench Co’s Headquarters: T Minus 4 Days and Counting.

Hench Co’s headquarters were an impressive sight by day. Thousands of tonnes of concrete, steel and glass, all amalgamated into a building of impressive design. It sparkled in the sun, and even shone on cloudy days due to the hundreds of panes of self cleaning, opaque glass that formed each single office window.

The main entrance was a smooth, professional looking set of doors, inlaid with brass and neatly monogrammed glass of the company logo. Access to these was by ascending an immaculate set of marble steps from the drop off and pick up point neatly and conveniently situated off the main driveway.

It took a thief to notice the way the drive was covered by eighteen security cameras, ten of which were capable of infrared and even ultrasonic based cover. It took a thief to notice that the marble steps had laser points set into them on every single stone, forming a laser grid of such complexity that it was impossible to avoid. It certainly took a thief to notice that the doors were set into titanium frames, had bomb proof glass and integrated hydraulic closure systems as well as an electrified security gate set into the upper doorframe.

Around the building’s smooth and well designed exterior, the park that formed part of the Hench Co. Campus was even more impressive. Thousands of tonnes of soft earth, imported for its fertility and excellent drainage, had been skilfully woven to support hundreds of trees, shrubs, borders and flowers, until the park gave off a homely and friendly feel.

The fact that the planting skilfully continued to give the security cameras, which covered every single entrance, exit, and possible access point, as well as providing total coverage and no obstructions, was subtly hidden. The fact that the plants near the walls were hybrids, roses designed to scratch people with thorns coated in a mild toxin designed to invoke lethargy, were only noticeable to a thief.

At night, the building was even more impressive. It gleamed with the lights of every single office and corridor, shining a clean white light from every single window. Anyone staring at the building would have been enamoured with the subtle play of the light from the windows across the concrete design of the building itself, subtly enhancing the architectural design.

It took a thief to notice that every single light burned brightly for twenty four hours, regardless of whether the employee switched his or her lights off at close of day. It took a thief to notice that every single light came back on the second any drop in exterior sunlight was detected.

It took a thief to watch the patrols of the guards inside, take note of the Kevlar armour, the heavy MP5 carried, the communication system each carried, to recognise that these people weren’t your ordinary, run of the mill, security guards.

It took a thief to notice the motion detection systems in each room, plastering the entire space with various forms of energy.

It took a thief to recognise that this building hid a secret.

But it took Shego and Marie Renard, known to the entire world as The Fox, to see it for what it truly was.

“This Mr Hench dislikes uninvited guests, no?”

Shego glanced across from where she lay crouched on the roof of a neighbourly office block and watched her old friend and mentor, clad in her trademark red and black cat suit, strap on her utility harness and check the launcher, before settling down next to her apprentice.

“Yeah, but then that’s not surprising when you cater to the world’s entire villainy network, and enjoy thumbing your ass at every single law enforcement agency while you do it.” Shego grinned. “Not that it’s stopped me from dropping in unannounced before.”

Marie slyly glanced across to where Shego lay crouched on the rough tarmac roofing.

It had been so long since she had seen her friend, her apprentice. She had forgotten how… alive this sort of, well, challenge made Shego feel. Hell, she had forgotten how it had made her feel when she had done this as a full time job.

“Well then, I suggest we do not keep them any longer, Ma Cherie.” Marie smiled and slid on her unique mask, the red, blue and green sensor lights flashing into life before fading into stealth mode. Her voice, slightly and subtly altered to make it husky and clear, had Shego grinning and rolling to her feet in sudden excitement. “It is time to see if Mr Hench will give us the vials needed to cure Ms Possible, no?”

Snarling with anticipation, and quietly picturing the redhead she was doing this for, Shego nodded.

“In a way. Now, let’s do this.” Flipping off the roof, Shego let her claws sink into the concrete of the office block and she began to clamber down it, swiftly followed by The Fox on a monofilament cable, the quiet whine of the belt motor shooting past her grinning face and swallowed into the night air. “I think it’s time we knocked and see if anyone minds us popping in.”

Hench had something Shego wanted… and she refused to take no for an answer.

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Continued in Mind, Body, and Soul: Chapter 23: A Heroines Need.