Chapter Seven
When Kim's vision cleared, she found herself alone. Which was to be expected, she supposed. She sat motionless, unable to muster enough energy to stand or even crawl away. There would be time for that later. Nobody would judge her for wasting time on a dirty linoleum floor, as there was nobody around to see her. It might not even be considered wasted time.
She used the hem of her shirt to blot the tears from her face and to smudge the mucus dripping from the tip of her nose. Crying rarely solved problems, but it had a lovely cathartic effect. She felt empty, which was better than feeling full of pity and woe. Her legs were unsteady, but she wedged them against the ground and forced herself to stand.
"Well." She cleared her throat. "I might as well go back to Bonnie's. I guess. Gosh, I'm not alone for more than a few minutes and already I'm talking to myself. Totally not crazy."
She should hurry, she thought, so she could watch her body wake up and witness firsthand the joy on the faces of her family members. Before she could walk away, however, another flash of brilliant light blinded her again. She blinked the dots from her vision as quickly as she could.
"What's going on?"
Kim blinked quickly to clear her vision. "Shego?"
The other woman stepped through a freshly opened portal and fell against her. "It's not fair."
"What happened? Why are you here again?"
"My fucking plasma." Shego wanted to hurt something. The urge overwhelmed her - she pulled away from Kim and slammed her fist into the nearest wall. Had she a real body, her hand might have broken on impact. A pity, she thought, that it didn't.
"We apologize for the type mismatch." The ball of light responded. "However it would be ill-advised to match a soul to a server that would cause damage to the server."
Kim scrambled to Shego's side, the implications flying through her mind. All the waiting Shego had done was for nothing. "Shego…"
"Leave me alone." Shego snapped.
"I'm so sorry."
"Just get out of here." The green woman shoved Kim roughly and Kim tumbled backwards. Once again she found her eyes on level with the linoleum.
"Soul unification process resumed."
The ball pulsed behind them and another woman entered the room. She glided along the floor and through the portal. Kim staggered to her feet again, whipped around, and rushed to follow, but the portal closed. Kim stumbled through empty air.
"What just happened?"
"I don't know." Shego removed her fist from the wall and massaged it gingerly.
"You don't think…"
"Let's get back to Bonnie's."
Kim hesitated. "But what if they come back to put me in my body and I'm not here?"
"Come on, Princess."
As they walked together, their hands linked almost subconsciously as each woman sought a semblance of support. They reached Bonnie's shack and Shego graciously allowed Kim to enter first. Kim flicked the television on.
x-x-x
"Mr. Possible?"
James looked up from his coffee. He had been banished from his daughter's hospital room – for his own good, the nurses had claimed. Ann talked to them earlier, he knew, and it was under her orders that the nurses had evicted him. Still, he had no ill will towards either his wife or the medical staff. He knew he looked a mess.
"Your daughter – she's awake."
His eyes flashed. "What's that?"
"You should hurry up there. Your wife is already there."
Throughout his childhood, James had never been a very athletic boy. He had built robotic pants to move his legs, so he wouldn't have to run during recess. He had crafted small propellers onto his flippers so he wouldn't have to swim when his family vacationed by a lake. But at the moment he jumped to his feet and the minutes following after, he would have bested the fastest sprinters in the world in his haste to reach Kim's room.
"Kimmie-cub?"
Kim sat up slowly, her eyes blinking but not seeing at first. When her eyes focused on the graying hairs at James's temple and the wide grin on his face, she smiled back at him weakly. She lifted a hand from the bed and reached towards him.
"Daddy."
"I'm so sorry." He clung to her, burying his face into her shoulder so nobody would see his tears. "Forgive me?"
"Yes."
Ann tugged him back so that she could settle closer to their daughter. "You gave us such a scare."
"Sorry." Kim's hand flew to her forehead and her eyes closed. "I have such a ferocious headache coming on."
"I'll get a nurse."
"Not yet." Kim rubbed her temples with her fingers. "I don't think I'm ready for you to leave my side. I just got you here… How long was I out? What happened?"
Ann took over the head massage with willing fingers. "You were comatose for about five days. As to what happened…"
"They're not sure." James supplied. He held Kim's hand tightly between his own. "They think that all the stress you've been under made you shut down. Your body has its own defense mechanisms, after all – and if you needed a break and weren't going to give it one…"
"It took its own vacation." Kim finished.
"That's the best answer they can come up with. None of your other results signaled any sort of medical problem."
Kim relaxed into the gentle caresses of her parents and fought a yawn. She had just woken up, but her body felt like it hadn't rested at all. Falling back asleep, though, was not high on her list of priorities – who was to say she'd wake back up again if she did doze off again? Instead she kept her eyes wide and open, her brain alert.
x-x-x
"This can't be happening." Kim traced her fingers down the television screen. "There's gotta be some sort of mistake. A mix up."
"Yeah." Shego sat on the cot, her legs folded beneath her. "If I'm here, and you're here, too, then who's moving your body around?"
"You mentioned there was some sort of help desk?"
"Lemme guess – you want me to take you there?"
Kim nodded, her eyes forlorn. Shego waved off the pout and gestured for Kim to follow her. Fighting a debilitating hopelessness, Kim tailed behind Shego in silence. While Kim's thoughts swirled desperately around the mystery of her suddenly moving body, Shego worried wordlessly about the time after the problem was resolved- the time after Kim had left her.
She couldn't bring herself to walk through the exit. She wasn't as brave as Bonnie, she admitted to herself with a cringe. There were just certain unknowns that should remain unknown, she thought. Like what was beyond that door. If this place was purgatory, then what lay beyond was most likely a version of hell. She had earned no less during her time alive. But when Kim was gone, and with no hope of ever gaining a body-
"Don't look so down." Kim touched her shoulder to get her attention. "If anyone gets to be bummed by any of this, it should be me."
"Right."
"You don't believe me?"
"I think I have an equal right to be depressed right now, Pumpkin." Shego snapped. "It wasn't just your body, if you remember. We both lost out on the same thing. At least you have a second shot."
Kim's head dropped as if Shego had punched her. "I know that…"
"So if you want to play the boo-hoo game and compare which one of us has the bigger ouchie…"
"I'm sorry, Shego." Kim cut in. "I don't want to do this with you."
"Of course not."
"I don't know what else I can do for you." Kim shook her head slowly. "I gave you everything, and you still resent me."
"You gave me nothing, except maybe a lifetime here."
"You know what? I think I can find the help center without your help."
"Good luck with that."
"So not the drama." Kim flicked her fingers at Shego, unwilling to be the outlet for the other woman's pain. Whatever it was causing Shego's outburst, Kim was sure that it wasn't just her and she knew she didn't deserve the tongue lashing she was receiving. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, maybe." Shego stalked away, though she did casually point her middle finger in the direction of the desk. When it came down to it, Shego would rather do the leaving. "See you around, Princess."
x-x-x
"So you see," Kim leaned on the countertop, "there must have been some sort of misunderstanding."
"We apologize for the inconvenience."
"I know you do!" Though Kim was trying to remain calm throughout the exchange, these little balls of light were infuriating. "The thing is, I was only giving up my body if Shego's soul received it. My signature was predicated on my belief that you things would give her my body. I didn't agree to anyone else taking it. It was either Shego or me."
A copy of the contract appeared on the countertop. "Here is the document in question. Please verify that the signature at the bottom was penned by your hand."
Kim reluctantly glanced at her signature. "It was."
"It explicitly states that the signer agrees to the terms as stated above."
"Does it?" Kim glanced through the wording and fought the rising desire to cry. "No, but, you see – the little ball of light helping me said that if I signed this, Shego would get my body."
"The file states that your server was unsuitable for the offered soul. In such a case, another soul is substituted."
"Right, but that soul should have been me." Kim felt like she was talking to a deaf two year old. The thing couldn't hear her and all it told her was no. "If Shego couldn't take my body, it was supposed to default to me."
"Our records do not show such a thing."
"Screw your records!" Kim slammed her fist down on the counter. "Give me my body back!"
"We apologize, but you have signed a binding…"
"I don't care what I've signed. I didn't agree to this."
The ball pulsed. "You may fill out a complaint form."
"A complaint form." Kim picked up the newest piece of paper before her. "What will this do?"
"We will investigate your claim."
"Does this mean I can get my body back?"
The ball flickering seemed akin to shrugging. "We can make no guarantees."
"Got a pen?"
Printing neatly, Kim began filling the form out with a frown marring her features. Under the section labeled "Reason for Complaint," Kim had to control her anger. She wrote carefully: You gave my body away. The wording she used in her head contained several more expletives, but wouldn't have gotten her closer to getting her body back.
x-x-x
"I'm sorry."
Kim stepped back out of Bonnie's shack just to make sure she had indeed entered the right home. She stepped inside once again and stared at Shego, baffled.
"Did you say that to me?"
"Who else would I be talking to?" Shego's temper had cooled, but that didn't mean she was ready to abide by idiocy.
"I don't know. I just – never would have thought you'd apologize to me."
"Yeah, well, treasure the memory."
"What for?"
"Because it won't happen again." Shego purposely disregarded the regularity of her apologies to Kim.
"No. I mean why are you apologizing?"
Ah, Shego thought. She had hoped they could sidestep most of this conversation, but appeared that Kim was determined to have it out. "Because."
"So eloquent."
"Let me finish."
"Please."
"Because… I was an asshole to you earlier."
"That's a true statement. And?"
Shego groaned. "You're really going to do this to me?"
"Yes." Kim padded to the cot where Shego was stretched out and made Shego look into her eyes. "I think you owe it to me."
"Fine. You didn't deserve the shit I said to you. We both lost out, but that didn't give me the right to say all that to you." Shego snorted. "We good?"
Kim flopped on top of Shego, who squawked indignantly at the intrusion. "Oh, be quiet. I know you don't want me here, and I know you think this is a bad idea. But… just for now?"
Shego eyed her warily but slid her arms around Kim's middle. The redhead nestled her head into the crook of Shego's neck and closed her eyes. Shego's heart thudded dully in her chest and she couldn't help but slip her fingers up under the back of Kim's t-shirt. When her fingertips grazed Kim's bare skin, the smaller woman smirked into Shego's pulse point.
"I thought this was a bad idea."
"It is."
"Just to be clear – I didn't do this to get something from you." Kim eased back so that she could stare directly at Shego. "I just thought, neither of us needs to be alone right now, y'know?"
"I know."
Shego let her fingers move in concentric circles and Kim relaxed back against her. They remained that way for some time, the only communication between them in the form of Kim's soft sighs and Shego's knowing grunts. Sensing that Kim was falling asleep atop her, Shego tickled Kim's side.
"No falling asleep, squirt."
"That's a new one." Kim whispered. "Why won't you just call me Kim?"
"What did the help desk tell you?"
"That I signed a contract waiving my right to my body. Which is true. So I filled out a complaint form."
"What are your chances?"
"Slim."
"Oh, I see."
Kim wondered if that had been relief in Shego's voice. She waved the thought away. "They said they'll look into it. But they wouldn't make me any promises."
"I wonder if people can sue them?" It was an idle thought, but made Shego's lips curl upwards. "Can you imagine the negligence claims? Or a courtroom full of little balls of light, all apologizing to each other for the inconvenience."
"Shego, this is serious."
"I know." Shego pulled Kim closer to her. "What are you going to do?"
"I don't want to think about it."
"You have to."
"I won't."
"Kim."
Though a shiver ran through Kim at Shego's use of her name, Kim refused to follow the thread of their current conversation. She knew Shego had only said the word because it was a surefire way to manipulate her. Well it wouldn't work, she decided. But then she felt Shego's lips on her collarbone.
"Shego?"
"What are you going to do?"
"I don't know yet." Kim nearly mewled when Shego's lips left her skin. Wanting the contact back, Kim tried again. "I just want to see what happens. If I can get my body back, that'd be great, I guess… If I don't get it back – I want to see how things are, first."
"Things?"
"You." Kim elaborated. "I want to see how things are between us."
Shego flushed, her jade skin darkening to emerald. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"I'm not crazy, Shego." Kim let the very tip of her nose ease along Shego's neck. From her vantage point, Kim could see each bump that rose on Shego's skin in the wake of her attention. "I know you feel it, too. No matter how much you claim you don't want it."
"All this cuddling's made you delusion." Despite her words, Shego didn't try to push Kim away, but instead tightened her grip. "And what happened to not expecting anything from me, you little creep?"
"Well, you're the one who started asking the tough questions."
"Yeah, I'm sorry for wanting answers."
Kim scrunched her nose and rolled off of Shego. Lying against Shego wasn't going to do anything but make everything more difficult. If her feelings for Shego intensified, she wasn't sure she'd be able to walk away and back to her body.
"We should spar sometime. I mean, you without your plasma, because it's an unfair advantage."
"I'd like that."
Keenly aware of Shego's eyes tracking her movement, Kim threw herself down into an easy chair. "I would, too. It's been so long since I've gotten exercise."
"You're telling me."
"Is there anything else you haven't done in a while?" Kim smirked. She hadn't intended on her question coming out rife with innuendo, but it did sound awfully like a come on.
Shego sat up. "Have you ever read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn?"
"Once, in like my sophomore year of high school."
"What did you think of it?"
Kim strained to think back to it. "I mean, I was forced to read it – but I think I liked it. I always admired Huck. How he could just drop his life and head upstream with his friend."
"I understand that. He was my hero when I was a kid. He did what he wanted, regardless of what society said he should do. I used to dress up as him every year for Halloween."
Kim tried to picture Shego as a child wearing a little leather vest. It was too difficult to even imagine Shego as anything but a formidable woman, so Kim merely smiled. "I can see where you got your penchant for bad behavior."
"I ran away when I was fifteen."
"Why?"
"Remember at the beginning of Huck Finn, when the Widow Douglas tried to civilize Huck? Made him wear new clothes – decent clothes – and did her best to make him behave?" Shego closed her eyes. "I felt like that was my life."
"What do you mean?" Kim really wanted to ask why Shego was telling her this information, but wanted to hear the story more than she wanted an explanation.
"I grew up a tomboy. I kept my hair short, wore as little as possible, and stayed out playing in the dirt with the neighborhood boys. I got more scabs than should be humanly possible." A smile played on Shego's lips. "I spent more time barefoot in the garden than inside playing with dolls. Father didn't like that, but mom insisted I spend my childhood the way I wanted to."
"It sounds great."
"It was. But then – well, things changed."
"Did, uh, something happen to your mom?"
"Nothing so dramatic." Shego sighed. "My father allowed me to have my childhood, but when I was eleven, they both agreed I was old enough to cut out the boyish behavior. It wasn't cute anymore that people mistook me for a little boy. They took me to have extensions woven into my hair. That was the worst – sitting for hours on end while demanding hands tug on my hair. They threw out my shorts and tank tops and gave me skirts and blouses. They even put me through an agonizing class on how to properly apply makeup."
Kim winced. "But you're beautiful enough without…?"
Shego rolled her eyes at the blatant flattery. "When a comet crashed into my brother's and my tree house, giving us all super powers, I thought it was the answer. I thought they'd realize how close they'd come to losing me and they'd just let me be myself. But it just got worse. All sorts of attention was focused on us as a family and my parents were worried people would think they had five sons. I just… couldn't take it anymore. I wanted so badly to be Huck, to run away and never look back."
"So you tried."
"I wanted it so badly." Shego repeated. "I got halfway down the street when I realized that I had no marketable skills. I had like four dollars in my pocket, plus a handful of change. I had no idea where I was going to sleep for the night. I was just so helpless. I didn't have a river and a friend to travel with, so I walked home. They hadn't even noticed that I left."
"Why did you tell me that story?"
"You asked if there was anything else I hadn't done lately." Shego gazed steadily at Kim. "I haven't talked. I mean really talked. To anyone. About myself, or about anything. So… I guess…"
"Thank you."
Done sharing, Shego recoiled into herself. "Don't flatter yourself. You're just my only option."
"Thanks anyway." Kim bridged the distance between them with her hand. She squeezed Shego's thigh.
x-x-x
"K.P.! You're okay!" Ron's body wanted both to faint at the sight of his best friend and fling itself at her. After a brief moment of trying to do both, he squiggled to her side and kissed her cheek. "Man, is it good to see you up and about!"
"Ronny." She embraced him. "I'm so glad to see you, too."
"I'm so sorry." He grabbed her shoulders and stared seriously into her eyes. He refused to blink, as if any change in his eyes would signal that he was being dishonest. "I totally wouldn't have gotten you drunk if I knew you'd go all comatose."
"It wasn't your fault. Please, don't let it weigh on your conscience."
There was something different about Kim, he thought. She called him Ronny and spoke as if she were weighing each word. But she felt the same in his arms and her eyes sparkled the same way, too. Whatever had happened, it had perhaps changed Kim, but not entirely.
"I hear what you're saying, but it's gonna be a while before I believe it." He chuckled. "But I'll work on it."
"So what's been going on since I was, you know, out?"
They were alone at Kim's apartment. Though both Possible parents had been eager to stick around and help their little girl settle in and heal, Kim had dismissed them as politely as she could – claiming she just needed some time to herself. As soon as they were gone, she'd contacted Ron, who was only too enthusiastic to join her. Because they were alone, Ron leaned in close.
"I hooked up with Monique."
"You did what? With who?"
"You heard me." He puffed his chest out. "She said I was pretty damn good, too."
"So are you two… you know… a thing?"
"I don't know." He grimaced. "I think I'd like to try, but she's flighty. Like she can't stay in one place, with one guy, for long."
"Ephemeral." Kim agreed.
His face twisted a little at her word choice. "You been catching up on your word-a-day calendars?"
"I just – if you know a good word for something, why not use it?"
"Is this one of those prank shows?" He suspiciously examined the corners of the apartment. "You faked a coma and this is some elaborate joke?"
"No, Ronny." She hugged him again. "I'm just so happy to be alive."
x-x-x
"You know what I think?" Kim leaned over her legs. They were stretched out in front of her, and she ducked her head as close to her kneecaps as it would go.
"What?" While Kim wanted to stretch before they fought, Shego sprawled on a lawn chair.
"I think that I'm going to win this time. What are you without your plasma? Just a regular lady."
"Who happens to be exceptionally well trained."
Kim scoffed openly at the claim. "Well, so am I."
"Princess, the day you beat me in a fist fight is the day I'll…"
"Give me a favor."
"Naw, the time for that shit's done." Shego waved her hand. "If you want something from me, just ask."
"Will you give it to me?"
"What?"
"What I ask for."
"I don't know. What are you asking for?"
Kim shrugged. "I don't know."
"Then it's a little pointless to ask me for it, isn't it?"
"You know what I mean."
Shego shrugged. "Maybe if you can beat me, we'll work something out."
"Fine by me." Kim didn't mention that what Shego wanted was in essence the same thing as granting Kim a favor if she won. Instead she finished her stretches and stood up. "You ready?"
"I've been waiting."
Kim started the fight with a vigorous punch that clipped Shego's cheek. If Kim learned anything from their previous encounter, it was that she would have to be quick to catch the lithe woman – so she sacrificed some of the power behind her hit in favor of agility. The grin that came over Shego's face made her squirm.
"Why Princess! I didn't know we were having a pillow fight."
"Keep laughing, Shego."
Shego continued chuckling as she whipped her right leg up towards Kim's face. Kim brought her arm up just in time to deflect the blow. Before Kim could properly recover, Shego swiped her hand down and forced Kim back several steps.
"And now we're dancing." Shego amended. "I'd be better off sunbathing."
Her baiting worked. Kim's strategy fled her mind and she charged angrily in. The next time Shego kicked at her, Kim ducked beneath the flying leg and slammed her fist into Shego's gut. Even with the air knocked out of her, Shego maintained her fighting stance as if nothing had happened. In a mad attempt to get an advantage, Kim twirled a roundhouse kick, but Shego snagged her ankle mid-air and threw the smaller redhead several feet. Kim crashed into the lawn chairs.
"Low blow, Shego."
"Who said we were fighting fair? Do we ever do that?" Shego advanced on her, her hands flexing though not ignited.
Kim lunged up off the ground, narrowly evading Shego's foot as it stomped towards her midsection. Doubling her efforts, Kim pushed in as close as she could get while dodging Shego's wild fists and slung Shego over her hip. The green woman toppled to the floor.
"So what shall my prize be?" Kim mused as she dropped on top of Shego, her arms locking around Shego's neck in a makeshift chokehold. "And remember – you can tap out whenever you want."
"Sorry, Princess." Shego heaved out. "There's no prize for second place."
And with that, Shego bucked up and displaced Kim. Though far from tired from their match, Shego was ready to pronounce herself winner. With that in mind, Shego cuffed Kim neatly in the temple and watched Kim crumple.
"Okay, Princess. Will you admit I won?" Shego nudged Kim's body with her foot, but Kim didn't stir. "Haha, very funny."
When Kim still refused to budge, Shego picked her up, carried her inside, and laid her gently on the cot. She slapped Kim's face until Kim's cheeks were rosy and her eyelids fluttered.
"I think you owe me an apology." Kim muttered. Her ears were still ringing. It just went to show, she thought bitterly, that she still needed more practice to return to her previous state of fitness.
"I told you, you only get one a lifetime. I'm all sorried out."
"Then what will you give me?" Kim let her eyes rove down Shego's body.
"Nothing."
"So not fair."
"So not my problem. I won, and you've just gotta suck it up." Shego tossed her head back.
"Just tell me something else about yourself and we'll call it even."
For a long moment, Kim wondered if she'd overstepped her boundaries. But Shego grunted and settled against the nearest wall.
"My brothers and I were once a team of superheroes. Maybe you've heard of Team Go?"
"My little brothers had all the comics." Kim grinned. "But there was never a girl hero?"
"Yeah, they cut me out of all the merchandising when I split."
"Was it fun?"
"It was probably the happiest time in my life, for a while. All through my childhood, I just wanted to be one of the guys – and I could finally do that. I fought alongside my brothers and got as dirty and bruised as I wanted."
"So why did you stop?"
"My parents."
"Again?" Kim let out an exasperated sigh. "You have some serious parental baggage."
"Can I continue?" Shego waited until Kim waved her on. "They said we were doing the right thing, that they approved. That made me so angry. Why was it okay now? For me to reject being girly? But money changes people, Princess. I guess to my father it didn't matter what people thought of his little girl as long as she was providing him a comfortable lifestyle. I realized on my eighteenth birthday that I could either keep living the life my parents wanted for me, or I could throw it all away and try something new, something for myself."
"Drakken?"
"Not at first. At first I struck out on my own. It was a lot of petty crimes. Shoplifting, going for joy rides, that sort of thing. It felt good because I'd finally found something they could never approve of. And there was nothing they could do to stop me, or change me."
"I wish I'd known you before all this happened."
"You think you could have saved me?"
"No." Kim shook her head. "But it sounds like you could have used a friend."
"Don't forget that when I was fifteen, you were probably around five. I probably wouldn't have bothered looking at you, let alone talking to you."
"What was your name? I'm assuming Shego is made up."
"Shelley." Shego closed her eyes. She could almost hear her mother cooing to her. "My mother called me her little Sea-Shell."
"My dad calls me Kimmie-cub."
"Parents are dumb." Shego cleared her throat. "Can this be done now?"
"Of course – I didn't mean to pry."
"Yeah, you did."
Kim shrugged. "I can't help that you're the only interesting thing in this place."
"I suppose not." Shego tilted her head back regally. "I'm probably the only interesting thing you've ever had the good luck to meet."
"Oh come off it." Kim teased. She was grateful for their banter. Even if things were looking bleak, at least she had a friend to help her through it. "In the future, no headshots, okay?"
"Doy." Shego looked affronted that Kim had even bothered setting that new rule out. "I don't want to have to deal with a corpse again. You're pretty heavy."
"Are you calling me fat?"
"If the shoe fits…"
"So mega uncool!" Kim complained.
They smiled at each other.
A/N: My apologies if the time between this chapter and the next is longer than usual. It's that time of year.
