It's officially been one year since the completion of Dysfunctional Family. It took me a couple of months to recover from Kigo burnout but now that that's all cleared up, my mind has been running quite rampant with idea's for this story. This story is sorta A.U. our plasma slanging super villainess is without her plasmic abilities in the beginning of the story. I hope you all enjoy this prequel.
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate."
Tired green eyes stared into darker, more exhausted, green ones as the two girls circled each other, both looking for the opening that would get them a jolt closer to victory. Every change in body language, every shift in mood, every step made was quickly noted.
The ground beneath them was holding up quite well underneath their weight, although the rusted steel of the walkway creaked as they moved. The state of the old lair itself was debatable. For all they knew, the building could collapse around them at any moment, but that was a risk they were willing to take.
The windows had been boarded over some time ago. It was apparent termites had taken a toll on it. The space wasn't large; it had been one of those small rental lairs Drakken had ordered in his time of need.
The raven-haired woman's opponent paced, carefully crossing each foot over the front of the other. Each foot was expertly trained to land perfectly at an angle that would give their owner a solid stance and optimize her balancing potential. Her hands were only so high in the air, one pulled back, and she was slightly bent at the knees. The raven-haired woman knew this stance well; her redhead was poised to attack.
All noise but the shallow breathing of the other warrior fell deaf on their ears as they pushed out the rest of the world. The tension between the two would allow no more defensive games to be played. They were consumed by each other and no one else dared interfere.
No one with a brain they actually used...
"Woman!" Doctor Drakken shrilled for the aid of his trusty partner in crime. "Hurry up!"
The scientist waited a few moments before dropping his arms and whining, "Shegoooo! I need your help! Now is so not the time to play silly cat-and-mouse games with our arch foe! We have things and people to steal and you are taking much too long for my liking!"
The dark haired woman smirked evilly. A smirk her opponent knew well. The redhead tossed one back that was just as, if not more, mischievous than the taller martial artists'.
"Ain't got all day Pumpkin," The sultry voice taunted its opponent.
"Master calling?" The redhead retorted. She loved this segment of their dance. The teasing always made their situation seem less threatening.
The elder of the two moved in swiftly, taking the tiny opening the redhead allowed her. Striking the smaller woman wasn't as easy as it would seem. The palm strikes weren't making quite the impact she wanted them to, so she switched tactics.
Shego's last strike sent her off balance and the redhead nearly lost her composure with glee as she found what she thought was the perfect opening, only she was wrong.
It was too late to block the roundhouse kick her opponent sent her way. It connected solidly with the side of her head, and her flight through the air was a short and painless.
The raven-haired woman shuddered and raced forward as the young redhead crashed headfirst through a boarded window. They were on the second level and she wasn't sure the younger woman would be conscious enough to catch herself.
Kim groaned and wondered why she hadn't felt the world-shattering pain she knew she should have felt, especially if she had hit the ground at the angle from which she was hanging.
Her questions were answered as she noticed strong arms around her. The redhead wasn't sure what she was going to do; she hadn't brought her own sidekick along on this mission. She'd thought it'd be in and out, not something she'd end up needing medical care for.
Her head began to throb, and she could barely make out the voice of her opponent. She was blacking out. Surely if the kick hadn't given her a concussion, flying through the window definitely did it.
"Pumpkin?" The raven-haired vixen called, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of the younger woman.
"Did you kill her?" Doctor Drakken asked, peeking over Shego's shoulder.
"I hope not," she replied, putting her face close to Kim's. She breathed a sigh of relief as she felt Kim's light breath on her face. "She's alive."
"Good, lets go," Drakken said, turning to head back to the hovercraft.
"We can't just leave her here," Shego said incredulously.
"I know that," he huffed. He might be a mad scientist, but he wasn't mad enough to leave the super hero out here with no one to look after her.
"Oh," Shego muttered, picking up the smaller woman and heading toward their vehicle. "She'll probably need medical attention."
"Don't make me think about the bill," Doctor Drakken muttered. "It'll make me change my mind."
Shego huffed, holding securely onto her charge. He said that as if he'd actually be the one paying it. The young hero was out cold. Shego had completely expected the girl to block her assault.
There was no use in rethinking the decision now; though she felt she should have at least controlled the power output of the attack.
"Where should we take her?" Doctor Drakken asked, looking over his shoulder at the Amazonian warrior.
Shego thought on this; she knew the younger woman's hometown was Middleton and her mother was a doctor.
"What's the largest hospital in Middleton?" she asked.
"That one," Doctor Drakken said, pointing out of the window toward where they were heading.
"That's the most intelligent thing I think you've ever done," Shego teased. Of course this statement wasn't true, she was convinced Drakken actually had a brain; he just wasn't too keen on using it.
They landed in the parking lot, far away from other cars. For a hospital, things were pretty slow. They supposed that was a good thing, the less people that saw them, the better.
Shego took a moment to put on civilian clothing over her suit. The raven-haired woman knew most people didn't know her by face, only her signature green and black catsuit.
She pinned her hair up in a ponytail, her dark green cargo pants hung loosely around her waist, and lack of a belt was evident. The white thermal she pulled on wasn't long enough to hide the uncovered area but she didn't too much care.
Shego sighed as she pulled the unconscious woman from the hovercraft, silently noting how light the other woman was. Either she was getting stronger or Kim wasn't eating properly. She figured the latter probably wasn't the case, she'd seen her redhead eat.
Shego held Kim as one would hold a sleeping child. Kim's arms were stuck between them, and the young redheads' legs were wrapped around her waist. She supported Kim from underneath her bottom as the rest of her body weight was evenly distributed to Shego's top half.
"Let's make this quick," Drakken muttered as she closed the door.
The two women quickly drew looks from people in the parking lot. It made Shego feel slightly uneasy. She wasn't used to so many eyes being on her. It was a good thing the doors to the emergency room weren't too far off, it held the raven-haired woman from growling at the onlookers.
More eyes turned on the young women. Kim's slumped form was definitely drawing some attention, especially when several nurses that stood around conversing looked their way. A male nurse hung back and picked up the phone while several women scurried over to the pair.
The nurses instantly recognized the red hair even as it concealed its owner's face.
"What happened to her?" the male nurse asked as he strode up to the group.
"We were sparing and she missed a block." Shego told him. "She's unconscious but she's breathing."
The nurses wheeled over a gurney and Shego gently laid the girl down onto it.
Eventually Doctor Drakken left and Shego stayed at the hospital and patiently waited. After two hours of people-watching, a very important-looking woman approached her, flanked by two uniformed members of Global Justice.
"Samantha," The woman said in casual greeting. She didn't want to alert anyone by calling the villainess by her pseudonym.
"Betty," She greeted back, somewhat friendly.
"Am I going to have to take you in?" Doctor Director asked. The stocky brunette took a seat next to the other woman.
"Like I said," Shego huffed through clenched teeth. "It was a sparing accident."
"Uh huh," the officer accepted. She turned to face the other woman and their eyes locked. Green glared into bemused brown. "Why did you stay?"
"Huh?"
"Why are you still here?" the officer repeated.
"Well I... umm...she uh..." Shego stuttered. She was cut off by her cell phone ringing. The very familiar tune continued to jingle and the villainess quickly fumbled for her phone.
"Orrick," she answered with her last name.
"Where's my dry cleaning?" the crisp voice on the other end spoke. It was heavily accented and leaden with irritation.
"I haven't picked it up yet," Shego muttered.
"What in the world have you been doing all day?" the voice of the other end of the phone asked. "I ask for one simple thing and you can't even do that."
The line died and Shego sighed. She closed the offending piece of technology and slid it back into her pocket.
"You should let me shoot her," Doctor Director said somewhat jokingly. "I'd get off, you know."
"Training accident?" Shego grinned. "No thanks, I can't chance losing someone who keeps me so sane."
"Awe," the older woman was beginning to taunt before the doctors came out to talk to her.
Shego sat back since she clearly wasn't important enough to tell. Apparently, from what Shego could make out, the red head's mother was in surgery and Kim was suffering from a severe concussion.
"Fuck," Shego thought. She looked down at her watch and felt it was time to leave.
"Can she have visitors?" Doctor Director inquired.
"Not until Doctor Possible gives the okay," the physician said.
"My agents and I will standby," the officer told him. She turned around to look for the other woman but she was gone.
Shego thought about how idiotic it was to be where she was at that moment, but she didn't care. Luckily enough for her, the hospital's ventilation shafts were larger than average ones. Idiotic played into the part where she had no idea where Kim's room was.
She passed some interesting rooms. An old man getting a sponge bath, a grown woman fighting off getting a shot, a kid whose finger was being reattached (apparently he didn't throw the fire cracker he lit in his hand fast enough).
She passed a few more rooms and finally came to the one she was looking for.
"Pumpkin!" Shego called in a loud whisper.
"Eh?" the red head looked around wildly.
"Up here in the vent!" Shego watched as Kim's eyes met hers, and her lips formed an O-shape.
"What are you doing here?" Kim asked.
Shego was glad Kim couldn't see the blush that covered her cheeks.
"I just wanted to make sure I hadn't killed you," Shego said.
"Oh how selfish," Kim snapped. "Could you care any less for my well being?"
"It's not like that," Shego told her. She pushed aside the grate that covered the shaft and hopped down out of the ceiling. "You think I wanted to put you in here?"
"Well didn't you?" Kim asked, a look of bewilderment gracing her features.
"You missed the block," Shego told her. "I just knew it wouldn't connect."
Kim was even more confused by the guilty look that Shego gave. The villainess looked down at her trainers and sighed.
"What do you mean I missed the block?" Kim asked, looking at Shego through perplexed eyes.
Shego shook her head and sat down on the middle of the bed where Kim as scooted over to make room.
"Don't worry about it, Pumpkin." she replied.
The two women sat there for a few moments. As Shego studied her feet, Kim stared directly at the raven-haired woman, noticing small features she'd never had the opportunity to appreciate before. Kim's confused expression slowly turned into a broad grin.
Shego huffed lightly out of annoyance.
"What, Princess?"
"I've never seen you in street clothes before," the younger woman answered. "Or with your hair pulled back."
"So?"
"I've actually never seen you look normal." Kim said with a shrug.
"What is normal?" Shego inquired. "I've never experienced normal a day in my life."
"Some of us are more fortunate than others." Kim sat back against her pillows.
"You're a funny little thing," Shego said. "I put you in the hospital and all you can think about is how I look in civilian clothing."
"It never dawned on me that you might have real clothes…" Kim said trailing off.
"I'm only a super villain from nine pm to five am every other day, you know," Shego replied.
Kim shook her head, but quickly stopped as her head began to pound.
"No, I didn't," the redhead said sullenly. "whenever we cross paths we do nothing but fight."
"Don't look so saddened by this fact," Shego said. "we're not supposed to be friends."
"Why aren't we?"
"Because I'm me and you're you," Shego said simply.
The redhead frowned.
"Have you ever thought perhaps we're more alike than we'd like to admit?" Kim asked quietly.
Before Shego could answer, a group of rushed footsteps could be heard quickly approaching from the opposite end of the hall.
The raven-haired woman didn't reply but instead removed herself from her seat on the bed and gracefully climbed back into the ceiling.
"Oh Kim honey," Mrs. Doctor Possible exclaimed when she saw her only daughter laying there dejectedly on the bed. She entered the room flanked by the G.J. officials.
The older woman was almost an exact replica of her daughter, Shego noted. Full head of red hair, brilliant green eyes, and the lines on her face were barely visible.
"What happened?" the older redhead asked.
"I missed the block." Kim answered simply, with a shrug.
Shego smiled as she watched from her stilled position in the ventilation shaft.
"If you can remember what happened," Betty Director said to Kim. "We'll need a written statement."
"A sparing accident," Kim automatically replied, which was in fact the case. Nothing had been stolen due to Kim's accident.
Dr. Director looked at her oddly and shrugged. "If that's what you say."
"Are you implying that Kim might be lying?" Mrs. Doctor Possible asked.
"Not at all," Dr. Director replied. "As you well know sometimes things can be a little foggy after head injuries."
"Really," Kim insisted. "It's nothing to worry about."
It was a few hours later when Shego made it "home". She slipped in quietly and was greeted by her faithful Alaskan malamute.
"Good evening, Jake." The raven-haired woman paid attention to her animal before moving further into their "home".
"You must be here alone," she said to Jacob. He looked at her with a bored expression and made his way over to his giant pillow that took up a large portion of the floor.
Usually the third occupant of their large furnished hotel room would lock him inside the bedroom until Shego returned.
"How about a walk?" Shego asked him. His ears perked up slightly, as if he were a little bit interested but apparently not enough to get back up. "Lazy old man," Shego laughed.
Jacob covered his eyes with his paws and ignored her.
Shego resigned herself to taking a shower and dressing warmly in a black pair of sweat pants and a gray thermal. Winter was beginning to settle in and the last thing she wanted to do was catch a cold.
She made her way into the kitchen through a swinging door and was greeted by an extremely unpleasant sight. Shego completely lost her appetite. There were dirty dishes littered across throughout the kitchen; ones she had washed this morning before she'd made her way to work.
Groaning she set to fixing the kitchen back to the way she liked it... Clean. Two hours passed before the kitchen was up to her standards and she refused to cook anything for supper. Instead she did something she was completely against due to its unhealthiness: she ordered a pizza.
The marital artist yawned and traveled into her bedroom to retrieve a book off the shelf. She didn't linger in there long before she went back into the living room and lay down next to Jacob.
"How about a story then?" she asked him. He removed his paws and looked like he was prepared to pay attention to Tom Clancy's Net Force.
She read aloud until she had managed to lull him off to sleep before continuing to read to herself. A knock at the door alerted Jacob and they rose to greet the pizza delivery girl.
"Hello Lauren." Shego greeted.
"How's it goin' Sam?" Lauren responded. The two knew each other very well from spending hours together at school.
"Alright I suppose," Shego replied. "Busy night?"
"Something like that," Lauren answered. "Luckily you're the last call on my shift."
"Luckily?" Shego asked.
"Well yeah," the other girl said suddenly becoming nervous. "I was wondering if you were busy…"
Shego nearly deadpanned, she could hear Jacobs light whine from inside the hotel room, and knew she was in trouble.
"Actually I'm not busy," Shego answered with a shrug. "Jacob and I were going to go for a long walk," she replied, putting emphasis on the long. "Give me a second."
"I'll meet you in the lobby." Lauren replied.
Jacob tilted his head at her as she closed the door and set the pizza down near Jacob's pillow.
"Don't give me that look," She told him. "What am I supposed to do?"
He huffed.
"Some loyal companion you are." Shego muttered. "You're going."
Jacob whined.
"You know, just in case we run into…her." Shego said quietly. Jacob stopped his whining and waited by the door until Shego was ready.
She grabbed her shoes and threw on a coat. She leashed Jacob and walked down the hall to the stairway. Shego hated elevators; they were cramped and for lazy people. She patted Jacob's head and just as she opened the stairway door, the elevator next to it dinged.
"Fuck," She cursed in her head as she looked up and came face-to-face with the last person she wanted to see, surprisingly… her girlfriend.
"Samantha," the accented voice drawled as its owner stepped off the elevator.
Dark golden brown eyes stared into Shego's jade green ones.
"Neelam," she replied back.
Jacob barked. Apparently no one thought about him.
"I'll deal with you when you come back with the mutt," she said menacingly, bumping past the raven-haired girl.
Jacob growled lowly. He didn't like the way Neelam looked at his master and he didn't appreciate her calling him a mutt.
"He isn't a mutt." she defended.
"Whatever," was the reply Shego got.
Shego calmed Jacob and they jogged down the stairway.
Stepping out into the almost deserted lobby she spotted Lauren laughing and talking with one of the hotel staff she knew very well.
"And here comes Trouble," the older woman teased as she saw Shego and Jacob approach.
"Joy," Shego said in greeting. "Don't you have this thing regular people call a 'job'"
"Don't get sarcastic with me, young lady," Joy said. "I'm old enough to be your mother."
"And my grandmother," Shego quipped.
"Hey now," Joy laughed. "Are you three off to vandalize the neighborhood?"
"You better know it," Lauren said with a grin.
The two girls bid Joy farewell and left the hotel.
They walked in silence for a while watching Jacob as he sniffed various areas.
"You're still with her," Lauren remarked.
Shego nodded.
"I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not but yes."
"It's not a good thing," the other girl said.
Shego shrugged.
"Let's not talk about her." Shego said.
Lauren nodded.
"Are you going to winter formal?" she asked. "I heard we're having it with Middleton High."
"You've got to be joking…" Shego sighed.
"Nope, that's rumor anyway." Lauren said.
"No, I'm sure I'll be working that night." Shego responded.
"Well that's boring," the other girl said. "Don't you do anything besides work all the time?"
"I like working all the time, thank you."
Lauren laughed. "If my girlfriend was Neelam, I'd want to work all the time too."
"Lauren," Shego warned.
"My bad," Lauren grinned.
The two laughed and talked until Jacob had done his business and they made it full circle and were back in front of the hotel.
"Well, if you decide to go," Lauren said.
"You'll be the second to know," Shego said.
Lauren nodded and waved a goodbye.
When Shego and Jacob made it back up to the room, they quietly entered and Jake went right over to his pillow and lay down.
"Don't even think about that pizza old man," Shego warned him.
"Samantha," Neelam called from the small study the two shared.
Shego sighed, slipping her hands into her pockets and answering her call.
"What?" she answered, leaning against the doorway.
"Come here," Neelam said, without looking at the younger girl. She pointed to a spot on the floor next to her.
When Shego slowly came forward, Neelam turned toward her and pursed her lips lightly.
"How was your walk?" she said, raising her hand and trailing her it down Shego's tight stomach.
"Fine," the younger woman answered.
"and Lauren?" Neelam asked.
"Same ole," Shego shrugged.
"Mhmm…" The older woman stood using her left hand to push back the hair that had become loose away from Shego's face. "What happened to dinner?"
"I worked late," she answered.
The two lips that met her own were soft but dominant and Shego didn't fight them, instead she let them win, allowing their owner to deepen the kiss whenever she pleased. Neelam pulled back.
"Be a good girl and don't let me come from work to an empty home again…"
Shego nodded and all the nervous anticipation she'd been ignoring the last few minutes disappeared as Neelam's lips covered hers and she felt the older woman's body pressed against her own.
