A/N: This is my entry into MrDrP's Valentine's Day Fun contest. The rules stated that we couldn't use our main couple when telling the story. I don't think that is going to be a problem with this tale.

Disclaimer: Kim Possible characters belong to Disney. Josh's friend belongs to me.

Special thanks to Star-Eva01 and cpneb for the beta work.

Remember Ran's Three R's: Read, Review, Response.

Never Saw it Coming

Josh Mankey looked at the two headstones in front of him. Tears filled his eyes and liquid dripped from his nose as he crashed to his knees in the fresh dirt. He brought his hands up to his face and sobbed quietly, not caring if anyone saw or heard him. He was in pain, and he needed to let it out. The crying was the only thing that seemed to do anything that acted like healing.

However, he was not alone. Someone had heard him.

The person walked up behind him and looked down at the headstones. Eyes skimmed across the inscriptions in the marble and then the dates. Then those same eyes rested upon the young man, on his knees with his face in hands. The person reached out and lightly rested a very soft hand on the shoulder of the young man and rubbed it softly.

"It doesn't get any easier, but eventually you learn to move on," the figure said.

Josh got up like a shot and spun around on his heel, facing the person who was trying to comfort him. His eyes grew wide when he saw who it was.

Long, flowing, dark black hair, deep emerald eyes that held a fire behind them, a sharp jaw-line that framed a very feminine face, and pale flesh that had a slight green tint to it. Never in his twenty-five years did he expect to run into her.

"Easy Sport, I'm just here to pay my own respects. My folks are buried down the line from yours," Shego said.

Josh looked at her and swallowed hard. His brain processed the fact that she wasn't here for a fight, just to see her parents. "So…you learn to move on huh?" Josh asked with a sniff.

"Yeah, but you have to do it yourself, nobody else is going to hold your hand and do it for you. As for me, I'm outta here." Shego said and turned around, beginning to walk away from the young artist and give him his own personal space.

"Wait!" Josh cried out and dashed the few paces to catch up with her. "I, want to say thank you. Tell me, how long has it been since your parents died?"

Shego let out a sigh and shoved her hands into her coat pockets. "It was about seven years ago. I was twenty-five. It was just after I had gone straight when some enemies I had made while on the villain side decided that they didn't like the way I was doing things anymore. They found out who I was, where I had come from, and where my family lived. Then they struck. My parents didn't stand a chance."

Josh let out a gasp and walked around to face Shego. "I'm so sorry," he said to her. "It must be awful to have your parents murdered like that. What happened to the people that did it?"

A smirk played ever so slightly across the lips of the former villain. "Awful doesn't being to describe how hard it was. As for the jackasses that did it? Well, my brothers, all four of them, caught up with the guys that did it and took them to jail: what was left of them, that is. It was the last thing Team Go did."

At this point, Shego had to reach up and wipe away a tear. Every time she told her story, it brought back some painful emotions that she wished would stop hurting her. "Well, that's my story. What's yours?"

"My parents were driving home last week from an art showing that I was a part of. One of my paintings had been deemed good enough to fit into the show. They were so proud of me. Anyways, on their way home, a drunk driver going the other way jumped the median and slammed his car head long into my parent's car. They were both killed at the scene…and the…." Josh took a deep breath to settle down the fresh nerves that were being rubbed raw by telling the story. "The drunk walked away with just a couple of cuts…He walks…and I loose my parents."

Josh blinked back the fresh tears that were forming in his eyes and looked up at Shego. "Wow, this is going to sound morbid, seeing as how we just met, in a cemetery of all places, but, would you, like to get a cup of coffee or something? There's a MoonNickel's right down the road from here."

Shego looked Josh up and down. He had filled out a bit since she last saw him, back when he was in high school. She remembered him from a plan where Drakken tried to get rid of Princess by making her blush. She approved of him back then. Now she wanted to see if that approval still stood. She gave a quick nod of her head and a bit of a smile. "Yeah, I'd like that," she said, "I'll meet you there in about half an hour: I need to take care of something here first."

Josh smiled somewhat, his first one in a week. "Okay then, I'll see you there," he said and then pulled his car keys out and made his way to his vehicle. A nice, clean, dark green two door sports car.

"Oh yeah, I approve, alright," Shego said before turning to a set of head stones.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad. I probably don't have to tell you this since you were right there, but, I just met someone…"

XXX

Over the next few weeks, Josh and Shego's relationship grew stronger. The found out that they had more in common then one thought. Josh, who was into basketball, found a ball buddy in Shego. Shego, who could listen to 80's pop music for hours on end, was surprised when she found Josh singing along with Toto. Both of them also liked art, fast cars, and enjoying life.

Shego would model in paintings for Josh, and Josh in turn would cook a fine dinner for both of them. They clicked. It didn't seem possible, but they clicked. The age difference just didn't matter to them as they found themselves being drawn closer to one another.

Shego helped Josh finish getting his parents final affairs in order. Funeral costs and final bills had been taken care of with his parent's life insurance. In a couple of months, he would be moving back into the house he grew up in. Only it wouldn't be his parents house any more, but rather his own.

Josh was sitting at his apartment kitchen table with a phone book laid out in front of him. He was flipping through the pages, trying to find the number to Chez du Chateau, the fanciest of all French places in the Tri-City area. It was going to be a New Years Eve for both of them to remember.

Even though they had only been dating a grand total of three weeks, Josh found himself crushing on Shego like an empty soda can. While he wasn't going to propose to her tonight, he did want to treat her to a fancy night out on the town. It was going to be his way of really thanking her for helping out so much when he needed it the most.

"Chez du Chateau," a man with a slight French accent said.

"Yes sir, I'd like to make a reservation for tonight, nine please. The name is Mankey," Josh said. He crossed his fingers and hoped that there would be a table available. He knew that it was short notice, but he still held out.

"Mankey? The arteest Josh Mankey? Sir, there is always a table here for you. The head chef slash owner loves your work," the Frenchman said.

Josh was dumbfounded. He blinked a couple of times in shock.

"Really?" Josh asked, his voice rising slightly, making sure that he actually heard the gentleman on the other end of the phone line correctly.

"Sir, it would be an honor for you to eat here. Nine o'clock will not be a problem. Will you be dining alone, or will you have a guest?"

"No, my, uh, girlfriend will be dining with me. My parents recently passed and I want to take her out tonight as a way of saying thank you for the gigantic help that she has been to me," Josh told the man.

"Yes, Henri heard about what happened to your parents. Please, allow us to pay for your dinner tonight. In fact…" and there came a snickering from the other end of the phone line.

"I'm sorry man, I couldn't do it much longer," a now very familiar voice said.

Josh pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it, before bringing the receiver back up to his face. "Stoppable? Is that you?" Josh asked.

"One and only, my friend," Ron replied, "But, uh, don't let it get around that I own and run this place. I use the Henri name to maintain my, uh, thing where you don't want people to know who you are. That way I can slip out on short notice and no one in the front of the house is the wiser."

Josh couldn't believe it. Ron Stoppable, Mr. Kim Possible himself, owned the Chez du Chateau. Dumbfounded, young Mankey was.

"Hello? Josh? Still there?" the voice on the other end of the phone asked.

Josh gave a shake of his head "Yeah, still here…and don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

XXX

Shego wrapped her hand around Josh's as they walked through the park. They were bundled up and it was getting close to midnight. The entire town was in main town square, where they would watch the topaz cube drop and ring in the New Year. The dinner had been wonderful, free (Shego's favorite part), and the company was, by all accounts, delicious.

"Josh, tonight has been, well, wonderful. Never thought I could ever has as much fun ever since I gave up villainy. In fact, even though these past few weeks have been hard on both of us, you, for, well, obvious reasons and on me for having to test some of Dr. D's latest inventions. But," Shego let out a sigh, "You've made all of the stress vanish with tonight."

Josh shook his head and gave her hand a squeeze as she leaned over and placed herself next to him. "Sarah, it has been my pleasure. You've done so much for me for the past few weeks that I felt I owed it to you. Plus, a guy should be able to treat his girlfriend to a nice night every now and then."

"Oh, so now I'm your girlfriend, huh? Well, that's good, because I've been telling the people up at work that you're my boyfriend," Shego said with a smirk. "Oh, and they love the fact that I'm seeing a younger guy."

They continued to walk for a little bit, arm and arm and cuddled close together. "You never did tell me why your parents are buried here in Middleton," Josh stated.

"No mystery there, Sport. Mom and Dad left Go City after they retired for the nice quiet life here in Middleton," Shego said.

"Middleton? Quiet? Since when?" Josh asked with a chuckle.

Shego playfully slapped him on the arm and then spoke up, "Compared to Go City, Middleton is about as quiet as they come."

Josh and Shego came to a halt in the middle of the walking trail and Josh pointed off to the side. They could see the topaz cube slowly start to make its decent. Off in the distance, they could hear the counting from the crowd. It actually sounded like a dull roar of nonsense, but the two, judging from the position of the cube, could make out where they were. Quietly, Josh and Shego counted down, whispering to each other as they reached one. The cube landed in its resting place, and a glowing sign with the year lit up. Fireworks started to go off and singing of "Auld Lang Sign" could be heard.

Four eyes met with each other as Josh and Shego turned to face the other. No words passed between the two as they wrapped their arms around the other's body and pressed their lips together for the first kiss of the New Year.

It was deep.

It was passionate.

It was wonderful.

'This seals it: I'm in love,' they both thought at the same time.

While they kissed, Shego did something she hadn't done in a long time. She called her green plasma forward and threw a ball of it high into the air. It blew up and rained down harmless sparks down on top of the two, providing fireworks for the fireworks.

XXX

"I'm going to do it. I'm going to ask her to marry me," Josh said.

The person next to Josh, an old college friend of his named Bart sprayed the soda that was in his mouth across the diner's counter. "Are you daft, man? You've known her how long?"

"Bart, she has been there when I've needed her the most. Plus, with Valentine's Day being tomorrow, it couldn't be better," Josh said.

"Man, you're a fool! Look, you're my bro, but don't you think you're rushing into this a bit?"

"Look, I know it seems like that, but I've thought about this. And besides, you're not really one to talk, if I remember correctly, you and Anna got married two weeks after college." Josh said then took a bite of Denver omelet.

"I might seem to recall things working out like that," Bart said and took a fresh drink from his soda.

"Dude, I was your best man!" Josh said.

Bart gave a smirk to his friend and sat his cup down. "Yeah, I know, I know. I'm happy for ya man, I really am. Here's to the best."

Bart and Josh clicked their glasses together. Josh took a drink of his lemonade while Bart picked up a strip of bacon and bit off a piece. "Tell ya what, I'll even go with ya to pick out a ring before I have to go on patrol," Bart said between chews.

"Thanks man, I really appreciate it. Don't you just love working the beat during these cold Colorado winters?" Josh asked with a grin on his face.

"Oh ha, ha, Mankey: it is to laugh," Bart said and finished off the last of his breakfast, pushing his plate away.

Josh laid a twenty and a five on the counter and both men stood up. Bart put on his patrol hat while Josh zipped up his coat. They left the diner and stepped out onto the sidewalk. No sooner had they stepped out than the cold wind assaulted them.

"Man, I sure am glad it's a short walk to the mall from here," Josh said as he and Bart started walking towards Middleton Mall.

XXX

"Josh, babe, dinner was fantastic," Shego said as she pushed her plate away.

"Well, I hope you saved room for some chocolate cake," Josh said as he stood up and picked up his own plate and Shego's.

Josh walked into the kitchen and rinsed off the plates and stuck them into the dishwasher. Then he reached into the fridge and pulled out a couple of plates that had a slice of cake on them. Placing them on the counter next to the appliance, he pulled the plastic wrap off of them and tossed it into the trash. Opening up a drawer, he pulled out a purple velvet box and a candy flower. He placed the flower on the cake, then the ring on top of the flower, making sure that it was visible and didn't fall into the white chocolate icing.

When Josh returned and placed the slice of cake in front of Shego, her eyes grew as wide as the plate the dessert was on. "Josh, is this…?" Shego started to ask as she took her eyes off the ring and rock and looked at her boyfriend.

"Sarah, you've made me the happiest man I could be since that tragic accident. I have loved ever minute you and I have shared together, and I want that happiness for the rest of my life. Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Josh was down on one knee in front of her, his hands resting on her leg oh so lightly.

"Uh, yeah, d'oi I will!

"Woo-hoo! Extra hoo!

I'm getting married!" Shego shouted and then collapsed on top of Josh. The kiss that they shared made the one from New Years Eve seem like a peck on the cheek.

That night, the dishes and the cake were forgotten, as the two made out in every room of Josh's house. It was a magical night and full of love like only Valentine's Day could be.

The romance, which neither Shego nor Josh ever saw coming, was welcomed with open arms and open hearts. The two were deeply in love with each other, and neither hell nor high water was going to tear them apart. The circumstances of them coming together was a sad event, the karma balance of the universe had a way of balancing things out, and Josh Mankey and Sarah Van Gogh, A.K.A. Shego, had found soul mates in each other and a bond that would last a lifetime.

THE END

A/N: Yes, I'm fairly sure I'm the only one that has been twisted enough to pair these two. Interesting note: This story originally took place in my head as a RonGo story.

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