A/N: This is the third story in the series started in In the Still of the Night. All characters still belong to Disney, and I hope everyone likes it. :)
Thorn in My Side
Shego flopped into the cozy chair she kept in her quarters, yawning as she did so. It had been a short night, even for her, and the lack of sleep was beginning to take its toll. She still wasn't quite sure why she had done what she did. It had seemed reasonable at the time; she had stupidly burned the pictures, she wanted to get them back, and only one other person had the other copy. But now it seemed silly and childish; she was never sentimental and tonight smacked of sentiment. It also bothered her that if someone knew what she had done tonight, they might think she was soft.
"So what?" a part of her mind demanded. "So what if some asshole you don't care about thinks you're soft? Besides, you can kick his or her ass if he or she continues to call you that."
True, Shego had to admit. So, maybe perceived softness wasn't the problem. She sighed and drew out the strip of photos she had stashed away on her person. The rest were well hidden, both here in the lair and in other places, but she had chosen a strip to keep with her. It was yet another snap decision she had made that was coming back to nag her. Why did she want to keep these photos with her? Why did they mean so much to her when nothing else in her life did?
"Because being her friend made you happy," the same annoyingly smug voice in her head informed her. "Even though you had to be good to do it, you enjoyed being her friend more than you like being evil."
Shego scowled. She knew herself too damn well and she was right; she had liked being Kim's friend enough that she hadn't minded being good. So much had she not minded, that she had even confessed as much to a sleeping Kim. Shego glared at the offending photos as if it were their fault.
"Well, now what?" she thought grumpily. She really hated life-altering decisions.
"Come, Shego!" Drakken bellowed from somewhere in the lair, putting her thoughts on hold. "We have work to do!"
Shego sighed. Another day, another harebrained scheme. Sometimes being a villain was damn tedious, she thought. Sighing again, she tucked the strip of photos back from whence they came and slowly got up from her chair.