Shego shivered in her thick parka, wrapping her arms around herself and huddling closer to the small fire. She tried her powers once more, hoping for a comforting green glow. She found herself foiled once again as pure exhaustion smothered her any chance she may have had at generating her own fire. She shivered again and scooted as close as she could get without putting out the fire. She cursed Draken for his foolish plans and stupid mistakes that always got them stranded out in the middle of nowhere with a plan for world domination.

It doesn't matter how remote his hideout or crafty his plan is anyway, Shego sneered to herself, "Kim Possible" will come and save the day. A regular superhero who apparently kept a close eye on Draken and his faulty schemes. Shego snarled quietly to herself at the thought of this fiery red-head who always kept a step ahead, no matter what Draken could do. It frustrated Shego even more when she found Kim catching up to Shego's skill. Though Kim would not be her equal for a long time due to Shego's experience, she was gaining in strength and finesse every time they met. The bruises she acquired now were blacker, the scratches a bit deeper, all signs that Kim Possible was doing the impossible yet again and getting past Shego's defenses. She liked toying with Kim, leading her on to new leaps and stretching Kim's limits. Shego wasn't sure she liked the idea of Kim being on even ground. She knew she wouldn't be able to stand the idea of Kim being possibly her better.

Shego jumped up, furious at herself for daring to sink that low. No! Shego yelled at herself, I am powerful, strong. graceful, and I am never going to be less than Kim. I'll always beat her! Even if she died trying, she'd always be a step ahead of Kim in the fighting game.

Shego looked around once again at her surroundings, cringing at her new low. Draken had cooked up another crazy plot to take over the world, this one involving controlling the popsicle flow from the Antarctic. It would never have been a lovely idea, but Draken took it as far as he could. Draken had decided that it would be best to start in the Antarctic and he was not worried about Kim Possible disturbing his plans when he was so far away. However, now Shego was stuck, in a palace she carved of ice, shivering next to the meager fire her powers had given final life to. She had nothing to eat but popsicles, should she was ice flavored ones. Shego cursed silently under her breath and glanced over at Draken.

She never understood what drew Draken to her, Goddess knows she did not put herself out there. Shego certainly wasn't drawn to Draken, repulsed in many senses. She had done her best to make herself cold and aloof, so what had it been the Draken saw? Perhaps it had been the cold purpose in her eyes the first time they met, or the easy capability with which she managed to pull off her stunts. Or maybe even ... it was sexual attraction.

Shego gagged at the thought and almost lost what little she'd eaten. I cannot believe that even crossed my mind, ugh! I am going to be nauseous forever. I don't think food will ever go down. Thank you once again Dr. Draken. Shego shuddered again and blocked the barest edge of any mental image that could even begin to resemble that thought. Shego instead turned her mind to other, more pleasant and relaxing ideas, such as stone patios, grown warm by the sun, bathing in the rays, soaking up the gorgeous sun, smirking at the feather touches on her skin, playful growling at the red flashes teasing her sloth.

Shego's eyes shot wide open. No! She needed to stop. This... this was not helping, and just confused her. The sun's a light warming yellow, where is this red coming from? I've always felt the rays of the sun, so the rays are no surprise, but what is this other thing? and why is it it feels just as familiar, as if I had known it all my life? Shego paused, she was only making things worse. Very well, she would ignore such odd thoughts and think on better things, like killing Draken. Speaking of Draken...

Shego glanced over to a corner of the throne room where Draken had set up his equipment for his "Diabolical" plan. There was a machine that appeared to be similar to a ice cream dispenser, but no Draken. Shego mentally shrugged and attempted to locate Draken again. She did not see him in the throne room. However, he could be walking about the palace in the multitude of rooms that Shego built. It was her hard work that had gotten them this far. What did he think he was doing? Why was he wondering around? Hadn't he better get started on his "master plan"? Shego growled and curled her hands into fists, biting into her gloves. This was upsetting Shego even more and she forced her mind back to keeping warm. All energy had to go towards that. No matter how asinine Draken was.

Kim Possible was not usually one to panic. She always knew exactly what to do in every situation. No matter what the odds and the sitch, Kim knew what she was doing and how to achieve her goal, which unusually involved saving the world. She was calm, collected, and very capable. After all, Kim always thought and had always been told, Anything's possible for a Possible. Except, of course, dealing with this.

Ron Stoppable, sidekick extraordinaire, had finally decided to tell Kim the truth. It wasn't that he was going to quit the team they had, it wasn't the story behind his trip to the mountains long ago, it wasn't even some story about how he had decided to become truly evil and he was wondering if Kim could not stop him. No, it was something else entirely different and much more frightening. Ron Stoppable believed that he was madly in love with her and was willing to do anything, even give up Rufus, for his beloved Kim. Ronald was head over heals, deeply, passionately in love with his best friend Kim Possible.

Kim found herself at an impasse, she was not clear on why or what her feelings where, though an inkling was saying that she didn't love him back. This move by Ron had startled her and definitely broken past her cool, something she had begun cultivate and become proud of lately. Kim Possible was growing up and learning all the nice tricks of the trade. She had handled all the drama and agony of last year and was now starting her last year of high school. Kim was becoming more skilled at handling crisises and was little surprised her or put her off guard. This, however...

Ron had approached Kim slowly, after a dangerous mission involving Monkey Fist and a wildlife preserve. Kim had successfully managed to arrange more funding for the reserve and fend off Monkey Fist. Ron had run into some trouble with Monkey Fist's henchmen and found himself examining himself keenly. He had searched deep in his feelings and found it to be true. The idea of a monkey filled life without Kim had been devastating and had been almost too much for him to stand. When Kim had come to his rescue, he knew that he had to tell Kim or find himself lost forever.

So Ron said, and Kim had no reason to doubt his reasoning given Ron's fear of monkeys. Still, Ron was in love with her, his best friend? Kim could not believe that fact over anything else. She was not willing to think of the implications, from the past, in the present, or for the future. Subconsciously, Kim's defense mechanism set up and starting racing, churning out ideas and theories about this new turn of events. Maybe Ron hit his head or something, perhaps I should have Wade check him out? This cannot be normal, spontaneously falling in love with your best friend? Maybe Monkey Fist hit Ron with a Ray? Uh-oh, if that's the case I'd better see if I can figure out a way to snap him out of it. Kim found herself making up more reasons to disregard Ron's confession. But somewhere deep inside, she knew she was merely rejecting the idea of Ron, not love.

Kim stared at Ron for a few minutes after his proclamation, struck. Her eyes were slightly glazed, as if all her attention was turned inward and the outside be damned for a moment. She was stilling breathing so Ron took her reaction as neither good or bad, since she had not hit him yet but she was not exactly jumping for joy either. He backed off and stammered an excuse about homework. However, Ron mentioned that if she wanted to talk he'd be at Bueno Nacho around 7ish? Then he shortly hightailed it out of there, so quickly that he would have left Rufus behind had the naked mole rat not tied himself to Ron's pants during the earlier monkey fiasco.

The quick, supple, intelligent teen was now at a loss and slide down against the trunk of a nearby tree. She found her hands shaking and willed herself to stop. Her hands came up to cover her face of their own free will, and her hair hide the rest of her troubled face from view. Kim was ... at a loss for words, and so her brain was working overtime, trying to figure out what exactly it was that was so wrong? so blank? What it was that had left her so empty? What is it that scares me so much? Why is this such a shock? I mean, boys have liked me before. I've liked them, we've kissed a few times. Last year Ron was so sweet and kind, especially at the Dance and I felt so proud of him. and then I gave him a kiss. oh... oh no, Ron really is in love with me! Oh Goddess, what am I going to do? The teen aged super heroine was left to curl up with her own conflicting, melancholy thoughts in a lonely secluded wood.