Kim sat down, hard, and basically went catatonic. She didn't register for a moment that food was put before her.

"Kim?"

She shook her head in an attempt to rejoin reality. "Hm?"

Her friend had worry written all over his face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Kim flashed a smile and ate a few bites.

"Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing. Why would anything be wrong?" She said quickly.

"I'm your best friend Kim. You can tell me."

"There's nothing to tell." She took a big bite of her Naco.

"If you're sure." Ron said in uncertainty.

She nodded a yes and finished her meal.

'

The door unlocked and the coat-clad redhead surveyed the inside of the building again. She took a deep breath. "Home, sweet home." She spread out what she had on her person to their current resting places, sat down, and put on a movie. She didn't know if it was to watch the movie, or to distract herself from the haunted feelings that she couldn't name if she tried, though she never did. She fell asleep on the couch, a tear on her face.

'

A few weeks later, when she got a call from Wade about Drakken and Shego, she almost cried with joy as she got ready. She hadn't heard about them for years, since before her eventless graduation in fact.

The ride was fast and quiet, Drakken's plan nonsensical, and Shego put up a good fight. Except, after a bit, Shego started to become distracted, unbalanced. She started ignoring little things and there was less banter than there was earlier.

When the day was done, it didn't feel like a victory. It felt dirty, unfair, or maybe even like nothing at all. Sure, she put on the show like she'd been doing for years, but it took an effort to not burst into tears. An effort she almost didn't make.

She stopped making the effort when she got to her ramshackle little home again. In here, she didn't have to care anymore. In here, life was simple. It was what it was. Nothing more, nothing less. Nobody had to know. Nobody had to care.


"Really? She said that?" Betty asked, intrigued in a morbid sort of way, like watching a train wreck or a 10 car pileup.

"Those exact words. Now shut up 'cause this is only the beginning."

"Sorry." The admonishment had been gentle, like it was from an old friend who wasn't annoyed. It didn't keep Betty from cringing a little.


Kim woke with a hand on her throat, iron grip crushing in hard.

"WHERE IS SHE?" The intruder yelled.

Kim was like a deer in headlights. Then the car honked when the intruder shook her violently. She barely choked out "Wha-?"

"WHERE IS SHE?" He repeated.

She choked loudly. "She who?" Again, just barely.

"YOU KNOW WHO I'M TALKING ABOUT! NOW WHERE IS SHE!"

"I don't +choke+ know who you're +choke+ talking about."

"He's talking about me." Came a small voice from five feet away.

The intruder moved as a sound ripped the silence apart, trying to blow out eardrums. The intruder hit the floor with a thump as there was a metallic tchk-ck! sound (that she knew she knew, just not where from) and a small plastic on linoleum clink.

All Kim really knew was that she could breathe again, which she did so in giant gasping breaths.

"You've been leading a charmed life little girl." The voice said again. It was soft, feminine, and sad. "But it's time to wake up and smell the ugly black coffee. There's a lot more to this world than just heroes and villains." There was the sound of rustling cloth, and something was put under the bed. "It's not a bad dream, Kimmie. This, is the ugly truth of reality."

A/N: A deer responds to sound better than light. The phrase 'like a deer in headlights' is completely accurate, and so is the analogy I used here. My brother was driving the two of us home and a deer was caught by fear caused by seeing the headlights and he startled it out of shock and into action by honking at it. Much faster than waiting for the fear to get over the 'panic freeze' response on it's own. Interesting huh? Just like my chapter, I think.