Disclaimer: Kim Possible is the property of Disney. I do not own any of the characters or any other part of the show.
A/N: I had wanted to start on a sequel for Intensity Match, but my muse hit me with a ruler and said to do this one instead. I said I wanted to do the other story first and she hit me harder. I am in an abusive relationship. Please, help me….
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Ron Stoppable found his girlfriend sitting in their old tree house. The world saving Kim Possible had been missing most of the day. Normally that wasn't cause for concern, but Ron knew she had been searching for her arch-nemesis Shego.
"Hey, KP," he said poking his head through the floor access. "How is my most bon-diggity girlfriend doing?"
Kim smiled weakly. "I'm ok, Ron."
The blonde boy climbed the rest of the way into the tree house. "Piece of advice, Kim. When you are trying to convince someone you are fine, try for a happier tone." Sitting down next to her he pulled her close and held her tight. He could sense something big had happened that Kim was having serious trouble dealing with.
"Do you want to talk about it?" he offered.
"Yeah, but she wouldn't appreciate it," Kim replied.
"Are we talking about Shego here?" Ron asked. "Did you find her?"
"Finding her was actually the easy part." Kim sighed.
"Look, KP," said Ron. "You can tell me to get it off your chest. I swear I won't tell a soul, even if Shego kicks my ass I won't say a word."
Kim smiled a real smile of gratitude. "It started when I got a call from Wade."
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Earlier that morning:
Kim once again checked the address Wade had given her. She found herself standing outside a small apartment complex in Lowerton. It was made up of a pair of small two story brick buildings that shared a small courtyard of dead grass.
Wade had taken weeks of tracking to find this place. Through knowledge of several of the green thief's aliases the hacker had come across utility bills for this place. Kim was starting to think that this was just a red herring or at best a place Shego had her mail delivered.
There was only one-way to be sure. Apartment A7 was located on the bottom floor of thee southern building. Inside the filthy hallway was lined with a dozen doors, none of which matched. When Kim reached up to know on the door a gunshot startled her into a crouch. The sound hand come from outside. She had battled a lot of madmen so far in her career as a crime fighter and faced more then her share of danger, but this place was creeping her out big time.
After regaining her composure and allowing her heart rate to return to a more reasonable rate she knocked. She waited for a moment, but no one came to the door. Kim was starting to think her first hunch was correct. 'One more try, them I am getting out of here.' Kim knocked again. This time she heard a muffled reply. "Come in."
Cautiously she opened the door and peered in. Her first impression was that the apartment matched the surrounding complex, in that it was small and dirty. On her left was a small kitchen with ugly brown countertops from the seventies. The stove was more like a matching set of hot plates then a real stove. Opening the door a little more she glanced to the right. A short hall led to the bedroom and bathroom. 'So far no traps.' Straight ahead was the living room. She could see a small television perched on a TV tray. Kim couldn't see the rest of the seating of the room hidden around the corner.
"Thank you for getting my mail again, Mrs. Cullen," Kim heard Shego say.
The redhead stepped forward and looked around the corner. Shego was stretched out on a faded recliner. The woman was dressed in a simple gray jogging suit.
When the villainess caught sight of her visitor Kim was shocked by the intensity of the rage directed at her. "How dare you, Possible," she screamed. "Get out!"
A series of plasma blasts forced her to perform a flip into the bathroom. She slipped, but caught herself on a handrail in the wall next to the toilet. Kim crouched in a defensive stance and waited. She continued to wait.
When nothing came Kim listened carefully. She could hear sounds in the living room. Shego was struggling to move something. There was some cursing and a few banking noises.
"Get out of my bathroom, Kim," came Shego's hate filled voice. "Get out of my home."
Kim edged to the door and peeked out. Shego was still stretched out in the recliner. Her hands were lit and Kim could honestly say she had never seen the older woman look so angry.
Why hadn't Shego gotten up? The young heroine scanned the room for traps. Something caught her eye. What appeared to be a collapsible wheelchair was haphazardly jammed behind the old recliner Shego was sitting in.
Kim stepped back into the bathroom and tried to replay her original entrance in her mind. Yes, she remembered it. The wheelchair had been next to the recliner when Kim had first walked in. Now it had been hidden. Why would Shego have a wheelchair, let alone try hiding it? Unless…
"I'm sorry, Shego," Kim said from her hiding place. "It's just that when someone disappears for eight months you start to worry."
"Worry about your friends, Kim," Shego said. "Just be grateful I'm not out wrecking Middleton and leave me ALONE."
"We may not be close friends, but we have been allies on several occasions," Kim said. 'Keep her talking so you can think, Kim.'
"So not in the mood, Kimmie," the thief replied.
'Good a pet name, she might be coming around.' "I just want to talk," the redhead said.
"If you don't leave, I am going to come in there and kick you ass."
"Honestly Shego," said Kim. "I'm getting the impression you can't."
There was a five second pause before a large plasma blast burned through the wall and exploded in the tub three feet from Kim. "OUT!!!" Shego roared.
Kim made a mad dash for the door, slamming it behind her. She dove down the hall in anticipation of an explosion that never came. Kim waited again, but nothing came. She stood up and started to brush the tile fragments from her clothes and hair.
A new sound met her ears. Kim tiptoed back to the door and pressed her ear against the warped wood. Was that Shego crying?
Kim realized that going back in now would be a huge mistake. She would have to find answers elsewhere. Jogging back to her car she pulled out her Kimmunicator.
"Hey Wade," she said. "I need you to locate Drakken's current lair."
"Dr. Drakken?" asked the genius. "Haven't heard from him in a while. Not since he tried that heist without Shego." Kim listened as Wade did his search. "Got it. Drakken's new base is in a warehouse about ten miles from your current location. I'll send you the coordinates."
"Thanks, Wade," Kim replied.
Twenty minutes later Kim was standing in from of an unassuming door leading into what seemed an abandoned warehouse. On the wall was a small speaker box with two buttons, one labeled bell and one labeled talk. Kim pressed the bell button and tried to ignore the camera mounted above the door.
The small speaker came to life. "I'm out on bail legally, Miss Possible. I am not up to anything and you are trespassing. Leave now, please," said Drakken.
"I'm not here to bust you," she said. "I need to talk to you about Shego." After a moment she added, "Please."
"I don't know where she is," he replied.
"I know where she is," Kim said. "What I need to know why."
The door swung open abruptly. A wild-eyed Drakken grabbed Kim by the shoulders. "Where is she?" he ordered. Concern was painted across his face. "Tell me, Possible." The man shook her.
Kim pulled out the slip of paper with the address. The blue man snatched it away. "Good," he said. "Now stay away from her. Do not go there."
"Too late, Dr. D," she replied. "Now why is Shego in a wheelchair? If I don't start getting answers I will rethink the part about not busting you."
Drakken closed his eyes and hung his head. The man sighed deeply. "She never wanted you to see her like that. That is why she disappeared. Wouldn't even tell me where she went for fear you would get it out of me."
"Me," Kim pointed to herself. "She was worried about me seeing her?" She was stunned.
"When it comes to you, Kim, Shego has…. Issues," he said.
Kim decided not to pursue what the 'issues' were in light of Drakken's tone. "How did it happen?" she asked instead.
He nodded as if that was exactly what he expected her to say. The mad scientist motioned for Kim to follow him. Despite her better judgment she did so.
Drakken led the way through a maze of labs to a small kitchen. After seeing Kim seated he grabbed a pair of mugs and poured some of his favorite coco-moo. When they were both settled he told her the story.
It had happened about a month after Kim's graduation. Drakken had found out that she would be out of town looking at colleges. It was the perfect time to make an attempt on a nearby robotics lab. Everything had gone smooth at first. Using standard tactics they had blown a hole in the roof and came in via a hover car.
Shego and himself had almost finished loading all he needed when Global Justice arrived. It was nothing that could stop them. Shego had easily kept the agents at bay while Drakken had finished loading the car.
They had taken of and were a block away and a hundred feet off the ground when one of the agents got in a lucky shot on the hover car's propulsion drive.
The small explosion had been enough to push a standing Shego out. She had slammed into the wall of a building along the alleyway they had turned down. Drakken had watched as his partner had fallen straight to the ground far below.
Kim noted the way Dr. Drakken trembled as he described watching Shego's fall. The blue man took a few sips from his cup before continuing.
He had managed a crash landing on a nearby street. Ditching the ill-gotten goods he returned to where Shego had landed. She was unconscious and bleeding. He could hear GJ agents closing in. Unable to think of a better plan he had hidden his partner in a pile of boxes and went in search of a car. It took what seemed to him like an eternity to find a car and out wait the search for them, but eventually he was able to retrieve Shego and take her to a private clinic where he knew there would be no questions.
Shego had survived, but either the collision with the wall or the ground had shattered two vertebrae in her lower back.
"W-will she ever walk again?" Kim's voice faltered as she asked.
Drakken did the most unexpected thing. He reached out and took her hand from across the table. "This is Shego we are talking about. Between her comet powers and shear stubbornness, I know that if anyone could recover, it is that woman."
"I should go try to talk to her," Kim said.
"No, you shouldn't," he replied.
"You haven't seen where she is hiding," she said louder then she meant to. "Shego needs someone."
"You have my word she won't spend another night there," said Drakken.
Kim looked him in the eye and believed him. She remembered hearing the madman call Shego family before. "Could you at least call me from time to time and tell me how she is doing?" she asked.
Drakken promised to do so before escorting Kim out of his lair.
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Back in the tree house:
"Do you think he'll actually call?" asked Ron.
"As long as Shego doesn't find out." Kim stared at the wall for a moment. "It could just as easily have happened to one of us, Ron." She put her head on his chest and sighed for what seemed the thousandth time.
Ron gently started to stroke her hair to relax the redhead. "We have always known that, KP."
"It just seems so much more real now," she replied.
"I really don't think that is the reason you're so upset. Are you sure it isn't more about the fact it is Shego?" Ron thought back to how Kim had referred to Shego as being like a big sister during the whole Electronique incident.
"I-I don't know," she replied.
"Just think on it, okay?" he said. Kim nodded into his chest. Ron continued to hold onto his girlfriend for a long time until she started to return to normal. He offered to walk her home and she accepted.
Ron gave her a kiss goodbye before returning to his own home. After telling his parents he was home, Ron went up to his room and locked the door. He pulled out his Kimmunicator and removed the battery to insure his privacy. From under his mattress he produced a disposable cell phone. He dialed a number from memory and waited.
"Hello," came a voice.
"It's me, " Ron said.
"Buffoon?"
Ron shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "It is just the two of us talking, Drak."
"Sorry, Ronald," replied the blue man. "Force of habit."
"I just had a long talk with Kim," led Ron. "Why didn't you tell me what happened?"
"We may have our little project together, Mr. Stoppable, but Shego is family to me and I won't betray her trust for the sake of simple conversation," said Drakken.
"Fair enough," Ron replied. "Did you get her out of that apartment?"
"Yes, thank the gods. That place was worse then Miss Possible let on," said Drakken. "Shego is safe here in the lair now. Mad as a hornet, but safe. I just wish I understood her better. Why on earth would she stay there?"
"I don't know about that," said Ron. "But you should call Kim and let her know. Getting on her good side will be a benefit to the project."
"I agree," said Drakken. "I will call just as soon as Shego is asleep."
"Alright," said Ron. "Still on for our usual meeting on Wednesday?"
"Of course," replied Drakken.
"See ya then, partner," said Ron.