The characters of the Kim Possible TV show are not mine and belong to S.O.M.M.O. (Some Other Mickey Mouse Operation). They are used here without permission of their creators or owners. No profit has been intended or made on the part of this author and for legal purposes the following story should be considered a parody.
A Good Time for Extra Training
She ran, leaped, and dodged her way through the obstacle course for the ninth time today, still trying to beat the record time that she had set on her third attempt through it. As she cleared the last hurdle, she barely heard the whir of a stun ray focusing in on her position and had to twist in mid air to avoid it before she could hit the large button on the wall marking her completion of the course.
Spending a few moments catching her breath she took a couple gulps of water from a nearby bottle and checked her time on the large digital readout set above the finish button – 5 minutes and 52 point 3 seconds. She snarled and without thinking, prepared to destroy the offending digits with a plasma fist. As she reared back to strike, Shego's expression changed, she de-ignited her hand and let it drop limply to her side. She had to admit to herself that alternating workout sessions in the gym with runs through the automated obstacle course for the entire day had left her bordering on exhaustion and she wasn't going to be able to improve her best time tonight. If she had taken out her frustration on the control circuits of the obstacle course (made up of a multitude of failed death rays and rejected robotic limbs that Doctor Drakken had built up over time), then she wouldn't have it to keep her busy again tomorrow, and THAT would not be good at all.
Shego felt her stomach rumbling, reminding her that she had continued her workouts well past dinnertime. Although she dreaded it, there was nothing more to do, but close the place up, go home, fix herself something to eat, and then go to bed. At least she should finally be able to sleep well tonight. She flicked a series of switches to put the automated mechanisms in full shutdown mode and took the time to make visibly sure that the entire course had completely powered down. She grabbed her towel and water bottle and walked out the room making sure to close and lock the door behind her, once she was in the adjacent hangar bay. Walking past the idle hovercrafts to the other side of the dimly lit hangar, her boots echoed eerily in the strangely silent cavern. Once on the other side of the hanger, she made her way down the corridor past the idle laboratory area and the now empty living quarters for the henchmen that Doctor D employed. Only the sound of her own footfalls could be heard. Turning right near the end of the corridor, she entered the kitchen area where she promptly drank up the last of her water, tossed the bottle in the recycling bin, and thought to herself "How can he call himself a villain, when he even obeys the local recycling laws?" while she grabbed a fresh bottle from the refrigerator.
Coming out of the kitchen the way she came in, Shego turned right again and made her way to the end of the corridor where she entered the utility room. She shut down the power to most of the lair except for the critical systems, leaving most of the place bathed only in the eerie glow of the emergency lights. Returning to the corridor, Shego lit her left hand and held it aloft to provide illumination for her journey down the corridor and back through the hangar area, her footsteps once more echoing back to her as she walked. She made her way to a simple metal door near the main hangar bay doors, entered an alarm code on the keypad and left the lair through it, closing and locking it behind her. She put on the parka she had previously left by the entrance on the way in and made her way through the dark to the camouflaged hovercraft that she had parked outside earlier. Shego used a keychain remote (the stupid thing even chirped like a car remote) to disengage the cloaking system and open the dome to the craft and then performed an acrobatic front somersault into the vehicle. She re-engaged the transparent dome cover to protect her from the harsh mountain winter chill and lifted off into the night sky.
After setting the autopilot and checking the radar for other low flying craft, there was nothing else to do but occasionally glance at the radar screen and watch the town of Middleton pass below her. The closed and darkened stores downtown contrasted sharply with all the festively lit houses in the residential neighborhoods and she tried not to let her mind wander to what was probably transpiring inside many of those homes as she silently passed over each of them. After what seemed like an interminably long time to her, the craft at last glided out over first the suburban developments and then progressively more open countryside, where still, time after time, the clusters of cars overfilling the occasional private drive would feed the increasing uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. Finally, the shuttle came upon a small green country house set back in the wooded hills such distance from the "main" road that the only evidence of it's location to anyone passing by would be the empty mailbox next to the snow covered dirt path leading back to it.
Shego settled the craft down into a tightly clustered cove of evergreen trees close to the rear of the building before disengaging the cloak and the dome and jumping out of the vehicle. She turned and used the remote the re-engage the dome and cloak, sighing heavily as the vehicle chirped to indicate that it was secure (how could he perfect such inane details but forget to build a cooling system into his last death ray so that it wouldn't overheat and blow up?). Pulling her parka halfway up her arm, she once more ignited her plasma in order to see where she was going—the lonely house was dark and the snow-covered steps could be treacherous in the cold night. The only sounds to be heard were the crunch of snow under her boots and the rustling of the trees in the wind as she made her way to the back door, unlocked it and let herself in.
Turning on the light, she shed her overcoat and boots and walked over to the freezer to find something to stick in the microwave for a quick meal. She hadn't been shopping in quite a while and it now came back to haunt her in the fact that the only choices she had in a frozen dinner were the few remnants that had consistently been passed over for tastier fare. With the way that her thoughts started roiling on the trip home, she found her logic (she needed to eat something since it was way past dinner and she had skipped lunch) at odds with her feelings. Her belly felt like she had swallowed a leaden weight and none of her remaining frozen dinners looked even remotely appetizing – not when compared to all of the happy people that she knew she had flown past whom she imagined, were in a comfortable stupor still trying to digest their second slice of pie. She quickly got angry with herself for letting her thoughts wander there and simply grabbed the top entrée and flung it in the microwave before mashing the numeric keypad to set it for 5 minutes.
Shego ran upstairs to grab a quick shower rather than waiting for her food to finish cooking, hoping that the stimulating feel of warm water on her flesh would help calm her mood. She finished her shower feeling somewhat better and took a moment to slick the excess moisture off her alabaster skin before stepping out of the shower stall. Drying herself thoroughly with one of the bath sheets, she grabbed a second one and padded off her bedroom. After lightly applying powder to her strategic areas, she slipped on a pair of panties and dropped a nightshirt over her head and down her body, then she carefully wrapped her still wet mane of dark hair in the bath sheet she had brought with her and piled it on top of her head. For some reason, Shego always enjoyed the routine of showering and getting ready for bed and this time did not prove any different. Finally feeling much better, she slipped on a pair of bedroom slippers and headed back to the kitchen to warm up and retrieve her meal.
Coming back into the living room with her suddenly appetizing steaming food and a fork, Shego plopped down on the couch across from the television and already had the remote in hand and aiming at the device when she gave pause. She knew that flipping through this night's programming would bombard her with reminders of the holiday she was trying to ignore and considered leaving the cursed thing off. Unfortunately, that choice would leave her mind undistracted and free to contemplate what everyone else would be enjoying this night – so she instinctively looked around the room for something else to busy herself. This only served to remind her that since moving in she had only set up the barest of essential furniture. Her living room only contained the couch, the television, a floor lamp, coffee table, a throw rug and some blinds on the windows, nor was the rest of the house any better – all of the walls and nearly all of the flat surfaces throughout the house were devoid of decoration or personal items.
At that moment it hit her that although this might be her house...her gnawing fears had never let her turn it into a home.
The leaden feeling in her stomach returned with a vengeance, and Shego mechanically consumed the food which was once more just meager sustenance. Afterward, she went to the kitchen to toss her container in the trash and her fork in the sink. With nothing more she needed or wanted to do, she came back through the house turning out the lights as she went, ascended the stairs and took herself to bed.
She lay on one side of her king-size bed, in the near pitch-blackness, trying to will herself to sleep while listening to the bitterly cold wind howl outside her windows. Though she logically knew the house was warm, she could not help but feel chilled. After a mentally berating herself for being a silly child, she got out of bed, went over to one of the boxes she had never unpacked and pulled out a heavy spare blanket. Shego arranged the blanket on the bed, crawled back under the covers and pulled them up tightly to her chin. She turned on her side and scrunched herself up against the imagined chill, allowing her hand to splay out toward the empty side of the bed. Subconsciously, her hand wandered up and down the other side of the bed as though searching for…something. Sighing deeply in frustration, because she knew how unlikely it was that anything like that was going to happen anytime soon, she pressed the pillow from the empty side of the bed against her body as a poor substitute. After a long while, she finally drifted off into a fitful sleep.
Shego lazily awoke to faint sound of carols playing on the stereo downstairs. She pulled the pillow and covers from the far side of the bed to her and breathed in deeply. She softly smiled as they still smelled like him, so she hunkered tightly into the linens and allowed herself to languish in his scent for a few moments before the more distant scents of pine and chicory roast permeated her senses and prodded her to rise. She stopped in the bathroom to freshen up for a few moments before putting on a long, soft silken robe and quietly padding barefoot down the stairs. Stopping halfway down she allowed herself a few moments to let her senses take in the crackle and radiant warmth of the fireplace and how that fit perfectly with the soft twinkling of the lights on the tall tree.
"It's even nicer from over here," a warm, strong voice gently spoke to her as he turned halfway around on the couch to look at her. An affectionate smile came to his face and his blue eyes shone with appreciation, as he took in all of her standing on the steps before his eyes lifted to meet hers. "As much as I could enjoy sitting here and just admiring your beauty from afar, I'm thinking you're kind of cold with the way you have your arms wrapped around yourself. Why don't I get you a fresh steaming mug of chicory roast and you can join me by the fire?"
He soon returned with a tray containing mugs of coffee and tea. He set the tray on the coffee table, unfurled the quilt from the back of the couch, sat down and wordlessly invited her to join him. She sat back into his open arm and leaned against him as he arranged the quilt around them. He then used his long reach to pluck the mugs off the table and handed the mug of chicory roast coffee to her. She took it with a simple "Thank you" and settled herself against him to enjoy the warmth of the fire, the simple light show of the Christmas tree & the carols from the stereo, and the secure comfort of his arm around her.
They sat in comfortable silence for awhile drinking in the blessings of a warm home and loving company, communicating all that needed to be said with casual caresses on his part and contented sighs and gentle touches to acknowledge him on hers. The spell of that perfect moment was broken when he gently slid himself out from behind her, in spite of a soft groan of protest from Shego, and went to the backdoor to get more logs for the fire.
After restocking the fireplace and stoking the embers to get it burning again, he returned to the couch and took the hand that she offered. She used her leverage to attempt to pull him down to her, but he instinctively shifted his stance and resisted for a fraction of a second before smiling and allowing himself to be pulled down to her waiting lips. The kiss was gentle and loving more than it was passionate, and as he broke it he trailed small, nibbling kisses along her lower lip. She pulled him back to her into a deeper kiss and they held onto it longer before he broke it to string those same small, nibbling kisses along her upper lip this time. These had the contradictory effects of giving her chills running down her spine while her cheeks flushed in warmth. She sighed contentedly from those sensations and prepared to pull him into a heated kiss that would fully communicate "I need you" to him until she felt his forefinger in front of her nose and lips.
She looked up at him in surprise. "As much as I would just love to let this escalate, we both know that I have to leave in a while to join my girls. Please don't make that any more difficult than it has to be." Eventually, she nodded her assent and he pulled her up to him and into a hug. They broke the hug and he held out a small oblong shaped box wrapped in black & green foil paper and tied with a green ribbon, "Merry Christmas, Love."
She unwrapped the hinged box and opened it. Inside, she found a forest-green emerald with diamond accent pendant set in platinum with matching earrings. "Now this should be your green," he told her. "The emeralds will really bring out your beautiful green eyes and the platinum will compliment your skin tone better than gold would. It occurred to me that those 'flaming fists of fury' might make short work of a ring or bracelet, so I decided on a necklace."
Still dressed only in a silk bathrobe, Shego went over to a nearby mirror to put on her new jewelry. She took a moment to admire how they looked on her and decided that he was absolutely right in his assessment. She deliberately sauntered back to him on the couch, leaned her arms heavily into the cushions on either side of him, and trapped his lips in a searing kiss that conveyed just how deeply she appreciated the gift. She broke the kiss and when her eyes regained focus, she noted it to a second longer for his eyes to lock onto hers—she was definitely having an effect on him. "Good," she thought and then said aloud "They're beautiful, thank you. But, I'm kind of surprised that you know so much about color and jewelry."
"The color was easy," he told her. "I find it difficult to not spend all my time observing my beautiful green goddess when she's near." She lowered her head slightly to hide her smile and blush at his compliment, amazed that he could bring out the emotional girl inside her that she would have sworn was dead and gone not so long ago. "And, since I know a jeweler who has been a friend of my family for decades, I was able to select the finest emeralds from his entire stock. The hardest part was ignoring all of the inquisitive looks I was getting." She lowered her head a bit more to disguise her embarrassment at his last statement.
After a moment, she composed herself quickly, got up and retrieved a gift from under the tree. "I have a few surprises for you too, Mister," as she tried to recover her best snarky tone. She could tell immediately that she had failed that by the way his blue eyes looked right through her.
As he took the present from her, he allowed his hand to linger on her hand and he locked his gaze to hers, the small gesture giving her hope from her earlier moment of trepidation. "Thank you," he simply said and turned his attention to unwrapping, then opening the package. As he lifted the old tome from its last protective covering he gasped in awe as he realized that he was holding a piece of history in his hands—a first edition illustrated copy of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." When his eyes rose to meet hers there was an unmistakable question in them.
"I didn't steal the damn thing!" she huffed while she turned her back to him, mentally chiding herself for acting like a child and wondering why she just didn't respond to his offense with a volley of plasma blasts. 'Because that would probably mean you would end up losing him and how he makes you feel so alive,' a voice from the back of her mind told her. She explained herself to him softly with her back still turned, "I got it as partial payment for the recovery of artifacts stolen from a collector who has more money than he knows what to do with…'cause I really thought you'd like it."
A hand was laid softly on her shoulder from behind her, "I'm sorry. It is an incredible gift…thank you so very much. However, you should be able to understand my concern. It becomes just some musty old book to me if having it means I might have to lose having you beside me."
Shego fought the urge to continue to be angry and decided to get her agenda back on track—she whirled and wrapped him up in a crushing bear hug. She pulled him down into a kiss, deepening it as it continued. She pulled away from the kiss and told him, "I forgive you for being suspicious." She backed up a couple of steps, loosened the sash on her robe and let it slip down off her shoulders and body, revealing what she had worn under her robe, just for him. "Do you forgive me for getting angry?" she asked him coyly.
He mouthed silently, like a fish out of water, doubly stunned by sudden display of nearly girlish behavior and the equally sudden display of provocatively packaged womanly perfection. To his credit, he partially recovered his thoughts quickly, "I…uh…yeah…sure, I forgive you?" Then he fully recovered his cognitive functions, "No fair, Love. I already told you that I have to leave soon to see the girls. What good does it do to just frustrate me?"
She smiled devilishly at him, feeling once more in control of the situation. "Perhaps you'd be interested in my next surprise. I brought my VTOL jet home last night. It's out back, fueled up and the flight plan is already on file." She stepped right up against him and whispered, "I can get you there in almost no time."
"Does that mean you'll be joining me for the rest of the day?" he asked, hopefully. When she silently nodded her agreement, he picked her up in a bear hug and spun her around, "Wonderful! I know that they'll love you." He shifted his grip to drape her across his arms, and leaned down to give her a slow, sweet, romantic kiss, "Thank you. I know how difficult it is for you to open up and leave yourself vulnerable to others. But I know that they will see in you what I do."
He carried Shego around the couch and progressed to the bottom of steps before a soft hand on his chest stopped him. He looked at her with curiosity on his face at the worry that was now evident in her eyes. 'This is it, now or never,' she told herself. She reached around his head and gently pulled his forehead to hers, enshrouding them both in her long raven hair, pulling them both into their own private world where nothing or no one would intrude on them. With all of the danger she had faced in her life, this was the most frightening thing that she ever had to do, because she would be vulnerable and powerless. "I…love you," she whispered her voice hoarse and cracking with desperation.
The momentary silence was deafening, as surprise at what she had said at first registered on his features, until he let out a soft sigh and a warm smile crossed his face. He kissed her softly and told her, "My darling, I certainly don't object…but, you don't have to seduce me to get me to tell you that I lo…" SHUMP!