` "I never thought I'd actually be doing something like this." Ron admitted to Shego. "Is this really necessary?"

"Look, it was difficult enough to persuade Doctor D. to actually let you and princess stay in his lair." Shego explained for the eighth time. That was putting it mildly. She needed to convince him that it was in his interests to do so, no easy task. "If you're going to stay here, you're going to need to do him a couple favors."

"We're robbing a bank; this isn't what I signed up for!" Ron protested.

"Look, I did everything I could for you." Shego snapped. "I'm sorry if you can't live the saint-like existence you wanted!"

"I'm sorry, Shego; things are just a little rough right now." Ron mentioned in a considerable understatement. Kim had yet to speak a single word to him ever since she discovered that the two of them were in a relationship. He tried talking to her repeatedly, but she just brushed him off. Ron had no idea what to do except wait and hope she came to her senses.

"She really doesn't deserve you, you know." Shego shook her head. She was delighted to have Ron in her life. She had almost forgotten what having someone actually care about her even felt like. Sure, there was Drakken, but he was technically her boss, even if she was running the show a lot of the time. Kim had no idea how lucky she was to have someone standing beside her, no matter what.

"Now... what's your plan?" Ron asked, kissing Shego to distract her. She knew precisely what he was doing, but let him anyway.

"This is actually quite simple, at least for me." Shego responded. "Little suggestion: try to make yourself look less like Ron Stoppable. You said Global Justice is trying to kill, so might be a bad idea to go out looking like that."

"You want me to wear some black ninja outfit?" Ron asked. He was realizing that there was a lot more to the villain business than was apparent at first glance.

"That's putting it mildly." Shego stated and Ron realized that he must have spoken out loud. "Navy blue actually works a lot better if you want to hide yourself." She tossed him his clothes, a dark blue shirt and pants. Ron had a slight blush on his cheeks. "Fine, if you're going to be so modest, I'll turn around. Yeah, right. Shego thought.

Ron changed into the outfit quickly, wanting this job to be over with as soon as possible. He hated the very idea of breaking the law, even if it might seem necessary. Of course, he still had a choice, but as far as he was concerned, it was better that he do it than Kim. She had not fully recovered from her experiences and the recent betrayals had only shook her more. If she and Shego were in the same room together, only one of them might emerge alive. It wasn't hyperbole, much as Ron prayed it was.

"You know, I did notice you looking." Ron commented in an effort to break the tension. Contrary to what he thought previously, it didn't bother him much.

"I am a villain; I'm allowed to be bad." Shego reminded him.

"You know, that does have a certain appeal." Ron teased, kissing her. She wrapped her arms briefly around him before pushing him away.

"Save it, handsome; we've got a job to do." Shego scanned the bank's security cameras, forcing herself to keep her hormones in check. "Okay, there's a gap there where they can't see us."

"How can you tell that?" Ron inquired.

"Hey, I've got plenty of experience; I know what I'm doing." Shego pointed out. Ron agreed, although it made him uncomfortable. Having a relationship with someone on the other side of the law was difficult at the best of times, and this was far from ideal. They had agreed to keep that seperate, but now circumstances had forced the two of them together.

Remember, this is for Kim. He told himself repeatedly. It didn't do anything to settle the unease in his stomach.

"Now when we're in this building, don't talk." Shego instructed. "Don't make a single sound. They might know me, but for you, the consequences would be a lot worse." Ron nodded in response, appearing outwardly calm but trembling inside.

Shego fired the grapple gun, launching herself up to the roof. After a few seconds of hesitation, Ron followed and climbed up to the ceiling. He felt shivers that had nothing to do with the weather. His conscience was telling him that this was wrong, that he should simply turn back now and let Shego do this alone. She'd manage it alone and he doubted that she would rat him out to Drakken.

But he stayed and he couldn't explain why. Ron stayed silent and mindlessly followed Shego as she began to climb down one of the air vents. He had some difficulty fitting, but ultimately managed to do so. He was too terrified to speak a word, even if his girlfriend had not given him any such instructions. Any minute now, they could be discovered, caught, ambushed... the possibilities were endless.

Shego slowly removed one of the air vents and hopped down. Ron did so much less smoothly and slammed onto the floor, sending a sound that echoed everywhere. Both of them noticeably winced and Ron looked around nervously. He wouldn't doubt there were at least a couple of security guards around.

She slapped her forehead and helped him up, hoping that it hadn't given either of them away. Shego's eyes were peeled for security cameras, even though she had been checking the place out for a week before actually doing this. Follow me, she gestured, and Ron reluctantly did so. What he didn't realize was that Shego had her own doubts about this as well.

She led him inside a room that seemed perfectly ordinary. "So is this..." Shego hastily covered his mouth before he could speak up. She ran a finger across her mouth to indicate to him that he should be silent.

"We got it." Shego whispered. She headed to the wall and cut the power radiating through the building, shutting down the security cameras and disabling the electromagnetic lock around the bank safe. All of this took less than a minute, but to Ron, each second just dragged on and on. He saw people around every corner, jumped at every shadow.

Ron's eyes widened at just how much money was in there. There was no way either of them could carry that much back out to the vehicle. He stood there for several moments, unwilling to actually take the final step and rob them.

"Look, Ron, I know this isn't ideal." Shego sighed. "I know you're not comfortable with this and if you want, you can just wait for me. It won't take very long to scoop it all up."

Ron left without a second thought, still wanting to get away from the whole scenario. He was hoping to drag Shego away from her criminal life. In spite of the fact she had gone back to it after the Ambrose battle, he still had hope that she could one day rise above it. Instead, he was getting dragged into it. He knew it was up to Drakken, but honestly, Shego seemed to be the one effectively in charge. Why hadn't she aruged harder?

Maybe your feelings for her are blinding you to the truth. Ron mused, hating the possibility, but unable to completely dismiss it either. She had turned back into a criminal, despite the fact that he believed she had moved past it. Would she ever? Kim certainly didn't seem to think so, though her objectivity was suspect at best. He knew there was a good side to her. If there wasn't, she'd never have taken Kim in, however grudgingly.

"Course, we've got bigger problems right now." Ron muttered. He pulled out him Kimmunicator. It was something he had pestered and pestered his friend about until she had finally relented and given him one so they could stay in contact with each other.

He messed around with it for a minute and pulled out Wade's video, sorely tempted to call him and figure out if he had uncovered anything. Ron knew there was no question he would be there; the computer prodigy practically lived at his computer, and he wouldn't be in the least surprised if he slept next to it.

Unfortunately, he was almost certainly being monitored by elements of Global Justice that wanted Kim dead. While he was fairly confident that Wade and Director could bypass that, he was not certain enough to risk making contact with him. It was a pity; Team Possible wasn't complete without him, and they were certainly noticing the lack. Neither of them could draw attention to themselves in order to discover the one behind this, but Wade could do it.

"Not worth the risk," Ron shook his head. If Wade contacted them, he'd be delighted to find out what he knew, but all they'd gotten so far was silence, which he interpreted as a bad sign. He only barely kept himself from attempting it, which spoke volumes of his desperation.

Shego jumping back into the car, complete with two full bags of money, shoved Ron out of his thoughts. She stepped on the gas without another word, not wanting to linger around in case the two of them were caught. To him, that was just fine. Ron didn't feel much like talking at the moment. How could she be so calm about robbing people?

"You're better than this, Shego." Ron finally spoke up in little more than a whisper. "Why do you do this? Why did you choose to turn back into a criminal? You had a chance to leave it all behind, to become a better person. You threw that chance away; why?"

"Why is it any of your business what I do, Stoppable?" Shego demanded. His questions were far too close for comfort, so she resorted to what she usually did when pushed into an unfamiliar situation.

"It's entirely your choice." Ron informed her. "I'm not going to cut ties with you just because I disagree with your choices."

"Do what you want; I don't give a damn." Shego dismissed, but that was a blatant lie and from the look on Ron's face, it was evident that he was aware of that as well. Despite his reassurances, she did fear that he would leave her the way so many others had in the past.

"Of course you do, and I think you know." Ron replied. "You're not a slave to your old habits. This isn't your destiny, no matter how you might think otherwise. Just think on that."

"Enough, Ron; I'm not one to be sentimental." Shego all but snarled.

"Just think on it for a while." Ron replied simply.

XXXXXXXXXX

Kim paced down her room, still fuming over the information she had just been given. How could this possibly have happened? Ron and Shego... together? Her mind couldn't wrap around the concept. She couldn't blame Ron for it; it wouldn't be the first time he'd had his heart played with. Shego? No, there had to be something more to this.

If Shego's leading him on, I'm going to rip her apart! Kim promised. The idea that Shego actually liked him never even crossed her mind. All she could see is her best friend getting his heart broken again because her arch-enemy decided to get to her in an indirect method. The incident with Eric crossed her mind, and she swore to herself that it would not happen again.

Ron walked through the corridor and Kim ran to try and catch up to him. She knew she owed him an apology; it wasn't fair to blame anything on him. After all, he was the only victim in this whole mess. Not only was he being strung along, but she had the gall to take her outrage out on him! "Ron, are you all right?" She asked. "Look... I'm sorry about snapping at you yesterday. You did nothing to deserve it and I was completely out of line."

Ron did nothing but stare blankly at her. "Look... I know you're mad at me, and I'll admit, I deserved it." Still not a word. "Can you just say something, damn it?!"

Ron raised his head and spoke simply: "I'm sorry if I upset you, Kim. I'm just not in the mood to talk right now." He walked past her without another word.

"Shego..." Kim hissed dangerously. She must have done something to him. Kim thought. She jogged to her room, intent on discovering the answer, even if she had to literally rip it out of her mind.

It didn't take long for her to figure out where her room was. Upon arriving, she made a point of memorizing the entire complex. Odds were that once this threat had ended, this would be one of the lairs she and Ron would have to hunt down and destroy, and she had no intentions of being taken by surprise.

As expected, Shego was there, laying down in a deck chair in front of a tanning bed. To get her attention, Kim picked it up and smashed it into the wall, sending glass flying everywhere. A couple of pieces cut her skin, although not deeply enough to draw blood.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Shego demanded, doing her best to hide her nervousness. She was tired of running from Kim every time she got angry, however, and stood her ground.

"What did you do to Ron?" Kim demanded, shoving her against the wall, her eyes blazing with fury. It took all the self-control she had not to simply snap her neck.

"I didn't do anything to him!" Shego protested, although that wasn't entirely true. Although reluctant, she did drag him along to the bank job, which would explain his foul mood.

"Liar!" Kim screamed, striking Shego across the face and sending her to the ground. Shego immediately bounced back, ignoring the bits of glass in her feet, igniting her plasma to a far greater degree than she normally did. Not quite enough to kill her, but it would cause Kim serious injury if any of the shots connected. "He wouldn't speak a single word to me! I know you, Shego; I know you had something to do with this!"

"You're more pathetic than I ever imagined." Shego laughed. "You're jealousy's getting to you; little wonder he doesn't want to talk to you! You've never wanted him to form an opinion of his own. All you wanted was a lost little puppy that did whatever you wanted him to do, and now that he's grown some backbone, you're ballistic!"

"How... how dare you?!" Kim managed to stammer out. Her mind was seeing red, and she mentally calculated how long it would take her to kill Shego and flee before anyone noticed her.

Shego noticed that circumstances were getting dangerous and was half-tempted to run before things got worse. No matter what Ron tried to argue, Kim was not the same person she was before her kidnapping and if this was any indication, it was quite possible that she never would be. Nevertheless, she stood her ground; this fight had been coming for a long time now. "Yes, how dare I speak the truth?" Shego replied sardonically. "You've never cared about what he wanted; you've always taken him for granted. Does he actually mean anything to you or is he just around to enhance your image as a teen hero?"

"I care about him; he's the best friend I ever had." Kim managed to keep her voice steady, but only just. Remembering what ripping Shego limb from limb would do to Ron, however tempting it might have been, kept her from doing anything more than glare. "That's why I'm here. He's had enough pain in his life, and I'm not about to let you manipulate him to get back at me."

"Is that what you think?!" Shego couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity. "You're an even bigger idiot than I suspected, which is saying a lot. Even now, when you're claiming to care about him, you're turning this back onto yourself! God, you're a selfish bitch, and what's worse is that you don't even realize it!"

"I'm selfish?!" Kim snarled. "You're the criminal, you're the one who makes her living trying to take over the world! You're the manipulator, you're the one playing with Ron, and you dare to call me selfish?!"

"As a matter of fact, yes!" Shego screamed. "If you really want to know, he came along with me to a bank robbery because Doctor D. insisted your earn your keep if you're going to stay here!"

"I wish I could stay I couldn't believe this, but as a matter of fact, it's not hard at all." Kim clenched her fists. "You're just trying to make him like you; don't try lying to me and say Drakken put you up to it. That's it; if you ever come near him again, I'll..."

"It was his choice!" Shego interrupted before Kim could utter her latest threat. "It was either him or you, and he decided to take your place. Ron said that you were suffering enough, that he would rather it be him than you."

For once, Kim was at a loss for words. He had volunteered for it? Just to spare her the pain of breaking the law? Her anger began to face as she looked at Shego. "I... I had no idea."

"You never even bothered to ask." Shego wasn't about to let her off that easily. "He came with you, risking his life to keep you safe, and as far as I'm concerned, you don't deserve him. He's sacrificed everything for you, and still lets you treat him as a punching bag. Look, this isn't a game. I actually care about him, obviously more than you do at the moment. I don't give a damn what your opinion of it is; we're together and it's up to us, not you."

Kim walked out, still trying to digest the information that she had just been given. She wanted to say that Shego was lying, that this was nothing but a ploy to tear the two of them apart.

Yet she was forced to admit that her enemy had a point. She hadn't been treating him that well ever since they had been forced to go on the run. She was moody and depressed, often snapping at him for no reason, and he never so much as snapped back at her. He'd given up everything to assist her, and she had yet to show him any gratitude.

It was tempting to blame the effects of her new abilities on her mind, but she knew that was just an excuse. Off balance or not, it was still her saying those things. There was nothing Kim could say that would justify her treatment.

Kim mentally promised herself to behave better; he deserved that much.

XXXXXXXXXX

Director had been searching for over a week and still had made less progress than she was hoping for. She thought she would have the whole mystery solved by now, but the specifics continued to elude her.

At least it appeared that most of her Agents who knew about Order 31 thought it was complete and utter nonsense. Being an expert in body language, she could easily read as much off of them. Perhaps there was still some hope for this world after all...

But this order had to have come from high up, from her superiors. The question was: which one? Officially, according to the news, Team Possible had gone missing and were considered highly dangerous. Global Justice received over 1,000 tips a day by people claiming to have spotted her. Most of it was nonsense, of course, but she stonewalled the search anyway, not wishing to take any unnecessary chances.

So far, she had confirmed that the order had some from Section 13, a shadowy intelligence community that few had ever heard of. While Global Justice was an open secret, Section 13 was almost an anomaly. Even Director knew little about them, save their name and basic objective. While she did admit that they saved a lot of lives, she couldn't condone the methods they used.

The order came from them, or at least from someone within Section 13. The question was: why? She knew that initiating the order was incredibly rare and only done when it was considered too dangerous to bring someone in alive. What do they think she did? Director mused.

The pieces were beginning to come into place as she investigated every crime that might be serious enough to grab attention. There were reports of a series of murders, and a description of the suspect fit Miss Possible's basic appearance, although as of yet, little was known about who it was. The victims were all criminals, by all accounts the worst of the worst. Nobody would shed a tear at their passing.

"That isn't enough, though." Director muttered. Part of the mystery had been discovered, but there was still much to uncover. If she was other suspicion, she would be monitored, not murdered. No, there was something missing, a piece that if she discovered it, would bring everything else together.

Not only that, but she was closing in on the person whom she believed had set Kim up. She barely noticed one of her agents coming through the door. "Director, we've got an intelligence report that I think you may find of interest." Tristan informed her.

"Thank you; is there anything else?" Director inquired, not wishing to waste any time she didn't have to.

"Nope, I'll return to my duties." Tristan departed. Director was amazed at how well he was doing, considering he was new here. At least he was firmly on her side... she hoped. One of the worst parts about this was that even if most seemed loyal, she could never be sure of who was not.

Director looked over the intelligence report, which looked like they finally had a lead on who was responsible for all of this. If all went well, Team Possible would be coming home soon.

XXXXXXXXXX

Well, hopefully, you enjoyed the new installment. I admit, Kim does seem to have some rather skewed priorities, considering that she's running for her life. Course, nobody ever said relationships were easy. At any rate, please read and review; chapter 5 should be done in a few days.