Señor Senior Senior ambled through the corridors of what the inmates called ‘Super-Villain Prison’. His seemingly random walk brought him to Shego's cell. Smiling vaguely at the prison officer staring stoically ahead, he walked through the open door.
“Good afternoon.”
Shego, lying on her bunk, briefly interrupted her study of the ceiling to see who was there. “Hi.”
“May I sit down?”
Shego shrugged. “It's a free country.”
“I believe we're technically in international waters here,” said Señor Senior Senior, taking a seat on the cell's single chair.
“Then we're all even more free, aren't we?” said Shego.
“So, how are you feeling?”
Shego turned her head towards Senior just long enough to give him a disbelieving glare. “You're kidding, right?”
“I have noticed you are not your usual angry self lately. Perhaps it would feel better if you were to talk to someone.”
“Already got a prison shrink, thank you very much,” said Shego.
“Ah, but does he know about your… affair… with Miss Possible?”
This time, Shego's glare was murderous. “How do you know about that?”
“Well, to be honest I wasn't certain until just now,” said Señor Senior Senior. “But you might say it was a calculated guess.”
“Based on what?”
Senior smiled. “Are you aware that all our… entanglements with Miss Possible have been turned into an animated series? During a marathon viewing of the DVDs, I couldn't help noticing certain little clues.”
“There are DVDs?” said Shego sceptically.
“There are. After I bought the company and forced a world-wide release.”
“Would've been cheaper just to download them.”
“Yes, but I'm not a petty thief and I'd appreciate it if we could finish this little detour and return to the subject at hand.”
“No comment,” said Shego, staring back up at the ceiling again.
“Then I will say a few things. At first, I suppose, you were but fighters who, perhaps, respected each other's skills. It might be said that you were the Moriarty to her Holmes, but without any fatal endings. Then there was a period when your fights were… how to put this… all about each other? Yet recently Miss Possible has become quite vitriolic in her supposed hatred of you.”
“And she's dating that Stoppable,” Shego said in flat tone of voice.
“That would be her sidekick, yes?” said Senior. “In any case, one has to wonder how you managed to scare her off.”
Shego looked at Senőr Senior Senior and silently cursed his kind, knowing smile. “Tell anyone anything about this and I'll kill you.”
“I have no doubt you will,” said Senior.
“I told her I loved her.”
Señor Senior Senior nodded. “Yes. That would frighten her.”
“I mean, it was so simple at first,” said Shego. “Possible let herself get captured, I tie her up in some private space and in the time it takes Drakken to figure out his latest way-too-complicated way of disposing of her the two of us up the ratings from G to NC-17.”
“And then you told her you loved her.”
“Yep,” said Shego.
“Interesting,” said Señor Senior Senior. “And I take it you want her back?”
Shego didn't say anything, which was all the answer Senior needed.
“It would be a challenge. But then again, I quite enjoy challenges.”
Dave tapped his pencil on the edge of the oak table. Across him, sitting in black leather chair very similar to his own, sat Stacy, straring straight past him and out the huge window behind him. Gene paced up and down in front of the empty board where the storyboard should have been hanging. Dennis had gone out to get his second cup of coffee since five minutes ago.
In other words, it was just another typical day for the Kim Possible writing team.
“Alright,” said Dave slowly. “How about we… bring back Professor Dementor again.”
“Doing what, exactly?” said Stacy. “Besides trying to take over the world, I mean.”
Dave scratched the back of his neck. This writing gig had seemed so easy at first. Basically, he'd just be biographer of some teenage girl somewhere. The problem was that her adventures tended to be so fantastic that it was difficult to just pull one out of your own imagination.
“We could always have Drakken make up some totally harebrained scheme to take over the world,” said Gene.
“Didn't you already suggest that for the last two episodes?” Stacy said.
“Well, it worked, didn't it?” said Gene.
“Yeah, but if we're not careful we'll milk that cow dry,” said Stacy.
“Didn't I tell you people to always plot well in advance?”
Dave's pencil froze halfway between the top of its arc and the table. Gene's right foot remained above the ground for seconds. Stacy's disinterested stare suddenly became terrified.
Dave hadn't seen the newcomer enter the room, but he knew his voice. True, that voice belonged to a fairly notorious criminal, but that's not what worried him. It was the voice of The Boss.
Señor Senior Senior calmly took place at the head of the table.
“Listen, it's our job to retell Kim's adventures,” said Stacy. “It's not our fault she managed to put all of you away at the same time. No offense.”
“None taken,” said Senior.
“Uhm…” said Gene. “You're not planning to… dictate… what we're going to write?”
“Me? Oh, no,” said Señor Senior Senior. “No, I know full well that executives should not trouble the writers more than necessary. Still, there are deadlines, so I took the liberty of hiring a new writer.”
“It's not your son again, is it?” said Dave. He still had nightmares about Señor Senior Junior suggesting that they should make an episode where he, Junior, took the fashion world by storm aided by his cadre of ninja pirate cyborg zombies.
“Have no fear, it's not Junior.”
All three writers sighed when they stopped holding their breaths. Then they held it again.
“So… who is it?” said Stacy.
Señor Senior Senior tapped the oh-so-helpful button on the table in front of him. “Send her in please.”
The door opened theatrically. There was a thump when, at the other end of the room, Gene's suddenly unconscious body hit the ground.
“Shego?” Dave squeaked.
“The same,” said Shego.
“Shego, meet your new colleagues,” said Senior. “The man with the pencil is Dave, the woman is Stacy and the unconscious one is Gene. You'll soon meet Dennis. I take it he went out for coffee again.”
“Oh, I think I met him,” said Shego. “Nervous little guy, right?”
“That's right,” said Dave.
“Yeah, he ran into me,” said Shego. “But don't worry, it looks nastier than it is.”
Kim was about to reach for her locker when she suddenly felt envelloped by a pair of arms.
“Hey KP,” said Ron. “Just wanted to say last night was awesome.”
“Yeah, I had fun too,” said Kim vaguely, one hand still trying to open her locker.
“Oh, gotta run,” said Ron. He gave Kim a kiss on the cheek. “See ya around.”
Kim smiled vaguely as she watched him go. Things were better now. Definitely.
She opened her locker to get the books she needed for class. Unbidden, her eyes wandered to the blank spot above Drakken's mugshot where Shego's picture had been. She angrily looked the other way.
That was over.
No, that wasn't over, because there hadn't been anything there in the first place. Nothing that really counted anyway.
She was about to close her locker again when Wade appeared on the small monitor.
“Oh hey Wade,” Kim said brightly, happy to have someone to take her mind off things. “What's the sitch?”
“Did you watch the show last night?” Wade asked.
“Nah,” said Kim. “I stopped watching that when I realised my real life was a lot more exciting.”
“Ah-hah,” said Wade. “Did you check your e-mail this morning? Or went out onto the ‘web at all?”
“No,” said Kim. “Why?”
Wade looked uncharacteristically uncomfortable. “Well… maybe I'd better show you.”
Wade disappeared from the screen and his place was taken by two drawn figures fighting each other. Kim resisted the urge to look away, but she could do nothing about the hot stabbing sensation in her chest. Animated Kim and animated Shego fought like they'd done countless times before, kicking, punching and dodging on top of a small metal walkway hanging above the floor of some factory. Shego aimed a punch at Kim, but the redhead dodged and Shego hit the rail instead. The metal snapped, the walkway buckled and suddenly both girls were falling. They hit the ground together and rolled away. When they came to a stop, Shego was lying on top of Kim.
Shego blinked.
Kim reached up and touched Shego's hair.
The girls leaned towards one another an-
Kim slammed the locker shut, turned and ran. After a few moments, her Kimmunicator started beeping. She ignored it.
Holding Pandaroo had always been comforting to Kim. When the world was getting a bit too big and intimidating there was something restful about holding the plush toy close to her chest as she sat on her bed staring at nothing.
But now the closeness of Pandaroo only reminded her of someone else's body that had been so close to her own so often. It was a memory she didn't want to have, but also didn't want to let go of.
The Kimmunicator beeped yet again.
Without letting go of Pandaroo, Kim reached down and answered the call.
“Sorry if I freaked you out,” said Wade.
“Not your fault,” said Kim.
“You OK?”
“No.”
“Sorry,” said Wade. “Look, I went over your contract and technically they were allowed to show you… well…”
“Even though it's not…” Kim started.
“Even though it's not what?” said Wade. “True? Well, even then they're allowed to as long as they don't take it too far. You can probably get away with sueing them for breach of contract already if you really want to.”
Kim considered it for a moment. And then considered what would happen if Shego got called as a witness or something.
“And I've got some more bad news,” said Wade. “Although maybe it's good news in disguise.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, I've been doing some searching and it turns out the company was bought up by someone a couple of months ago. Guess who.”
“Well, I guess only Professor Dementor and Señor Senior Senior have that kind of funds, so one of those two?”
“It's Senior,” said Wade. “He's probably trying to discredit you so you can't go out to save the world any more.”
“So that's why he showed me with a villain,” said Kim. “To blacken my name.”
“I guess so. I mean, you and Shego? Global Justice would not be happy about that.”
“So it's just another scheme from Senior, is it?” said Kim, the confidence in her voice getting larger by the second. “Well, I know how to deal with him.”
Breaking and entering was another one of those essentials skills every good hero needed to have and Kim was putting her expertise to good use. After parachuting down on the roof of the animation studio's main offices she took Wade's blueprints out of her backpack and spread it out on the ground. She'd already gone over the best way of getting inside several times, but she wanted to check it one more time, just to be sure.
Now then, because this was Señor Senior Senior she was dealing with, it was going to be the Big Confrontation With The Villain scenario. That meant he was in the CEO's office or the board room. He was probably already sitting in a huge black leather chair facing away from the door, waiting for Kim to enter the room so he could then dramatically turn around and spring whatever trap he had devised.
Well whatever, she could deal with that when the time came. First she needed to get up to the right floor and that meant taking a detour to Security since the executive levels had way too many cameras and sensors to just casually deal with. She also needed to deal with any patrols. Senior ran this place like a respectable business, so Kim would be facing boys in blues, instead of goons in red. Better try to avoid them, then. Which would be a lot easier if she actually knew what their patrol routines were.
Oh well, she'd cross that bridge once she got there.
Kim hooked up all the cables, double-checked to make sure they were really secure, checked the tools she brought with her and then walked to the edge of the roof and jumped.
Kim sneaked towards the big, wooden doors leading into the CEO's office. She was feeling very, very suspicious. She hadn't really expected any trouble getting up here and hadn't been disappointed. She had run into a few guards, but had managed to duck away before they saw her. Or perhaps they'd been ordered to ignore her. Senior wanted her to reach the office. That's how things were Done, after all.
Kim quietly opened the door and slipped into the dark office.
Which stopped being dark as soon as the lights went on, blinding her for a moment. Blinking, Kim was not surprised to see the spots in front of her eyes turn into the impressively large back of a black leather chair.
“Took your time, Princess.”
Kim froze. That voice…
No.
Please, no.
The chair swivelled around, revealing Shego lounging comfortably.
“I was beginning to worry the guards might have caught you.”
The first shock passing, Kim managed to take the warm shivers Shego's voice always managed to send through her body and turn them into searing anger.
“I should've known you were behind this.”
“Yeah, you really should,” said Shego. “I mean, I'm the only that knows, aren't I?”
“There's nothing to know about.”
For the briefest of moments, pain flashed across Shego's face. Kim barely saw it, but nevertheless felt the need to reach out and touch her in some way. Then she turned her hands into fists.
“So what is this all about?” Kim demanded. “Revenge?”
“Revenge?” Shego smiled and her hands flared with green fire. “No.”
Kim fully expected the sudden lunge and dodged it easily. And with the way Shego quickly landed and turned around it was obvious she hadn't really expected to catch Kim off guard. Kim aimed a punch at her opponent's face, which Shego caught on her forearm. The redhead quickly went through her knees and sweeped Shego's legs out from under her. Shego turned her fall into a handstand, jumped and, with a little pirouette landed on her feet.
“Ah, just like the good old days, isn't it Princess?” said Shego. “Pity there aren't any shackles in this place.”
“What do you want Shego?”
“You know what I want.”
“Keep dreaming,” said Kim. “I'm with Ron now.”
“Yeah? So now you scream his name? Or didn't you get that far yet?”
“We're taking things slowly,” said Kim. “But I don't think a slut like you could understand that.”
Shego laughed. “Petty namecalling? Oh Kimmy, how low can you go?”
“Does it really matter? It's not like I'll ever sink to your level.”
“Sink? From where I'm standing you're gonna need to fly.”
“Oh please,” said Kim. “You think you're actually above me?”
“Pretty much,” said Shego. “At least I never betrayed anyone I care about.”
The venom in those words nailed Kim to the floor for just a second. But a second was all Shego ever needed. She lunged, grabbed Kim and wrestled her to the floor. Within moments, Shego had her in an inescapable hold.
A hold, Kim told herself, not a hug. Defintely not a hug.
“I love you.”
“You say that now?” Kim said.
“That's right,” said Shego. “I love you.”
“Well I… I hate you.”
“No you don't,” said Shego. “I love you.”
“Let me go, will you!” Kim shouted.
“No,” said Shego. “I love you.”
“Stop saying that!”
“Why?”
“Because I…”
The words ‘I don't love you’ gathered at the tip of Kim's tongue and died there. She was a teenager, she knew about lies. She was really good at them sometimes.
But some lies were just too big.
“You…?” Shego said.
“I can't,” said Kim.
“Why not?” Shego asked.
If only her voice wasn't so gentle. If only she was demanding. If only she wasn't holding her so calmly. If only she didn't enjoy being held by her.
“I'm scared.”
“Of what?”
“Hello, you're evil. It'd never work.”
“I'm more about the fun than the evil,” said Shego. “I can find a replacement.”
“Until you stop loving me.”
Kim couldn't see Shego's face, but she could feel her smile.
“Is that what you're scared of? That?”
“Don't mock me,” said Kim.
Shego nuzzled Kim's neck and the redhead felt the need to…
No. No, she didn't want to pull away and she didn't want Shego to stop.
Kim sighed. “And it would ruin my life in any case.”
“What? Rehabilitating criminals is a bad thing now?”
“No, but… Shego, you're a girl.”
Shego was quiet for one long, astounded moment. “This is a gay thing? You're scared of coming out?”
“Yeah,” Kim whispered.
“Wow,” said Shego. “I so did not see that coming.”
“You're surprised?”
“Well… yeah. I mean, you risk your life on a daily basis and you're scared of… of what people might think?”
“Of course I am,” said Kim. “That kind of thing is… is huge. And I don't know how to deal with it.”
“Do you love me?”
“Shego…”
“Do you love me?” Shego asked again.
When it came, Kim's answer was barely more than a whisper, but it said ‘yes’ all the same.
“Then we'll deal with it.”
Kim closed her eyes. “Promise?”
“I promise.”