Disclaimer: I do not own Kim Possible. She is owned by Disney and Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley. Any original characters shown or mentioned belong to me and can not be used without permission. Got it?

The WPS universe was inspired by BlackBird's AIRW universe, with permission. I know much of the opening part is familiar, but I've sprinkled a lot of myself throughout as well as shifting the focus onto Kim more than following Shego's thoughts, so no fair skipping ahead!

The Worst Possible Sitch

Chapter Three – You Always Hurt…

It was the Friday before the Arcadian mission and it was shaping up to kick off what was just another normal weekend for Kim.

Unfortunately that included another fight with Shego.

Kim and Ron were responding to another of Wade's tips about a break-in at yet another of Middleton's seemingly endless high-tech labs, this one for the research of everything Lightening.

"Ya know," Ron commented earlier, "For a small town in the Mid-West, there's an awful lot of research going on around here." To which Wade had mumbled something about low populations and acceptable loss that sparked off a back and forth debate about ethics between Kim and Ron that as usual the blond boy had a hard time letting go as they were trying to enter the building unannounced.

Thus Kim was hardly surprised that Shego was on them nearly the moment they arrived.

So for what seemed like the billionth time, the two women locked in mortal combat. Ordering Ron to try and distract Drakken, Kim began to dodge Shego's plasma blasts until she was close enough to engage her in hand-to-hand combat. As with the many times before, the two were nearly evenly matched, fighting each other to a stand still, neither one really gaining an advantage, but neither losing ground either.

After many intense minutes of sparring they broke apart to catch their breath, standing several feet apart while eying the other cautiously.

"I thought Drakken had given up on this sort of stuff after being globally recognized for his part in the Lorwardian invasion," Kim inquired in an effort to stretch out the break some.

"Please," Shego waved a hand dismissively, also willing to extend the timeout, "As if that was even going to last any length of time. Sure they were grateful for like a week, but that didn't mean the scientific community was any more willing to accept any of his whack ideas and inventions than before. Dr D said something about it being like college all over again, so he's back to taking over the world."

"Ahh! Shocking! Shockiiing‼" Ron ran between them in a classic serpentine dash, a series of lightening bolts licking at his heels. An instant later Drakken whizzed past in a chair suspended from the ceiling on an articulated arm, seated behind a high-tech looking device from which the deadly electricity spat. "I'll show you shocking… nnnrg! Why don't you stand still and smile for the 'camera'!"

"So Princess, still going out with that loser?" Shego quipped, hooking a thumb in the direction the pair had gone, the hand still lit in plasma.

Kim snarled a bit at the remark. "He's not a loser! And yes, I am. In fact, we did have plans for tonight until someone decided to do something criminal."

"Oh, do you mean little ol' me?" the pale woman feigned innocence before moving in to reengage, lashing out with a high kick that Kim sidestepped. "You should be thanking me for sparing you another crappy date at Bueno Nacho."

Kim flushed red a bit in embarrassment as she blocked another of Shego's punches.

"Thought as much. I'm telling you Kimmie, he really is a buffoon."

"No. He's. Not!" Kim cried back, throwing a punch with each word, the last one finding it's mark on the other woman's chin.

Shego's head rocked with the blow and when she brought her head back around, she rubbed her chin with a sly smile. "Oooh, seems like I touched a nerve," she teased. "I mean that punch was pretty hard even for you Cupcake."

"Maybe you'll learn to stop dissing my boyfriend!" Kim shouted.

"Maybe I will when you finally wise up. I mean seriously, how long can you expect this thing to last?"

Again Kim went silent as a blush returned to her cheeks though this one was much brighter. So much so that it caused Shego to drop her defensive stance and just blink at the redhead incredulously.

"Oh come on, you can't tell me you've thought that far ahead!" she cried out, waving her hands a bit frantically and making a "time out" gesture.

"Well… " Kim replied slowly.

"Oh God, you have," Shego sighed, running a hand down her face. "Let me guess, you thought about kids too, huh?"

The girl went even more red. "I really don't think this is something we should be discussing."

"Yeah, you're right, cause you should be smarter than that. I mean, really think about the kids! They'll be all redheaded and stupid. They'll have to go to special schools. It'll cost a fortune!"

That snapped Kim out of her embarrassed daze and right back into anger. She let out a small growl before leaping towards the pale green woman again. Shego easily countered the attack by grabbing the redhead's ankle, pivoting to use the girl's own momentum and send her flying across the lab. Kim flipped through the air to right herself for a landing, skidding a few inches on the floor. She quickly stood up and glared at Shego only to find her smirking once again.

"Gee, just one bad thing and you go flying right off the handle. That's gotta tell ya something," she gloated.

"Yeah, that you should have listened to me earlier and stop talking bad about Ron," Kim shot back as somewhere behind her she heard Ron still evading Drakken doing his Zeus bit. "Rufus! Buddy! A little help here! Ahh!"

Shego pointed in that general direction, "Not as long as you keep dating him."

"Why?! What does it matter to you!"

"Because I know you can do so much better!" Shego shouted, again gesturing frantically.

"And what makes you so sure of that?!" the redhead screamed, not really sure why she was getting into this conversation with her arch rival.

"Because… I just… do! I mean… there's someone else out there that's a much better match for you than Stoppable."

"Out there?"

"Or… you know… in here… ."

"Really?" Kim asked, placing her hand on her hips. "And who might this mystery person be?"

This time it was Shego's posture that turned to one of embarrassment and uncertainty. "Well… like… maybe… mm," the last word died in a mumble.

Kim stood blinking in surprise and confusion as she stared at Shego who was also quiet now but her look was one more of shame and anger. "What did you say?" she asked, breaking the silence and snapping the woman out of her quandary.

Shego looked back at Kim, her normally battle hardened face now soft with conflicting emotions of confusion, nervousness and just a bit of fear. It was an expression the redheaded girl had never seen on the older woman before and she wasn't sure she liked. Something seemed to be at odds within her.

"…mem…"

"Come again now?"

"I said 'me'," Shego repeated a little louder, a determination evidently reached.

"You… what?"

"Me. I'm a better match for you than he is."

"Match as in… how?" Kim asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Come on Kimmie, you're smarter than this. You know exactly what I'm talking about," Shego said, now sounding a bit annoyed.

"I'm not sure I do. I mean are we talking about… ."

"Yes! I have feelings for you!"

"Feelings like you want to hurt me or…?"

"I love you!" Shego finally cried out in exasperation. "There, I finally said it!"

Except for several flashes of electrical discharges somewhere on the other side of the massive banks of equipment and computers behind Shego, the room was still and silent as the two rivals just stared at each other from across their part of the lab which now somehow seemed so much bigger. Kim stood there staring at the pale woman blankly for several heartbeats before she finally said something. It was faint enough that even she barely heard herself.

"What?" Shego asked, her own voice sounding quiet and distant.

"I can't believe you," Kim repeated a bit more loudly as her hands balled into fists and her body shook a bit.

"Kimmie?"

"Don't!" the girl screamed, jabbing an angry finger towards her opponent. "No more cute little nicknames! Not after you have the nerve to pull a stunt like this!"

"A 'stunt like this'?!" Shego shouted back, sounding genuinely offended. "I'm opening my heart to you, pouring out emotions I've kept bottle up for longer than I care to admit and you're calling it a 'stunt'?!"

"What else would it be?!" Kim yelled, now throwing her arms up as Shego had done before. "I mean you think you can just drop the L-bomb and expect me to believe you're in love with me?!"

"Why not?"

"Oh do you want me to go down the list?! Because I so will!"

"Look, I admit this is a bit weird… ."

"Oh weird doesn't even begin to describe this."

"Shut up and let me finish!" Shego snapped.

She waited to see if Kim was going to make another comeback, but when the girl just folded her arms and cocked her head towards her, Shego took that as a sign to continue.

"Good," she nodded. "Now as I was saying, I actually am in love with you. And don't ask me how it started, I'm not really sure myself. I just know that… for awhile now I've… noticed you. In a… different way."

Kim's eyes widened at that. "You've been checking me out?!"

"Well… yes. Especially when you got that new outfit there. I admit I miss seeing your midriff but the shirt being tighter is a plus. And though a little late in the game, you've been developing too. You're now what, a B-cup?"

The teen hero let out an astonished squawk before moving her crossed arms up over her chest to hide them from the other woman's gaze. Shego rolled her eyes a bit at the move, but still frowned slightly.

"Anyway," she continued, "I wasn't really sure what was happening. I thought maybe I was going insane or something. Maybe it was a side effect from when someone kicked me into an electrical tower! In the rain!"

Kim's expression and stance softened a bit at that part. "Yeah… well… that's not something I'm proud of. I just got carried away there. I'm sorry."

"Apology accepted."

"But see that's another reason why I can't believe you. I mean… shouldn't you be mad at me for that?"

"Oh I was," Shego said with a malicious glint in her eye. "I spent a lot of time in prison wanting to do nothing more than wring you pretty cheerleading neck for that one." She paused and blinked when she realized she had her hands in the choking motion. She lowered them with a sigh as she looked back at Kim. "But eventually I realized it was my own fault. Well… mostly Drakken's for coming up with that stupid plan to begin with, but I went along with it. Hell I even pushed the envelope a bit by making that remark about 901… Erik." She glanced down for a second before looking sheepishly at the girl, "Sorry about that."

"You should be," Kim muttered. "None of this has really convinced me though." Convincing? What do I need convincing for?

"I know. I know it sounds weird and crazy and maybe even a bit pathetic, but it's how I feel! I can't help that!" she huffed. "But it's not like we're totally incompatible. I mean we got along great when I was Miss Go, remember?"

A tiny smirk found it's way onto Kim's lips as memories of those almost care-free few days came back to her.

"Yeah," she almost whispered. "Yeah we definitely got along great then. And I have to admit it was pretty fun hanging out."

"See?!" Shego asked, almost desperately. "We can get along!"

"All it takes is for you to get Attitudinatored into someone completely different," Kim scoffed.

"But why? Why can't we try to work through this without either one of us having to change?"

"You know why!" Kim screamed, tugging at her hair and pacing angrily a bit. "I'm a hero! You're a villain! It's never going to work! Plus… you're a girl! I'm not into girls, I'm into guys! This whole thing just…," she trailed off with a frustrated growl then spun around to stare at Shego. "We are just so… wrong for each other!" Why do I sound like I'm even considering this? Kim thought, "And you know that! You know that! You know that I'm finally in a happy and somewhat stable relationship with the only guy who's always been there for me! So I think this whole 'Kimmie I've been secretly in love with you' thing is just another way for you to make fun of me and at Ron's expense.

"So I'm sorry if I'm not all gushy over the whole thing!" Kim finished her tirade with another frustrated sigh as she swung her arms violently to her side and turned away.

On the other side of the lab and still out of line of sight something exploded. Ron crowed, "Booyah Rufus! Way to circuit his shorts! High five!"

Kim stood there, her back still to Shego, and waited for the usual smart-ass retort from her about how this all one big joke or scam and how she didn't really expect her to fall for it. When neither of those options happened, she snuck a glance at her and was startled to see that Shego was actually turned away from her and that her shoulders were slumped a bit. The biggest shock were the noises that were coming from the pale woman. It almost sounded like she was… whimpering.

For a second, Kim felt bad until she realized that this was probably just more of Shego's plan. So instead of offering an apology or a comforting hand she just rolled her eyes and scoffed.

"Oh don't act like you're hurt," she pleaded. "Now you're just embarrassing both of us."

At that remark, Shego spun around and glared at Kim with an expression the younger woman had never seen before, filled with anger and… pain. So focused were they that neither barely registered another small explosion in the background followed by Drakken calling that it was time to go. It was only when Ron came skidding around the far end of the aisle of machinery yelling to Kim about Drakken getting away that Shego spun about and ran for it.

Just before she rounded the corner, the pale green woman paused. "You know Kimmie, it turns out Drakken was right about something after all…

"Words do hurt,"

Kim stood rooted to the spot, transfixed by that final sad look her rival gave her before disappearing from sight. She almost knew that look. It had much in common with her own Puppy Dog Pout. Only where Kim had practiced her pout in the mirror everyday for a month, perfecting it for pin-point "deadliness" before unleashing it against her parents for intentional strategic effect, the look Shego gave her was real, heartfelt and decidedly not practiced. It spoke everything the woman was feeling at that moment. It spoke of a hope and a love dashed into a million pieces, and of a floodgate of tears barely held back. Kim immediately had a name for this look.

A Kicked Puppy Dog Pout.

The same look that Shego was giving her now.

Kim clasped her hands to her mouth, eyes wide as saucers. "Omigod, Shego! I didn't mean… I'm sorr… I remember Shego! I remember!" The redhead blurted rapidly, her eyes suddenly filled with regret and sorrow. "I'm soo sorry, I didn't mean that."

The Kicked Puppy Dog looked back at her filled with all the same pain she saw that night, and something else Kim wasn't sure she recognized. Not on the face of a woman. Had it been Ron staring at her like that she would have known it instantly. As it was she had to infer it from the memory.

"Yes Kim, you did mean it."

Kim. Not Kimmie or Cupcake, or the one that she had gotten most used to: Princess. Kim. She is hurt! she thought, immediately followed by, The hell of it is, I suddenly miss her calling me "Princess".

Why is that?

"Oh no, no Shego… I didn't. I only just now remembered the Lightening Lab. Not all of my memories are back, but that part just went crystal." Kim dropped to her knees in front of the sitting woman, "Everything isn't there yet, just enough for me to know that I must have called you for help. Now I'm sure of it even without all the supporting memories."

Shego, her legs still crossed, recrossed her arms and turned her head in an offended huff. The teenager could feel the usual Shego emotional armor going back up as she said nothing.

"Please Shego…," Kim pleaded. "You're right. I meant it, but only because my brain was still firing only on what I knew from last week. I don't remember it all but now I know enough to know I've faced some sort of… epiphany."

Kim could feel that she was reaching her. The emotional shielding had not been erected in time and she was reeling the woman back in. Time to pull out the Big Guns.

The pale woman had dared to turn her head slightly to sneak a peak at the redhead from the corner of her eyes. "Ack! What is that!?" she made the mistake of snapping her head back around fully and got it with both barrels right in the face.

Kim's Puppy Dog Pout.

Made even more "lethal" by the fact that the fallen hero was sitting back, resting her butt on her heels, her hands clutched in her lap so that her arms pulled her shoulders tighter together. The posture also served to push up and emphasize her breasts. "Forgive me pwetty pwease?" in a voice that was purely diabetic – and diabolic – in sweetness.

"Agh!" Shego reacted like she wanted to scramble backwards over the sofa to get away, her arms windmilling, hands scrabbling for purchase on the back cushions. It was a posture which served to leave her even wider open to the psychological attack for precious seconds and allowing the teen time to shift so that her hip rested firmly against the older woman's right leg. Finding her motion momentarily compromised, Shego opted for the next best expedient defense.

She put up a hand to shield her eyes.

Only Kim leaned far enough to the side that one of her eyes slowly crept back into view, like the moon easing out from behind an eclipse. Shego yanked her foot free and bodily turned away on the sofa, squeezing her eyes firmly shut even as the hand still protected her face. "Put that thing away! I'm not talking to you until you do!"

"Okay, safe now," was the perky reply, "All clear!"

Cautiously the henchwoman inched her hand down, squinting through barely opened eyelids to make sure that the coast was indeed clear and that there would be no sneak attacks, no ambush. True to her word, as always, Kim was still sitting in the same position but the devastating expression nowhere in sight.

"What the hell was that?" she exclaimed.

"Just my secretest of weapons," Kim smiled demurely.

"You're telling me! I'm so grateful you never pulled that on me in a fight!" despite herself Shego chuckled.

"Well you're laughing. That's a good start," Kim used Shego's words from earlier in the medical ward.

"Yeah, I guess it is. Okay, so what about this epiphany of yours?" Though recrossing her arms, this time Shego was more relaxed. Almost like when they first entered the lounge.

"I'm not saying I remember it all yet, but I do have an overwhelming certainty that I did call you for help," Kim rolled her eyes towards the ceiling as if answers were to be found there. "Something about a… list? Or maybe not being on it?"

"You must mean the Class Action Suit," Shego nodded.

"That what now??"

"Class Action Suit. Once you were arraigned and it was obvious that public opinion was a rising tide against you, every Tom, Crook and Dirty Harry came out of the woodwork seeking damages against you for every time you rained on their parade." The woman ticked off with her fingers, "Lairs destroyed with personal property, vehicles lost, injuries and medical bills, the difference in cost for spiraling HenchCo fees… not to mention the henchman's union started mostly because of you…, experimental doohickeys not recovered… and my personal favorite, pain and suffering."

"Hold it, wait. Back up." Kim did the "T for time out", "Things not recovered? How can villains and henchmen…,"

"Henchpersons."

"…and hench – persons? – sue me for their lost and unrecoverable items?"

"Not every name on the suit was a criminal," Shego explained, "Several scientists, businesses and corporations jumped on the bandwagon too. Take for example the damage done to the Bermuda Triangle casino during our fight. There was that Ray X that you were unable to protect and returned destroyed. Your local Bueno Nacho had to be rebuilt after our first encounter. Or those moodulators things; only two prototypes in existence, both burned out."

"Doctor Bortel? But that wasn't my… it was yo… why would he…,"

"You were handy, Dr D and I weren't," Shego shrugged. "Anyway there were something like 5000 names sited in the suit."

"But… not yours."

"No Kimmie, not mine," Shego assured.

Kimmie again, I won her back! Then, Why is that so important?

"So what now?" asked the girl.

A knowing smirk returned to the pale woman's face. She spread her arms invitingly, "You tell me Cupcake. You called me, remember?"

Kim just cut her a look.

"Right, sorry."

"I know what you meant," the teen rubbed her chin. "There is something floating at the back of my mind but I can't quite put my finger on it… wait a minute! Are you saying that you're willing to help me?"

Shego flashed her a sardonic smile, "I thought you said Lightening Labs was crystal."

The young redhead flushed. "Yes, it is. And you still feel the same way?"

The woman gestured to the room in general about them, "We're here, aren't we? I went and got you, didn't I? And how hard do you think I had to sell Dr D on not only going to get you but bringing you back to his latest lair?"

Smiling, Kim lifted her right fist and made a plasma whoosh sound effect.

"There was that, but still you and lairs don't have the best history together."

"So then, you still…," for some reason Kim found herself blushing and being coquettish, wanting the older woman to finish for her.

Running a hand down her face Shego studied Kim. There was a strangely intent expression on the fallen hero's face that was almost unsettling. With a darker green suffusing her cheeks, Shego looked Kim steadily in the eyes, "Yes Princess, I still love you."

"Even after the way I treated you that night?"

"I'm not going to say I wasn't hurt," she admitted. "As I stewed on the ride home I got more and more upset, and by the time we got back I was as mad as a badger." Anger flashed briefly behind her eyes even as her face melted from its usual sardonic expression. She sighed, "But I couldn't stay mad. I realized that night was just as much my fault as anything else.

"I hadn't meant to blurt it out like that. That was no place to profess feelings of love to anyone. What was I thinking doing that in the middle of a fight? I wasn't is what! I mean, there I was dissing your date's plans when even Bueno Nacho would have been a better setting than some laboratory in the middle of the night!

"You had every right to respond the way you did. I deserved it."

Rising up on her knees to bring their faces to the same level, Kim placed her hands on Shego's knees. Locking gazes with the pale woman she spoke solemnly, "I forgive you Shego. And… I'm sorry I was so inconsiderate of your feelings. That had to have been a hard thing to say regardless. It's just that I know you've shown an interest in guys in the past, so I just thought, you know, you were straight."

"I am straight."

Now that took the teenager aback, "But… you said you…,"

"Love you. Not women, not guys. You." The sardonic smirk was back.

"Then you're saying you're bi?"

"I'm not sure what labels apply here, if any," a bigger sigh, "I do like guys and find them very appealing, and I'm not turned on by women. Other women," she placed her own hands on top of Kim's still resting on her knees, "At first you were just an annoyance, an enemy. Then a rival capable of giving me a good workout, challenging me to push at my best levels, and I'd find myself looking forward to our skirmishes.

"Then of course there was that week we spent together when I was turned good," she nearly spat the word, then paused as Kim got a sudden faraway look to her eye. The same expression she had just a few minutes before.

Kim was remembering again.

Okay, this is the last time you will see passages lifted wholesale from BlackBird's AIRW. From here out its all me darlings!

I've been dreaming up my own set of OC's for WPS, villains and heroes alike, and expect to see versions of characters from other franchises, Disney and non.

Though I could use your help in pulling up some Latinas from other sources – preferably bad girls or even just bitchy – to use/model/reference for an all girl gang of criminals, of which you will meet one next time. I do however have a visual model for one of them, and she's even a background character from STD and maybe even "The New Ron" but for slight differences.

I see where many writers indicate their posting schedule. Okay, I posted chapters 1 and 2 only a couple days apart, and this one is still in the same week. However I think I'll try posting only once a week from here out. Look for the next installment either between Friday and Saturday, according how my life is running each week.

So that you know, as I'm writing this I'm nearly done with Chapter 5...

Reviews will get a reply!

LR