The dirty once-blue van dropped her off amidst a row of sun-dried thatched roof shops nestled among the coconut trees that dotted the idyllic beachside village, before trundling away on its barely alive diesel engine. Leaving her behind in a cloud of red dust and black exhaust, it quickly disappeared around the corner and soon the only source of noise was merely an echo away.
She reached up and brushed away a few strands of red hair that had gotten in her dust-caked face, and glanced around her new surroundings. She patted her hands on her khakis twice to shake herself free of the billowy dust that could have only accumulated through weeks of unwashed care. Shrugging, she slung her ragged backpack over her shoulder, and walked in the direction of what looked like the only shop opened in this part of the world that seem to lazily come to a standstill.
From the road, she glanced into the dilapidated shack. For the lack of a better word, in her mind, it would be better described as something of a shed. But inside the dark, cool recesses of the shed, she could clearly make out a few personal belongings, a rolled-up mattress, a battered FM radio and a couple of empty boxes of cigarettes tossed haphazardly around. She glanced around for some sign of the occupant but to her chagrin, it looks like no one was home. While there were clearly neat rows of canned food and other random packets of snacks lined up in the storefront, she found it almost incredulous that anyone would leave their goods unattended.
Frustrated, she stepped under the eaves of the shack, out of the hot mid-afternoon sun and felt a cool sensation wash over her. The air itself smelt different under the shade, and she didn't feel as hot and bothered anymore. But she was here for answers, and this was no time to relax, after all she was so close.
"Hello?" She yelled out to anyone, hoping that some soul would come to her aid. "Anyone here?"
She peered around side of the shack, looking for someone, before she felt a presence behind her. Years of well-honed instincts made her jump back a couple of paces, before she came face to face with a wizened dark-skinned old man dressed in a loose flannel shirt and tattered Bermudas.
"Whatcha want, suga'?" He asked her, with a wry grin that revealed rows of blackened teeth. "Don't see many travelers in these parts. You lost or something?"
"No," she recovered quickly, as she relaxed her limbs. "I'm here looking for someone."
"Suga', everyone's always looking for someone," he grinned at her, as he walked next to his table of goods, and pulled out a chair from under the table. "Now, if you come this far looking for someone, he must be pretty special."
"Yes, he is," she nodded quickly. Her fingers quickly scrabbled at her hip pouch and drew back the zipper sharply and pulled out a photo. "Have you seen this man?"
"Lemme see here, suga'," the old man reached out a dirty paw and lifted the photo up. He squinted his eyes and stared down the bridge of his nose as he examined the two people in the photo. After a moment of studying the picture, he exclaimed, "Oh… This man… He's been around!"
"Really?" The woman's voice asked quickly in surprise. "Where is he?"
"Ah suga'…" the old man shook his head sadly. "You missed him… He's gone…"
"Where's he gone?" The woman asked quickly. "How long ago?"
"He's gone to see the old sea witch who takes care of these waters round here," the old man waved a hand towards row of coconut trees which marked the beach a little ways off from the shop. "Only about two weeks ago… Sad really… So sad…"
"What do you mean?" She asked in a panicked voice. "Sea witch?"
"Ah, you know, she who brings the waves? Calypso who bewitches men and drowns them in her embrace…" the old man went on wistfully. "Not a bad way to go, if I do say so myself… In her sweet bosom and embrace…"
"Wait, Ron's dead?" the woman suddenly felt a little light-headed.
"Dead… Dead… Gone with the waves," the old man waved his hand lazily. "Sad to hear it though… He was a nice man… Always with a charming smile… Hey, hey now… Don't go faint on me, hear suga'? Doctor's an hour away…" He quickly pulled out another stool from under the table and offered her a seat which she wordlessly accepted. As she sat down, he placed the photo on the table and slid it across next to her. "Yeah… Pity though… I liked that man."
The woman struggled to maintain her poise for a moment, quickly blinking away a little tear, and a sole word escaping from her lips. "Why?"
"Now why, I can't tell you," the old man swelled up a little with importance as he took in a deep breath. "But how and when, I can. I do think he must have been tired of that witch he's been living with, that he preferred Calypso to her…"
"Witch? Does she look like this?" The woman asked quickly, as she reached into her hip pouch again and drew out a crumpled piece of paper.
"Ah… I do reckon that's her…" the old man nodded. "Cept she didn't look nearly half this good. She's a mean one that witch, her green skin didn't help one bit at all… You know, Wizard of Oz and all that," he nodded slowly as he spoke.
"What happened?" She finally asked as she pondered for a moment on the information.
"I suppose I could start from the beginning," the old man began with a wry grin. "It's rare to have a listening ear round these here, so humor a man who has seen too many years, and no one to share them with."
"I would definitely like to know," the red-head nodded.
"Good," the old man clapped his hands together and rubbed them. He reached over to the table and pulled out two cans of soda. "Here suga', this one's on the house, but you're buying the next two rounds, kay?"
Without a word, she dug into her hip pouch again and pulled out a ten-dollar bill.
As quickly as she took it out, the money quickly disappeared into the folds of his clothes, never to see daylight again, as he smiled at the woman and began speaking, "You know, it was about three years ago when this young man showed up here in the middle of the night. Asked for food and drink from me… I remember exactly what he took, a packet of dried biscuits, some nuts and a can of fruit. That's all he could ask for… Poor guy, not a cent on him. I couldn't see a fine young man like him beg… And I gave it to him…"
"He didn't have any money on him?" The woman asked in surprise.
"Nope, none at all…" the old man shook his head. "But he was a good man, good man I tell ya, reminds me of my youth. Coz next day, I found twenty coconuts on my doorstep. Must have went out there in the dark and got 'em for me before the sun came up. Now, coconuts here are free, just walk by the beach and you can almost pick up the ones that drop. But these… That man knew how to get the best youngest coconuts with the sweetest milk."
"So he paid you with coconuts?" She asked him.
"Oh, that was at first…" the old man continued. "First it was coconuts, and then one day, I found three fish hanging outside my door… Freshly caught too… I was kinda feeling bad then, that young man had overpaid me, I sort of knew he had nothing to begin with, so that night, I left two cans of fruit out there for him."
"That sounds like Ron," the woman responded with a sad smile.
"Told you he was a fine young man," he said. "Now, some time later, he showed up, asking for corn seeds. Again, he had nothing for me… But I liked the man, so I gave it to him anyway. Ever since then, every two months, I see this basket of corn sitting for me right outside my front door. That man… He doesn't know he's paid me too much, and every time I do catch him outside my door, I make him take something, some flour, some bread. He'd always politely refuse, but I insist anyway."
The woman nodded, urging the man to continue his story.
"That's how it was at the start," the old man continued, after taking a sip of his soda. "One day, you should have seen the grin on his face… He brought me this net of fish! Eight or nine of them… In exchange for two small chickens I got at the back… You could have swore he just won the lottery with that look on his face… Instead there he was, proudly carrying these two chickens back to wherever he lives. And they were small too, the runts of the litter, one cock and one hen… But to him… They could have laid golden eggs…"
"So he was doing well here?" The woman asked.
"Uh huh, very well…" the old man said proudly. "Told you he was a fine man, you could see it too, when he first came, he was not much of a wee fellow, but now you could at least see the red in his cheeks. Ah he's quite a fine fellow. Much unlike that sour witch with him."
"What about that woman with him?" The woman's voice suddenly had an edge to it.
"Oh… She… She was a lot of trouble… Thank god I hardly ever saw her… The first time I ever laid my eyes on her…" The old man shook his head sadly. "Quite the beaut, but no thanks… Reminds me too much of my first wife, if you know what I mean."
"Was she in a wheelchair?" The woman asked.
"Uh huh…" The old man nodded as he thought back. "She sat sullenly there, glaring at him with her green eyes. He thought he'd bring her here for a walk… Guess she doesn't like walks much. Almost woke everyone here, all twelve of us, with her loud screams and she was a vicious one too."
"What do you mean vicious? What did Ron do?"
"He took it… He took whatever she threw at his face… Mean words, harsh curses… Much more than I could ever stand from my first wife," the old man nodded again as he took another long drink. "He took it all… Smiled through and through even though she spat right at his face, kept on smiling… Though he looked a little sad… That's when I first saw it… I meant, I thought it was from cuts from the jungle, but that day, I saw her reached out and scratched his arm as hard as she could… Drew blood too…"
"What?" the woman exclaimed in outrage. "Why that bitch!"
"My thoughts too… I would never hit a woman, but if she ever did that to me…" he shook his head and clicked his tongue. "But he just took it… The pain was clear in his eyes, but he just smiled sadly at her and took her home."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that," the old man repeated with a clear nod. "I started noticing other things too, scratches on his arms, his face, sometimes he would have this huge bruise right here," the old man pointed to the side of his face. "Said he fell down, but we all knew better."
"So it's been like that the whole time?"
"Uh huh… The whole time," the old man replied sadly. "Three years, he lived with her… That's why he probably went off and drowned himself in the end…"
"Not Ron," the woman voiced her thoughts vehemently.
"Ah suga', three years, people change… He must have been special stuff to live with that witch for so long," the old man said.
"So did you ever see that witch again?" the aggressive inflection of her voice was not lost on the old man.
"Couple more times," the old man said slowly. "This young man, well… One night he was sick, and he sort of made it to my doorstep asking for food again. Night was raining and it was cold, found him hammering on my door asking for medicine. I took him in, wanted to make him stay the night, but he would have none of that. Said she needed him, and like it or not, I followed him home so that I don't have a dead man on my doorstep."
"What was she doing all this time?" The woman found herself growling softly at the back of her throat.
"She was there alright… When she saw him, only thing she said was she's hungry," the old man said sadly. "Sat right there, waited for him, and there he was cold and everything, and he went out again to get some dry firewood, to warm some food up for her. But that, that was the only time I didn't see her screaming or shouting or throwing something at him. Only time," he shook his head as he thought about it.
"Then how did he…" the woman gulped as she tried to bring herself to say the word. "Die?"
"The way I figured it, one night he had enough and walked out on her and found himself some pretty lass in the big city," the old man let out a little laugh as he spoke. "But he would usually leave something for me on the door every week, and when I didn't get anything last week, I thought to go pay him a visit, in case that witch finally killed my best customer or something."
"What happened next?" the woman asked, as she leaned forward.
"I found her, twice as scrawny, twice as dirty," the old man spoke. "Just a few days ago… I saw her yes… Maybe she was crying, maybe she wasn't… I wouldn't be surprised, that witch has no heart, I swear it… But she said he upped and left in the night. Went to check on the nets, she said, but never came back. I wouldn't blame him if he turned tail and ran like 'em bones were after him."
"Did he really die?" The woman asked again.
"Hey, don't take my word for it," the old man replied haughtily. "You can go ask that mean witch yourself. Hear she isn't talking to anyone, but I do go by every few days or so, to leave her a little food, for the sake of that young man. I do feel sad for her too… But the way she treated that nice man… It's hard to say, she's got no one with her left, and she probably won't make it past the month, the way she is…"
"Why?" The woman asked again.
"She's in a wheelchair!" The old man declared as though it was the most obvious thing. "She can't help herself… She needed that young man to cook and bathe her… I always asked myself, why would she ever do such a thing like that to someone else who had never treated her anything but nice? Seems like she's finally gotten what she deserves, but even that is sad…"
The woman closed her eyes for a moment, as she bit her lower lip. Finally she spoke up, "Could you tell me where she lives?"
"Eh, just that way…" He pointed behind the shop. "Fifteen minutes, you'll see this little patch of corn… Or used to be this patch of corn… Then you know you're near, and you can't miss it."
"Uh huh, thanks then," she got up to leave.
"Hey suga', mind if I ask? Who are you?" The old man questioned her.
With a polite smile, she replied, "A friend." With that she quickly walked off in the direction he pointed out to her.
"Uh huh… Well, if I had a friend like you, I wouldn't marry that witch," the old man muttered under his breath, as he took a final gulp of his soda. He closed his eyes as he enjoyed the cool afternoon breeze that wafted his way. "Young man, wherever you are, I hope you got it good…"
She walked briskly according to the directions the old man had given her. Around her, all signs of human habitation had disappeared, but she continued walking under the hot afternoon sun. She'd passed by the abandoned cornfield that the old man had mentioned, but found no sign of the house. She wandered on a little more before she caught sight of the dilapidated place.
It was barely anything; four walls, thatched roof, and a look like it couldn't withstand a heavy gust. With a heavy heart and a loud sigh, she walked closer, noticing that in the two weeks of his absence, things had fallen apart. The chicken coop next to the house had a yawning gap, and was sadly empty. New weeds had started to grow rampantly over the muddy front, and the stack of firewood by the door had already dwindled down to a few logs.
"Ron," she whispered with a sad voice. "How have you lived all these years?"
She walked up to the front door, ignoring the squishy sounds her sneakers made in the mud. Taking one last look around, she rapped her knuckles sharply on the makeshift door made out of hastily nailed together pieces of wood.
An all-too familiar voice rasped out in anger, "Get the hell out of here!"
She sucked her breath in at the sound, and took a moment to steel herself before pushing the door open. She found that it was unlatched and it swung open to a sight with she thought she'd never see.
Two pair of dull green eyes glared back at her own, a frail thin figure sitting in the chair, and a look that could easily burn right through her. The woman was sitting in a rusted wheelchair, caught in the act of leaning over, reaching out with one pasty pale arm that was barely anything more than a stick, trying to pick up a bowl of split slop that she'd dropped on the floor. Her long black hair had long lost its sheen and was matted and dirty. Wearing nothing but grimy rags around her body, she clutched desperately to the soiled shreds of cloth with her pale hand protectively. Through clenched teeth, she hissed one word sharply with a bitter taste in her mouth:
"Princess."
"Shego."
Kim had played through this scenario a million times in her head; she'd often wondered what she'd do to the woman who'd taken Ron away from her. Sometimes she would just swoop in, and give that damned bitch a slap and leave together with Ron and live happily ever after. Other times she became more graphic as she imagined squeezing those green orbs with her two fists, as she has the satisfaction of hearing that woman scream in anguish and pain. Then there were times she wished that woman would just burn, burn in hell, doused in the fuel of her own jealousy, and burn some more. It all never did seem enough to make up for the loss in her heart, that Ron had left one day without warning, and it all fell apart. She'd often imagined what she'd do when she finally met Shego.
None of those graphic scenarios came true. Beholding the withered human being in front of her, whom she had wanted to exact her vengeance on just a few moments ago, she quickly felt pangs of regret. Swallowing a huge lump in her throat, she stepped into the dilapidated shack, and under the withering baleful look of pure hatred from the occupant, she bent down and picked up the bowl and handed it to her.
The filthy woman watched her warily, stared at the outstretched hand holding the bowl out to her, before glaring back at those deep green orbs. Feeling lost and pitied, she snapped with a loud scream as she slapped away the proffered bowl with a vicious backhand, and shouted obscenities at Kim. "What the fucking hell are you doing here, Princess? Get the fuck out of here!"
Quickly snapping her hand back, Kim gazed down at the broken woman with a mix of sadness and disgust. She wanted to walk out of here, wanted to continue her search for Ron, wanted to leave the evil witch behind like how she'd always imagined in her dreams, yet something drew her to this wounded creature. With a soft voice she asked, "How are you, Shego?"
The older woman gave a snort and spat on the ground near Kim's feet, before cursing some more, "There! There's your answer! Now you must be happy, seeing me like this! Go! Get out of here and tell all your friends! Shego's a pathetic crazy old decrepit woman now! You won! Happy now?"
Kim closed her eyes and thought for a moment, while ignoring her tirade. After Shego had calmed down through her labored breathing, the red-head asked, "Where's Ron?"
"That no good buffoon of a loser finally ran away!" Shego spat out nastily. "Left me one night, bullshit checking on the nets my ass, should have been halfway back to you right now and fucking your brains out… That stupid asshole think he's so fuc-"
Her tirade was cut short suddenly by a hard stinging slap delivered across her face; Kim couldn't bear to hear the words coming out of her mouth. With her palm still throbbing from the pain, she looked at the stunned woman who glared at her with vile hatred.
Suddenly, summoning all the strength left in her, she pushed her hands against the wheelchair and clumsily lunged at Kim, with her hands outstretched trying to claw out the red-head's eyes. Her clumsy attack was easily sidestepped by Kim, and she fell to the ground with a cry of pain and fell silent.
Fearing some sort of trick, Kim watched the prone figure for a moment, before realizing that she was out cold. Quickly, crouching down on one knee, she brushed back the hair of the older woman, and gingerly felt her forehead. She hissed in surprise as she felt that the older woman was suffering from a really high fever. She reached under the woman's arms and scooped her up, and to her surprise, Kim found that she was very light. At her prime, Shego was easily six inches taller than her, and had the muscles of a well-toned body that were least much heavier than her own hundred and five pound frame. The body in her arms felt way less than that, as she gingerly placed the unconscious woman on the raised platform, which she suspected must have been their bed.
She turned on her Kimmunicator, and almost instantly, that familiar ring tone sounded. With a sigh, she pressed the big red button to receive the call. Instantly, Wade's face appeared on-screen looking crossed but worried.
"Where have you been, Kim?" Wade demanded immediately. "You suddenly went AWOL a week ago, and your parents, professors and Dr. Director have been banging down my door asking me of your whereabouts…"
"Listen, Wade, I'm sorry but I had to…"
Wade fell silent as he looked at her weary face. "At least, next time, keep me in the loop, okay?"
"Sure thing…"
"So…" Wade took a deep breath. "Did you find Ron?"
"No."
"I'm sorry, I guess that was a false lead."
"Not entirely…" Kim shook her head as she glanced over at the frail woman sleeping in the corner of the room. "I found her."
"Okay, let me inform GJ and send a team your way. I know you can handle her, but please wait for backup this time…"
"Cancel that call, Wade," Kim shook her head grimly. "She's no longer a threat…" Without another word, she swung her Kimmunicator towards the prone woman.
Wade's eyes squinted at the screen before he realized what he was looking at. "No way!" he exclaimed. "She looks like a refugee…"
"She is a refugee, Wade," Kim spoke softly. "She's been hiding out here with Ron for the past three years. From what I can tell, she's a paraplegic, and poses no immediate danger. Could you quickly do a health scan on her, and tell me whether she's healthy enough for me to hit her?"
"Heh…" Wade's smile faded as he could tell that Kim wasn't joking. "Right away, just direct the Kimminutator that way, and get me a blood sample."
Kim knelt down next to Shego as the Kimmunicator did a full-body scan. She gently lifted Shego's hand and took out a nasty-looking serrated life, and for a moment, considered just slitting the unconscious woman's throat. That way, Wade would have plenty of blood for his test… Shakng her head, she took a deep breath to steady her thoughts, before pricking the tip of Shego's forefinger. Dark red blood slowly oozed, and Kim gently dabbed the drop of blood on the specially designed tray that extended from her Kimmunicator. Sliding the tray back in, she sat back and took a second look at the woman before letting out a sigh.
Quickly glancing around the room, she found a few tools and utensils, scrounged up from god knows where, a couple of hollowed out coconut husks and a few rags. With a sigh, she glanced around to look for a tap or source of water, but found none. She picked up a makeshift bowl and went around outside the house, and to her disgust, found a barrel filled with collected rainwater. Wishing that she had something better, she filled the bowl and went back into the shack. Soaking a rag with the water, she slowly wiped the grim and sweat off the quivering sickly woman.
The features were clearly there, this was still Shego, but it had seemed that she had aged twenty years instead of only three. New fine wrinkles had formed around her eyes, and her skin was no longer firm. Glancing down at her fingers, Kim was shocked to see that her nails were broken to the point where she had bled. Grabbing her hand, and examining closely, she could see that they were in various stages of healing.
Shego had always been proud of her nails, with her endless filing and manicuring.
Using the damp rag, Kim tried to wipe away as much dirt as possible from both her hands. Satisfied that she had done the best she could for the woman, she emptied the bowl of filthy water outside the front door.
She grabbed one of the three remaining pieces of firewood and walked over to the stove which was smoldering in the corner of the shack. Using the firewood to gently poke the burning embers, she placed it over the ashes and hoped that it would be enough to get a fire going. Then she picked up a battered iron kettle and walked outside to the barrel of rainwater, and filled it up before returning to the house and placing the kettle on the burning embers.
Finally, she went to sit next to the sickly woman, and dipped into her hip pouch for a pair of aspirin tablets. Rummaging around her backpack for a bottle of water, she gingerly lifted the woman's head with one hand, prying her lips open to pop in the two pills and lifted the bottle of water to her lips. Somehow, Shego had managed to swallow the pills, and Kim quickly grabbed a rag to wipe away the trickle of water that had escaped the side of her lips.
As she laid the unconscious woman down on the platform again, she glanced around wonderingly, if this was the place her best friend had called home for the last three years. Feeling a rising tear to her eyes, she blinked hard, wishing that she had been here for him after all. Somehow. She closed her eyes and tried her best not to cry, when she heard a soft voice call out, "Ron!"
Startled, Kim sat up and glanced at the other occupant in the room. Somehow, even through her fever, the pale woman was calling out for him. Staring down with pity in her eyes, there were just too many questions swimming in her head. Somewhere down there, she wished that in the very least, the sick woman would get well enough to tell her what had happened to Ron. After all, he's the only one that matters.
The familiar tone of her Kimmunicator interrupted her thoughts. "Go Wade," she said tonelessly.
"Her immune system is compromised. She's got a tropical viral infection, which should be treatable at any hospital," Wade reported with a furrowed brow. "But I don't get it… Her comet powers are supposed to keep her in the perfect shape of health. It could be due to the malnourishment; that may explain her weakened state, but then again, according to our previous data, her regenerative ability should reattach her nervous system, and she should be walking… Kim… Maybe she really did lose her comet powers… I mean, Ron could…"
"No…" Kim cut him off. "We don't know for sure whether she really did lost her comet powers. She could be faking…"
"We won't know until we do further tests on her."
"Whatever." Kim looked grim. "Call GJ in. But give me a thirty-minute headstart first."
"Ah… Kim… You might not want to hit her…" Wade piped up.
Kim's glare could curdle the blood of the staunchest marine. "Why not?"
"She's pregnant."
Kim drew a sharp breath. "What?"
"Her bloodwork, elevated progesterone levels," Wade glanced over his data again. "I'm certain she's pregnant."
"It's not Ron's, is it?"
"Can't tell, we'll need a placental blood sample to determine paternity," Wade replied.
Kim looked again at the unconscious woman. "Well, it could be anyone's…" Kim replied grimly. "She's nothing but a boyfriend-stealing whore." She reached into her pouch and drew out a small medkit. Unbundling the soft pouch, she reached for a preloaded syringe.
"Kim… No adrenaline…" Wade said warningly. "That could kill the fetus."
"Wade, shut up," Kim snapped back.
"Kim… What if it's Ron's baby?"
"It couldn't be."
"Listen to me, Kim," Wade's voice became stern. "You're being reckless… Stop it. You remember what happened the last time?"
With a growl in her throat, Kim threw down the needle in her hand and bundled up the medkit in a hurry. Ignoring Wade's voice of reason, she reached over and pulled Shego up by the collar into a sitting position. The older woman was still unconscious, her head lolling backwards. "Shego, wake up!" Kim shouted in her face.
"Kim…"
"Shut up, Wade!" Kim growled again. "Turn off your cameras."
"Kim…" Before he could say another word, he saw Kim deliver a bone-jarring slap with her left hand across Shego's face causing him to wince.
"Shego!" Kim yelled again, as a small moan escaped Shego's dark lips. Her eyelids fluttered, but before she could open them, Kim slapped her again.
Shego gave a strangled cry, as she raised her frail hands to helplessly bat off her assailant. "Stop!" she wheezed breathlessly, as she struggled and thrashed in Kim's grip. "Stop!"
"Shego… Listen to me!" Kim ordered her as she shook the woman.
"Who…" Shego's lips curled into a snarl as she recognized that head of red hair. Her words came out in a breathless wheezing. "Princess… And here I was thinking that it was all just a bad dream."
"Where's Ron?"
"So this is how you get your kicks, huh?" Shego summoned strength from her bitterness, and she reached up to wipe a bit of drool from her lips with the back of her left hand. "Beating up cripples? Oh, how the mighty have…"
"Shut up, Shego, and just answer my question or else…"
"Or else you'll what?" Shego sneered back at her defiantly. "Break my spine? Oh wait, you already did that. Now what else would you like to break? My face? No, you've done that too. Arms, legs… You've broken every part of me that there's nothing left to break…"
Kim glared at her with silent hatred. Ignoring her words, she repeated her question, "Where is Ron?"
"I don't know."
Kim raised her left hand and slammed her open palm across Shego's face. "Maybe you know now…" Kim growled. "Where is Ron?"
Glaring murderously at the redhead, Shego howled, "I don't know, okay! He left me! That stupid good for nothing buffoon of a sidekick left me!"
"The old man in the village nearby said that he drowned…"
"Bullshit," Shego shook her head and raised her hands to her eyes. "He left me… Must have run off with some village girl… Gone to the city, start up a new life…"
"Shego…"
"I thought he went back to you… Left me here to rot…" Shego gave a hollow laugh. "About time he did… Useless son-of-a-bitch…"
Kim cut her off with another hard slap to her cheek. Yet, to the redhead's surprise, the blow didn't seem to faze her at all, and Shego just stared off aimlessly into space.
"He's got to be…" Shego mumbled to herself. "He just has to be…"
"Shego, where is he?"
"I don't know…"
"When was the last time you saw him?"
"Seventeen days ago…" Shego mumbled. "He went to check his lines... That's when he must have run off… Good for nothing…"
"So, is he dead or not? The man at the village said you told him that he was dead. But now you're telling me a whole different story." Kim shouted at her in frustration. "Tell me the truth!"
"He ran away, okay?" Shego snapped at her. "He'd better have…"
"Why do you say that?"
"Because if he didn't run away, it means that I've killed him!" Shego raised her voice angrily. "Don't you get it? He went out to get food for me because I was hungry! I made him go out that night! Even though it was raining and I could hear the waves crashing from here! I wanted… I wanted…" She choked out a sob.
A swell of anger rose inside her, and she tethered on the brink of an outburst of irrational anger. "You killed Ron!" she screamed accusingly. "After everything he has done for you, after everything he has given up for you! You are nothing short of a totally selfish and ungrateful bitch!" Kim raised her hand and dashed it across the woman's face again. She didn't let out as much as a whimper as her eyes held their dead stare. "How dare you do that to Ron?" Again she slapped him, trying to put the full brunt of the force in her arm. "And you took him away from everyone who cared, and you put him through hell, all because you are nothing but one sadistic beast!"
"Kim!" Wade's tinny voice pleaded over the speakers of her Kimmunicator. "Kim! Stop it, hitting her won't bring Ron back. She's too weak to defend herself! Stop it! It won't…"
Disgusted, Kim pulled away from the unresisting woman and stood up. Maybe if she had a heart, or at least a sense of survival, she could at least understand what Ron meant to her. With her back turned on to her, Kim asked bitterly, "Shego, I just got one last question for you. Whose is it?"
"What do you mean?" Shego replied sullenly, her cheeks burning red with the thrashing that Kim had laid out.
Kim let out a hollow laugh. "I guess you don't know who the father is after all," Kim sneered, as she wiped her red eyes. "You're such a slut…"
"Father?" Shego asked bewildered.
"You know what?" Kim threw up her hands. "I don't care. I just hope you and your new husband are happy, after what you did to Ron."
"It can't be…" Shego gasped as she realized Kim's words. With a trembling hand, she gently caressed her unswollen belly. "You mean…"
"You're pregnant," Wade's voice came over the Kimmunicator. "The blood work confirmed it."
"No…" Shego looked wide-eyed at her belly numbly. "I'm… Pregnant?" Her eyes seemed to have lost its glassy stare, as she gently ran her fingers over her stomach. "It can't be…"
"So who is the father?" Kim blurted out impatiently.
"It's Ron's…" Shego whispered with a shadow of a smile on her face. "Ron's baby… In me…"
Kim swore under her breath, as she regarded the woman balefully. She pursed her lips together as her mind was in a whirlwind. After all her best friend had been through, this would be the least that she could do for him. But only him. She raised her Kimmunicator and said, "Wade, get me a med evac jet out of here, ASAP. We're taking Shego with us." At her words, the older woman snapped her head up in attention and glared suspiciously at the redhead.
"Sure, should I also call the hospital ahead to let them know that…"
"Negative, Wade," Kim ordered. "No hospitals. No official records. Nothing. The flight records would just show me getting on the plane, and dropping me off at my apartment. No one else."
"What about Shego? You're not going to push her out of the plane, are you?"
"No, she's coming with me. Just off the books."
"No way!" Shego spat out. "What makes you think I'm going with you?"
"You don't have a choice," Kim replied coldly.
"Like hell."
"Listen to me, Shego," Kim hissed in anger, as she loomed dangerously over the crippled woman. The red-head reached into her waist-pouch and drew out a syringe. Uncapping it, she drew closer to Shego with an uncharacteristic sneer on her face. "You don't have a choice!"
Author's Notes
OMG! OMG! A KiGo! Really? Meh, it's just Kim and Shego. Arguing like always. Aww... Dammit, NoobFish didn't fall to the KiGo side. Or did he?
So I've been busy. Yeah... All those episodes of Family Guy never helped either. Also with Futurama coming back with a new season. I know I haven't written anything in a while, and to be honest, I haven't. I dove into my folders, found this story, and intend to make it work. Kriegsherr_wys's been really busy too, so I decided to try my luck solo. So this ought to be a little crude and weird. Sort of a different sort of story. Straight to the grown-up part, Ron's death, Shego crippled, Kim crazy. Hey, that's like so many other fanfics out there. Wait a minute...
I intend this to be a brief 3-4 chapter story. So yeah, if I got time I'll post some of my other stuffs. But yay, it's the long weekend, and yes, it feels good to be back.