Vacation from the Norm

by kgs-wy

Kim's graduation? So the drama. Summer semester at Go City U? Even worse! But Ron has a badical plan: a month long European vacation for the two of them and Rufus! Can the world avoid mischief for a month or does Shego's sudden appearance scream trouble?

10. Chapter 10

Author's Notes

A few notes about a couple things in this chapter... I have a somewhat unique view of the KPverse as opposed to that of our real life universe. First being that, in my view (based on some things hinted at in the series, but not stated outright), alternative sexual orientation - such as homosexuality, bisexuality, omnisexuality, etc. - is not necessarily the taboo it is in our real life in so many societies. While there will be those in this fic that view it as wrong, if not outright disgusting and/or sinful, they are the distinct minority. The KPverse just seems to me to be far more accepting than our world.

As well, there will be, at the end of this chapter (and in the next chapter) some semi-frank discussions of cannabis use. Don't worry, I'm not going to fill the KP cast with stoners, and the characters involved do have at least semi-valid reasons for use. XD

Based on that, I hope you can still enjoy the fic, and hopefully my views aren't too outlandish to ruin your enjoyment, or suspension of disbelief.

Anyway, on to the review replies!

Pesterfield: as always, thanks for the post mortem beta-ish review, and, again as always, I hope the fic continues to live up to expectations.

animeaddict007: thanks for the review! Glad to see it, and hopefully that means you're enjoyin' the fic. As to Shego's comment, and Rufus' plan... Some of that's explained at the end of the chapter and early next, and hopefully it's not too... Out of left field. ^_^;;

KP RS SG KP RS SG

Stepping into the elevator, Shego decided to distract herself and Kim from the last several minutes of drama. Reaching out in a sneaky manner, she slapped Ron on the shoulder as he had a few other people during the day, almost making him drop his wallet and the keycard he'd just removed, "What'd ya order for dessert, Doofus?"

"Hey…" Kim objected lightly, a small but honest smile on her face.

"Better than 'Buffoon', KP!" Ron interjected, earning a laugh from both women, and an agreeing chirp and thumbs up from Rufus. Kim nodded in agreement as Ron swiped his keycard and pressed the button for their floor. Holding the keycard in one hand, he slipped the wallet into his pants and brought his hands in front of him grandly. Then he ticked off what he'd ordered, "I've gotten an orange Käsesahnetorte for you, Shego, I got myself a Schwarzwälder kirschtorte, and for KP, a nine layer Prinzregententorte…"

"Um…" Kim's tone and obvious confusion drew Ron's attention, and neither of them saw the hard, searching stare Shego gave Ron as he waited for Kim to continue. As the elevator doors opened, the red-head sighed in exasperation as she pulled Ron and Shego both from the elevator. Ron chuckled and Shego gave the red-head a brief, amused stare as she huffed at Ron, "English?"

Ron chuckled and glanced at Shego, the pale woman quickly schooling her face into neutrality, "Orange cheese and cream cake for Shego. I went with a regional specialty, cherry and chocolate cake made with kirschwasser, a cherry liquor. Yours, KP, is a nine layer sponge cake with chocolate buttercream in between each layer, and topped with chocolate glaze."

Ron noticed that Kim seemed happy as he replaced his keycard in his wallet. He also saw that while Shego was smiling, she still had a searching glint in her eye that made Ron feel a bit nervous. After closing the door and putting his wallet away, he called out to the pale thief, "Shego? Um… What's with the funny look you've been giving me?"

"Huh?" Shego replied dumbly, then blushed lightly, "Oh, sorry, just… Um, why did you get orange cheesecake for me? I might've wanted to have the chocolate, too, y'know..."

"Oh…" Ron laughed easily, "I dunno, honestly? It just seemed right and fits with you for some reason?" Shego, Kim and even Rufus all looked at him questioningly, so he expounded, "Well, the cheesecake 'cause, well, they're rich and delicious..."

Shego blinked at him a few times, and Kim tittered in an almost juvenile fashion at his remark. The security consultant groaned slightly, screwing her face up in a slightly incredulous expression. Did he just hit on me... she wondered in a bemused fashion, rather surprised Kim had missed it. Or did she? She's not normally that oblivious, even when distracted... Maybe Kimmie really is that amused by it? Even okay with it, maybe? She considered a few seconds before shaking her head, Just let it go for now... she concluded to herself and spoke up in a dry, ironic tone, "Smooth, Stoppable, very smooth..."

"Huh?" Ron's confusion, which to Shego looked like a classic put on, lasted for a few seconds. When Kim's mirth and Shego's reaction sunk in, he gulped audibly, Shego again concluding it was an affected expression of fear, "Oh... Oh! Um, sorry, I didn't mean it that way? I mean... Well, okay, yeah, you're quite... Um..." He glanced at Kim as if to ask for help.

"Oh, no..." Kim said with a note of amused finality, "You're gonna get yourself out of this one... Especially since I want to know where you're going with this, too..."

"Okay..." Taking what he hoped was an unobtrusive breath, he let himself fall into distraction mode, hoping it worked with words as well as it did in fighting henchmen, "Well... Honestly, Shego, you're completely, badically attractive, and delicious looking, and... Um, and if you paid out of pocket for the Mandarin Oriental, I guess you're fairly well off, too, so at least you're kinda rich and stuff, y'know? But, well, I just meant that it's a rich dessert, and cheesecake is delicious! And, I guess, I just thought it, well, it just..." He took a breath, hoping it wasn't too obvious, and finished in a lame tone, "It fits with you?"

His smile, guileless eyes and acting as if he expected plasma burns - not to mention the meandering fashion in which he'd gotten to his point - was just enough to draw some laughter from both Kim and Shego, and he relaxed visibly. Acting like he didn't get a B+ in English, or average a three-point-four-five GPA to stay in the extracurriculars is almost endearing... Almost... Shego allowed her laughter to die, and just as Ron acted as if he believed he was off the hook, she prodded just a little further "So, why orange?"

"Well..." Ron paused, and while it seemed as if he was speaking off the cuff, the result sounded suspiciously like he'd put some thought into it, "They're firm, but not too firm, they've got a nice texture in the hand or in the mouth... They're tart but sweet, and really awesome, too... At least, if you can get past the protective rind…"

"You been giving him lessons, Princess?" Shego waited a beat for Kim's reaction, and snickered when the red-head rolled her eyes, "Well, the funny look, Sport, is because I do like cheesecake... And oranges. They're my favorite fruit…"

"Oh..." Ron blinked, then laughed nervously while looking over at a still snickering Kim, "Well... Do you want to get to saying what you were about to to Kim, or wait for dessert? If you still want to, I mean."

If he'd get over that 'I have to act like a moron' complex... Shego gave him a considering gaze, leaving her own thought unfinished and forcing herself onto a different tangent, At least he's grown up a little bit... She shrugged finally and took a seat next to the end of the dining table. "Well... I will, but after we eat... It's..." She paused, sighing before glancing at Ron as he sat across the table from her, and Kim sat at the end, between the former thief and Ron, "I've never talked... I've tried to talk about it, rather, but not... Not since the last conversation I had with Hego when Aviarius tried to steal our powers, and he acted like none of it ever happened..."

"Oh..." Ron nodded in a mix of confusion and understanding, then glanced over at the HDTV, then the clock on the wall behind Shego. It was set to show the time in Munich as well as the US Mountain time zone. Seeing it was just after midnight, which meant it was just after four back home, he perked up, "Hey, KP, Stanford's playing in an hour and a half!"

"You watch football?" Shego asked with some incredulity.

"Hey, I was a running back!" Ron stuck his tongue out at her, "Besides, since I went into football in senior year, the guy that was Q.B. during our sophomore and junior years and he's been emailing me and stuff. He got into Stanford and red-shirted last year, but he said in his last email that he's gonna be backup for the starter, and might get a play or two in the game."

"You didn't tell me Brick was playing this year!" Kim complained, but without any real fire, "And I still don't see how he got into Stanford, even as good as he was..."

"What," Shego asked curiously, "Was he a moron?"

"He failed his junior year three times..." Ron winced, "Worse grades than me. Apparently, he was really dyslexic, and was never diagnosed."

"That would suck..." Shego murmured, "But undiagnosed?"

"His parents were more apathetic than Ron's..." Kim griped, "Or so he said when I kinda half-dated him."

"Yeah, but he had tutoring during senior year." Ron said, and Kim gave him a strange look, "You didn't know?"

"No, who was his tutor?" Kim asked.

"Justine, weirdly." Ron chuckled then, "That's why he and Bonnie kept having spats and breaking up, she thought they were 'too close' or something. And after Junior Prom, Monique suggested he date Justine, and he did, and Justine helped him enough to pass Stanford's entrance exams..."

"That's so weird... But it's kinda sweet." Kim laughed lightly and shrugged, pointing at the big screen, "Go ahead and turn it on, it'll be background noise, at least…"

"Probably a good idea…" Shego murmured, "They get more American programming than just the games, right?"

"Yup!" Ron laughed, "Full satellite package from the 'States!"

"Good, I won't get bored out of my skull if I have to come out here when you two get boister-…" The ringing of the doorbell interrupted her teasing remark.

"I'll get that!" Kim chirped a little too happily, her action and the blush staining her cheeks and nose making it obvious she was trying to avoid the comment altogether. She stood and hurried over to look at the LCD 'peephole' next to the door, and Shego sighed heavily, glancing at Ron.

"Hey, Ronnie?" Shego spoke in a low voice, keeping it just above a whisper so as not to draw Kim's attention.

"Yeah?" Ron replied in the same tone.

"Is Kimmie okay? She seems a bit..." The security consultant waved a hand uncertainly, "Off?" Shego favored him with a serious expression, and he rubbed his chin with mild agitation.

"No, not really…" he admitted grudgingly, "I mean, you helped, seriously, but honestly? Part of it's her period, the rest... She's been holding onto this... Whatever this is... For a while… And, well… I worry, but I try not to get too, um…"

"Pushy and clingy about it?" Shego supplied, and Ron nodded firmly.

"Exactly…" He glanced back to see Kim taking a tray from the man delivering their food, and quickly added, "I mean, she's pretty much normal when she's not thinking about it, and she tries so damn hard to not let it get to her, but…" he shrugged, smiling hopefully at Shego, "Maybe you talking about what happened to you will help? I mean, maybe she'll really get this out of her system, that way? I dunno, it's kinda what the vacation's all about. So… Maybe it'll help, like I said. I hope so, anyway!"

"Me too…" Shego agreed before she realized she was speaking. She blinked, marveling not only at how much she meant those two words, but at how quickly she'd become attached to the petite red-head and even her fiancé and his pet rat. Worse than when I was that bubble headed version of myself... She shook her head and smiled as Kim literally bounced back and forth on her feet as she set the tray on the table. Well, okay, at least this time I can actually think that's cute without feeling like I'm breaking every law of natur...

Shego almost slapped a palm over her face at the thought, and winced at the randomness of her thought process. To hide the wince, she tilted her head, and reached out as if merely curious, flicking a fingernail into the service platter's cover as Ron lifted it. All of their eyes widened as the cover rang out in a pure, clean tone. "Silver? They go all out for the fancy rooms, here, huh?" At Kim and Ron's uncertain gazes, she smirked, "That'd normally be plastic, maybe stamped stainless in a high end room, even at most resorts…"

"I don't think they have to worry much about thieves here…" Kim said airily as she stared at the deserts on the plate, especially her Prinzregententorte.

"Probably not..." Shego wanted to be irked at Kim's comment, but couldn't help but agree. She'd noticed the security measures at the hotel, and they were better than many government agency buildings she'd broken into during her prior career.

"Oh, cool," Ron called out brightly as he picked up a hand scrawled note under a plate with a smaller portion of each dish. Rufus jumped from his shoulder to the tabletop to read with Ron, and Ron read aloud for Kim and Shego's benefit, "It says, 'We know that you are an important member of Team Possible, and you, like your master Ron, rarely get recognition no matter how hard Kim Possible has tried to share her recognition with you in the past. Our thanks for being an important partner to Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable! The Management.' Wow..."

All three humans looked at the pink rodent, and were tickled to see his whole body blushing. Shego was the first to speak, and she reached out to pat the beet red crown of his head, "That's awesome, Bud!"

"Badical!" Ron held out a fist to Rufus, who gave him a pound in return.

"They're right, and we'll make sure you get the recognition you deserve next time you save the day, Rufus..." Kim promised, patting his head much as Shego had done.

"D'aww..." Rufus tried to demure but his proud smile woudn't be denied, and he let out a happy cry, "Yay!" He scrambled over to Kim's right, sitting between the two teens to receive his plate.

Ron sat Rufus' slice of cake down, and the naked mole rat almost swooned. The Schwarzwälder kirschtorte, also known as "Black Forest cake", was three layers thick, the cake itself a deep, dense chocolate as thick as Rufus was wide that smelled powerfully of cherries. Between the layers and on the outside was a thick layer of whipped cream, and it was topped with decorative swirls of whipped cream crowned with maraschino cherries. Rufus reached out and took a dab of the whipped cream and tasted it, making a loud, sloppy sucking sound. He let his eyes roll back into his head slightly, and called out, "Bad'cal!"

The three humans chuckled as Ron handed Shego her plate. The wedge shaped slice of cheesecake was almost twenty centimeters long, and about half that in width at the wedge's wide end and in thickness. The top was covered decoratively in orange slices, with a gooey, clingy glaze that dripped down the sides. "This…" the former thief almost moaned, "Looks positively sinful…" The look on her face was somewhere between hungry and disturbingly predatory, but quickly sank, followed by a despondent sigh, "I'm so going to need the workout room before breakfast…"

"Me too…" Kim griped in a mockingly serious tone, "Thanks for reminding me…" She gazed at her slice of Prinzregententorte as if it were one of her foes. The slice was about half the length of Shego's cake in every dimension but thickness. Each layer of sponge cake was about two centimeters thick, with a layer of chocolate buttercream about half that. The top and back side of the slice was covered in a thin layer of semi-hard, dark chocolate glaze and Kim found her mouth watering at the sight.

"Kimmie," Shego smiled sweetly, "I've seen you pack away as much as Ron…" she jabbed a thumb at Ron, "And not gain a pound…" Kim stuck her tongue out at Shego, and the thief couldn't help but make a snappy comeback, "Be careful when making offers, Princess… You never know who'll take you up on it!"

"Eep!" Kim's eyes went wide as the sound emanated from her, and covered her mouth with her hands, a hot, fast moving blush crawling across her face, "Not funny!" she cried as Ron, Rufus and Shego all started laughing at her seeming discomfort.

"What's wrong, Kimmie?" Shego prodded further, waving a forkful of her cheesecake towards the red-head, "Not used to being hit on by a woman that likes other women?"

"Hardly!" Kim laughed, despite her blush. She paused to cut a heaping forkful from her plate and stuff it in her mouth much like Ron would have with a Naco. "Mmmm, dith id fo good!"

Shego stared askance at her, then at Ron, "She always like this with chocolate?"

"Only about five days out of the mont-ow!" He jumped and almost fell backwards in his chair, covering his right nipple. Shego barely suppressed a loud guffaw that would have sprayed poor Rufus with a mouthful of half chewed cake.

"I'm not that bad." Although there was a touch of annoyance visible in her face and in her tone, there was a teasing glint in her eye as she looked at Ron and tensed her still outstretched arm, flexing her fingers, "Am I Ronnie?"

"Right, KP!" he smiled nervously, taking his seat and keeping his chest covered as if expecting another attack, "Not at all!"

"Anyway…" Shego snorted, "You were saying, Pumpkin?"

"Huh?" Kim stared at her dumbly for a moment, before realizing what Shego was referring to, "Oh, yeah. Um, two of our best friends, Alex Eressos and Tara Larsen, I think they were in your classes, do you remember?"

"Alex... Kinda cute, severe boycut, looks like she could be Cyclops' li'l sister?" Kim rolled her eyes at Shego's comment about Dr. Director, but nodded, "And Tara… Cute as hell, blonde, blue eyes, strongest member of the cheer squad other than you and couldn't go longer than five minutes without getting bubbly headedness everywhere?"

"Yup!" Ron nodded, and Kim elbowed him lightly.

"Anyway…" she leaned over to give Ron a kiss on the cheek, letting him know he was safe from her for a while, "They live in the other half of the duplex we rent back in Go City. They're also lovers, and Alex loves to tease me about it."

"Why?" Shego was honestly curious, "Did it bother you?"

"Not really?" Kim drew out slightly, "I mean, everyone kinda knew about Alex already, she's been out since she was ten…"

"Wow…" Shego was surprised at both the early age the girl realized her sexuality, and Kim's easy acceptance of the teasing. "So what made you blush right there?"

"I don't know?" Kim's tone was honestly confused, "Mostly because of that silly sound I made, but... The rest, you just caught me off guard is all. I mean, I didn't even know you liked women until today, y'know? And... With Alex, I know she'd never be serious, 'cause Tara wouldn't be interested in me that way..." Kim self-consciously dropped her voice to a bare whisper, "And you haven't said one way or the other..."

"Oh…" Shego nodded in understanding seeming to be deep in thought. If the older woman caught Kim's self-conscious whisper, she ignored it , "That would be distracting, wouldn't it?"

"I'll get over it," Kim assured her, then dug back into her cake, "Slammin' choice, Ron…"

"Oh, yeah…" Shego agreed, savoring the sweet, thick cake, absently licking at some of the orange glaze on her fork's tines.

"Sank yo!" Ron bowed slightly, trying not to pay attention to what Shego's tongue on the tines looked like, and trying to ignore the fact that Kim's blush had spread from her cheeks to her ears and the crown of her head from the same display. Deciding he needed more than willpower to ignore Shego's action, he took up his fork and dug in himself, tasting his piece in a manner so similar to Rufus' closed eyed, almost worshipful manner that Kim and Shego both giggled, Kim's blush rapidly fading at his display.

"You know what?" Shego asked after a few minutes of silent enjoyment of their deserts, "I never thought I'd be sitting in a hotel room with you two enjoying a dessert like this…"

"Why's that?" Ron asked, curious what Shego was getting at.

"Lots of reasons…" Shego shrugged, "Being a bad guy for so long, then dating Drew I figured I wouldn't even make the 'Fest this year…" She snorted, shaking her head, "Hell, I didn't know you guys would even be here! As for missing it this year, I didn't really mind, at least early on in the relationship…"

"Whatever happened with that, anyway?" Kim's voice held concern as she leaned back, staring at the ceiling as she collected her admittedly scattered thoughts, "I mean, when I heard you two broke up, I was worried one or both of you might go back to, y'know…"

Shego nodded, as if to answer, but she stayed silent for a long moment. "We... Well, y'know he was always saying we were an evil family, and, well... It felt like dating an uncle or something..." Shego shrugged, continuing in sheepish fashion, "As for goin' evil again... I actually thought about it briefly when I couldn't get any work…" Shego's admission was uneasy, but honest, "Very briefly, I might add! But I was more worried about Drew, 'cause he started goin' all deeper into his research. The break up was really smooth, and probably for the best, but you never know with someone like him…"

She laughed ruefully as Kim and Ron nodded in agreement, "But then again, I shouldn't have worried too much… I got him into counseling early on, and his doc's one of the best."

"Who is his doc?" Ron's tone was incredulous, "I mean, no offense to Dr. L., but I'd think working out his issues would take some work…"

"Um, I asked around for the best in the 'States for special cases like Drew's, and was referred to Ima Kopffall, an-…" Shego groaned as Ron began laughing raucously, wincing as if she'd remembered something just a tad late.

"Ron!" Kim admonished loudly, slapping his shoulder and trying not to get sucked into laughing with Ron's amusement, especially when Shego joined in with a snorting chuckle of her own. Kim cocked her head at Shego in annoyance, thoroughly confused.

"S-sorry, Kimmie…" Shego grunted after another moment of mirth, finally clamping enough control on her laughter to talk, though her tone was still amused, "I forgot Ronnie here somehow mastered the German language. Kopf is German for head," she pointed at her own head to illustrate, "And fall, in this cas-... Erm, in this context, is German for case."

"Wait…" Kim's eyes widened in near horror, realizing the implications behind the name, and then found herself trying to stifle laughter of her own.

"Exactly!" Shego smiled brightly, "I talked to her once after one of Drew's more trying sessions… Apparently her dad was born and raised in America, and despite the German background never learned a lick of German. So she decided to take German in school, and learned what her name was, and decided it was a sign to go into psychology."

"She must be good," Ron commented, "I saw Dr. L at the Snowman Hank convention that was held at the GCU Conference Center..." He paused and his face screwed up in thought, "Isn't it weird that they have a convention about a show set in Christmas in the middle of summer?" Kim's small cough and raised eyebrow made him realize he was rambling, a habit he was trying to break. With a cough of his own, he changed course. "Anyway, I think he's pretty cool now, and he's a lot calmer…"

"Well, I think his girlfriend had a lot to do with it." Shego said with an air of propriety, and a distinct note of pride as well.

"He's dating someone else?" Ron asked, and Kim grunted as if just remembering something.

"Yeah, I forgot you were in Japan... You remember when Dad came over to do that work at GCU, about a week before dad walked in without a word?" Kim grimaced, and Ron nodded, prompting her to go on before she started ranting, "You remember Dr. Porter?"

"No way!" Ron gasped, his eyes wide as saucers.

"Hey," Shego grumped, jumping to Drew's offense, "He's not the best looking, but far from the worst, and he's got a great body, especially for someone his age!"

"I'll take your word for it." Ron tried to sound sweetly innocent, but then he couldn't resist adding, "Is it what they say about small han-…"

"We… Never went that far…" Shego admitted with a brilliant blush and a slight grimace, "Remember my comment about the evil family and how it felt dating him?"

"Oh, sorry…" Ron pursed his lips in dismay.

"It's all good…" Shego sighed as her blush faded. Then a devilish look fell across her features and she turned towards Kim, "Speaking of hands, is it tru-…"

"So not going to go there…" Kim stuck her tongue out at Shego, "But, yeah, he's dating Dr. Porter now, though I didn't realize they were working at the same place over in Go City 'til dad mentioned it. I still don't quite get how they hooked up, they should've been in completely different departments and I'm sure they worked completely different shifts…"

"I might've had a little to do with that…" Shego admitted with Cheshire Cat like smirk.

"Well?" Kim asked in a barely subdued burst of hyper curiosity when Shego stayed silent.

"Um…" Shego reached up and scratched the back of her neck sheepishly, then sighed, "When I was younger, I was kinda attracted to nerds… Um, with dating Drew, I guess I still am?" Kim and Ron nodded in understanding, and Rufus gave a jaunty thumbs up that earned him a raspberry. "Anyway, I went to high school with Vivi, and, well… Um, senior year and about halfway through my college freshman year. She was pretty much my first girlfriend!"

"Pretty much?" Kim asked leadingly, a 'sugar won't melt in my mouth' expression on her face. Neither woman noticed Ron had a far off look in his eyes, but Rufus did, and shook his head at how weird humans, especially his human, could be.

"Um…" Shego seemed nonplussed, so she expanded her comment a bit, "She and I were together pretty seriously for a while, but we kinda just drifted into what amounts to friends with benefits…"

"Y-you and…" Ron finally said, still staring off into space, "Dr. Porter…"

Shego glanced over at Kim and raised an eyebrow questioningly, "Is he alright?"

"He will be when his mind runs through whatever fantasy is in there right now…" Kim tittered, surprising Shego at the lack of jealousy in Kim's tone and actions. The older woman could easily remember seeing it flash several times when she'd been stuck as 'Miss Go'. While the change surprising, it was refreshing, and oddly relaxing to the older woman. "Same thing happened when we found out Tara and Alex were together…"

Shego opened her mouth to say something, then closed it with a shrug, "Can't blame the guy; Vivi's hot!"

"So you got them to go on a date or something?" Kim queried, and Shego nodded happily.

"Yup!" Shego said with a smug grin, "And they got real close, really quick… I'm half expecting invitations in the near future…"

"So that's why they went into business with Wade..." Kim concluded with a smile.

"Essentially?" Shego agreed hesitantly, before shrugging helplessly, "I just know they're good together at both work and with their relationship."

"Well, how'd you know she was working there?" Ron asked in an honestly curious tone.

Shego smiled ruefully, "Honestly, it was completely by accident. I was eating lunch at the cafeteria on the research center grounds while waiting for something Drew was cooking up for me, and she plopped her own plate down across from me." She reached up massaged the bridge of her nose self-consciously, "I never thought I'd need to apologize so much in my life..."

"For goin' evil?" Kim prodded gently, and Shego nodded.

"Yeah," the former thief sighed, "Well, not exactly, and that was just one among other things... Honestly, she was more angry I never let her know about the reasons than the leaving or anything else. She asked if I was seeing anyone, and I told her I was kinda goin' through a bad patch after a break up, so..." Shego shrugged, chuckling a bit, "I asked her the same thing and she said she was looking... So, I set her and Drew up on a date..."

"Why do I have this feeling it was worse when she found out it was Dr. L," Ron asked out of the blue, and the security consultant laughed.

"Oh, no, she likes nerdy guys. And while she prefers younger women, she loves her men older, so it was great!" Shego cocked her head to the side, pursing her lips, "Y'see, I didn't tell her I was setting her up on a date, just told her that Wade and a guy working with him needed a hand… And I kinda implied he was single and her type…"

The shifty eyed gaze that suddenly came over Shego's features indicated that wasn't entirely true, and Kim slyly voiced her thoughts, "What did you leave out, Shego? He's older than you by almost twenty years, isn't he? Or was it his immaturity?"

"Well…" Shego sighed as she thought about the best way to explain it, "Honestly, he's not nearly as bad as he was; you should know that if you're calling him Drew." Kim nodded after a moment of consideration, and the former thief continued, "It was mostly the build, actually…"

"The… Build?" Ron's askance expression drew a smirk from Shego.

"I know he looks chubby with the lab coat, Sport, but underneath it, he's actually built like a light heavyweight fighter or a running back." Shego voice innocence personified, but her face bore a knowing smirk, "She likes guys that're either skinnier than you were when you two started the world saving, or with a good bit of pudge…"

"Like Oliver." Kim noted and Shego nodded, "I've always wondered…" She stopped suddenly, blushing brightly at her voiced contemplation.

"Apparently not, but yeah, that's how she likes her men." Shego said, "And let me tell you, I got an earful the first time they went further than a kiss, which didn't take long at all. Vivi's very, very sexual."

"Um, TMI!" Kim cried, covering her ears in a mockingly childish display.

"Oh, come off it, Princess…" Shego drawled, "I could say the same thing about Ronnie here… Except he's filling out a little, at least…"

"Booyah!" Ron crowed, startling both women as he held his arms up in an overwrought bodybuilding pose, twisting his whole upper body as if trying to appeal to a crowd. Suddenly wincing at a thought that passed through his mind, he cringed while holding his pose, "But I'm gonna have to go with KP on this. Picturing Dr. L and Vivian doing the nasty is very TMI!"

"Doofus…" Shego shook her head, biting her tongue to keep from laughing as Kim reached under Ron's arm to tickle him, despite his protests. "Anyway, yeah, she got over it when I asked her how she liked him." Shego leaned back and polished her nails against her shirt, "Apparently, his smarts, nerdy attitude and his, to quote," she paused to throw up air quotes, "'Small, nimble hands and... Other stuff...' made up for being buff."

"Why would small hands matter? And what other stuf-…" Kim stopped, reconsidered her questions while wide eyed, cringing. "Um... Eww, eww, no way!"

"Why do you say that, Princess?" Shego chuckled evilly, "Nimble hands are a good thing! And... Apparently the vines are good for cuddling, but not for that..."

"I didn't-..." Kim began, but disturbed laughter from Ron and loud guffaws from Rufus and Shego both stopped her. "I didn't mean that! Just... Drakken and small hands..." She shuddered and then gave Shego a stern glare, "And how would you know if you never got that far with Drew?"

"Um..." Shego flushed lightly, looking away, "Honestly, it's 'cause Vivi's got a weird habit of helping their friends get back on the dating horse by being very... Thoroughly open about her sex life. Been like that since high school, really."

"That..." Kim said, shrugging as she sought the words to describe her thought on the revelation.

"That sounds like a segue?" Ron said gently, indicating the empty plates with a nod of his head.

"Yeah..." Shego smiled thankfully at him, "Gimme a minute to figure out the best way to explain it all…" Shego nodded, standing to peruse the liquor cabinet, "Talkin' about Vivi and Drew was a good start, actually..."

She glanced back and raised a questioning eyebrow, and Ron nodded, "It's all covered as part of the stay, Sheegs."

Shego growled at the nickname, her growl growing slightly louder when Kim giggled, but she ultimately ignored it. She reached out and grabbed a mixer, a bottle of Belvedere vodka and a bottle of orange juice. "Anyone else want a screwdriver?"

"Sure!" Kim enthused.

"I'm good." Ron replied, and Rufus shook his head with a smile, pointing to his slightly distended belly.

"Okay." Shego went about mixing the drinks quickly, pouring the mix into two twelve ounce highball glasses, almost filling them to the rim. She brought them over and set one down in front of Kim, and sipped at hers contemplatively for a few moments, before beginning.

Kim sipped hers and her eyes widened slightly, "It's a bit strong... But I like it!"

"I make a mean cocktail," Shego chuckled, falling silent for a moment.

"So?" Kim asked in a leading manner, trying not to sound pushy despite the intense curiosity written all over her face.

"Sorry, woolgathering..." Shego said, raising a finger to emphasize her next comment before dropping it to the tabletop, "For a li'l background, which you may not believe, but I used to get along with Hego pretty, well... Great, actually. A fairly standard brother and sister kinda relationship, I guess? I mean, hell, in the middle of my senior year when I was recovering from an injury, he went to MIST, UC Upperton, UC Boulder, and GCU to check the campus our for me! Went back to UCU and GCU two more times, once with me to each, before deciding it was the best choice..."

She sighed, her mouth twisting in confusion, "But... That's the weird part, he checked them all out, and when I said I felt more comfortable with GCU, he gave the official big brother stamp of approval... But when I actually went more than a couple weeks? He started getting… Testy, let's say." She pursed her lips, then a wry smirk slipped onto her features, "Well, that and coming out to him and my brothers as essentially pansexual during the ass end of my senior year didn't help much, I bet..."

"Pansexual?" Ron asked, opening his mouth with a smirk on his lips, before rethinking it and awaiting Shego's response.

"Nothing to do with cooking, Ronnie…" Shego twisted her mouth in a slight smile, before making a moue as she thought about how to answer, "Essentially, pansexuality covers sexual attraction and desire, emotional attraction or romantic love towards, well… Anyone, potentially? No matter what their gender identities or their biological sexes are. And that's essentially how I've always been, I guess… I didn't know how I was 'til I was a junior in high school, but… I love who I love, I don't care if they're gay, straight, male, female or what they think their gender is! I'm pretty much a living version of the general definition of pansexual."

"Oh, 'kay." Ron nodded, following along and accepting it as if it were the most ordinary thing in the world. Shego hadn't expected that, and she stared at him for a long moment before continuing.

"Anyway…" Shego took a healthy sip of her drink, for some reason watching as Kim sipped at her own, as if searching for something in the teen's eyes. She relaxed and continued when it seemed she had found, or perhaps hadn't found, whatever it was she was looking for, "Like I said, I knew how I felt during my junior year in high school." Shego paused and chuckled lightly, "Actually, right after the start of it, so a little before I turned seventeen? It was just after my first real boyfriend, Harlan, and I went all the way…"

She glanced at the teens, and seeing no condemnation she shrugged, lost in thought for a moment, "Um… That was after about a year and a half? He was the first guy to approach me after the whole comet thing that wanted to do more than 'bang a hero'…" Her tone was droll, but her movements were almost jerky as she made air quotes. She saw Kim grimace and nod in agreement, and they shared a brief, commiserating glance before the pale woman continued, "And, honestly, he didn't have a problem with the skin, since he was mixed race, which is kinda funny when you think about where he's from… And he was enough of a nerd to love the plasma!"

"That's badical!" Ron crowed, Kim and Rufus nodding in agreement. Their positve reaction drew a smile from the older woman, "Um… So from the way you said that, he was your first?"

"Yeah, Harley was badical, to borrow your phrase…" Shego's laugh trailed off and her smile turned bittersweet, "Unfortunately, about a month later both his mom and dad got called back from the Reserves to the regular Army and moved to Germany… His mom was a surgeon and his dad was a sniper." Shego sighed, staring at her drink pensively before drinking about half of it in a few gulps, "And… Well, we had a lot of plans… Y'know, high school sweethearts, the whole nine yards... We'd even declared our eventual intention to marry, though he didn't have a ring yet. When he left, though?" Shego let a sighing laugh escape at the questioning tone in her voice, "When he left, he said he didn't want me waiting, and I kinda told him the same thing. We parted on really good terms, and he promised that we'd stay in touch, which we did, and that as soon as he was able, he'd look me up, to see if we wanted to continue things…"

"Did you?" Ron asked, leaning forward slightly, "Stay in touch, and want to continue things?"

"We did, yeah…" Shego thought about it for a few minutes, "But we didn't make plans to meet back up 'til just before Christmas during my freshman year. Mainly 'cause he went into the army right out of high school, then got stationed over here in Germany for six months, ironically enough... Anyway, when he found out he'd be coming back to the area the following May, he said he'd like to see me again, even if we'd just be friends…" She finished off her drink and stared down into the glass. "I'd had one other boyfriend, a rebound basically… And while we did go as far Harley and I, well…"

She shrugged after a moment, a light flush crossing her features, "Honestly, he wasn't as good as my Harley was... At anything! And it was for the best that I broke up with him, 'cause I was available when Vivi decided she wanted to get back to dating. Y'see, she and I started hanging out as friends thanks to Harley, since they were both huge video game nerds… And then one night I was over at her place, she was helping me study for Bio II, and I was helping her with Social Studies…"

Shego's smile was fond, but there was still melancholic edge to it, and her voice was quieter when she continued, "Vivi was the first girl I know I was really attracted to, and we stuck together from senior year 'til just before Harley and I decided to try things out again. Like I said, Vivi and I had gone from really close to more friends with benefits, so the timing was good…"

"So, you and Harlan got back together after you and Vivian officially broke up?" Kim asked in a curiously neutral fashion.

"Yup." Shego said simply, "And we went back to our relationship like we'd never stopped seeing each other." She raised her glass to have another drink, letting out a light whine of disappointment when she saw it was empty.

She stood and returned to the suite's wet bar to up to make another, and Kim spoke up, "Hey, Shego?" When the older woman turned, she saw the concern and compassion in the younger woman's jade eyes, but none of the pity she'd expected.

"Yeah?" the older woman's voice was tense, as was her body language.

"You don't have to continue if it's too har-…" Kim's understanding voice was almost too much for Shego.

"Save it, Princess," she snorted derisively, but without the fire she'd normally have used, "I've held this in long enough, I just… I don't do well with the touchy feely shit."

"Take your time." Ron smiled, reaching out to grasp Kim's hand before the red-head could say something else. Kim looked at him, and he smiled understandingly at her, before mouthing, "She needs this."

"Yeah," Kim nodded at Ron, turning back to Shego just as the woman finished mixing her drink, "However long it takes."

"Um…" Shego turned and glanced back and forth between them, and smirked slightly before ducking her head in embarrassment, "Thanks, guys."

She took a long pull from her drink before continuing, her voice taking on a slight monotone, "We got back together. He wasn't sure, that first night we went out, how things would end up, but it turned out great. I'd pulled enough credits to be a junior at the start of my sophomore year, and had plans to graduate by year's end..."

"Did it work out that way?" Ron asked, leaning an elbow on the table to rest his chin on an upturned hand.

"Yeah…" Shego's voice changed to a more contemplative tone as she sat down, and Ron drew an inconspicuous breath of relief. "Yeah, and so did my relationship with Harlan. I mean… He'd asked me to marry him within a month, and I said yes…"

She leaned back in her chair to stare up at the ceiling, taking another sip of her drink as a beatific smile beamed from her face, "And when the Army, in a rare show of honest-to-God wisdom, signed him up for liaison duty for GJ operations in Go City, it ended up being literally the best year and a half of my life." There was the barest hint of shimmer in her eyes as she continued to look up, but a few quick blinks chased any tears away.

"I mean, here I was, teenage hero, just about to turn turn twenty..." her grip on her drink tightened, and to keep herself from shattering the glass she raised it again to her lips. After a healthy sip, she continued with a slightly shaky voice, "I was getting feelers from GJ thanks to being on Team Go and 'cause Harley was working so close with GJ's local First Agent... Local Director General, nowadays, I guess... I'd already told Hego I was going to leave all the crap with Team Go's villains behind, which pissed him off, you can be sure…"

"I'll bet!" Kim snorted, her tone surprisingly heated. Shego looked as if she were about to question the red-head about it, but the younger woman continued, "But… It sounds like things went south?"

"Not for a while…" Shego leaned back and slipped to the edge of her seat, setting the drink down and crossing her arms as she leaned on the table.

"We had it all planned out," Shego whispered, "Our wedding, I mean, everything, including flower petals instead of rice, to keep the birds safe..." She snorted, "God, I was a goody-goody..." She took a sip of her screwdriver and stared into the slowly separating drink, "And then the Army needed his... Specialized skills for some joint Special Forces and GJ ops in Mexico and Columbia..." Shego shuddered a bit, shaking her head, "It was bad... Some rebels in Columbia that were working with the last remnants of a cartel in Mexico, and they kidnapped a retired supervillain called Bat-Ears..."

"I read about that in my Recent World History class..." Kim's eyes were wide, "Your boyfriend was part of that mess?"

"Yeah..." Shego whispered, "I heard it, listened in on the OP... Got to 'cause Harley and I were really good friends with a couple of the GJ agents in Go City... He got back with a small wound, but ten agents, six soldiers, and none of the rebels went back home alive..."

"Damn..." Ron muttered, shaking his head in surprise, his unfocused gaze missing the surprised looks Kim and Shego gave him.

"Yeah, well... It broke the back of the last true cartel in Mexico... That and legalizing pot for medicinal use nationwide helped..." Shego sighed after a moment, shaking her head to get back on track. "Anyway, he got back, and after slapping him for saying yes to the mission and bawling my eyes out, we... Got a bit busy..."

"Well, yeah…" Kim remembered how she'd been for the last month, and couldn't imagine being in a situation where she was stuck at home and Ron was off on something like that, "I could see the need for lots of make up sex after something like that!"

Shego blushed and nodded, but the smile on her face was, beatific, lighting her face up in a way neither of the teens at the table had ever expected. "He had leave for a week, and we, um… Didn't leave the apartment for two days." Kim and Ron laughed with Shego, and then, unexpectedly, tears sprang to Shego's eyes, "And… About a month later, I… We had to... The wedding was moved up..." Ron and Kim looked at each other askance, not knowing what to say or do, but Rufus's squeaked comment floored them.

"Pregn'nt." Rufus' simple, teary-eyed comment drew a reluctant, pained nod from Shego, who sighed and finished off her drink without a thought.

"Yup." Shego muttered, "And… Don't get me wrong, I was happy. So friggin' happy I thought I'd die… And so was Harley. I mean…" She leaned back and took a shuddering breath, her eyes looking everywhere but at the three she had come to know as friends. "I was told, when the comet hit, that I probably couldn't conceive… That I was barren. Not that the plasma would do anything, or my accelerated healing, but, because of some of the injuries I'd incurred… My uterus acts like I'm on the pill constantly…"

"What happened?" Kim asked, as she and Ron reached across the table to gently grasp one of Shego's hands each.

The pale woman started at the action, trying to smile at them, but unable to, fear clenching her heart. They aren't Hego, they're real heroes... I trust them... I... Shego almost slapped herself, and forcibly ordered herself, No time like the present, get it over and done with like pulling off a band aid, you stupid bitch!

"What happened was that Harley got called on another mission, and apparently I can't take a child to term…" she muttered lowly, a few choking gasps the only indication of the pain she felt in that moment, "I… I'd decided to go get a counseling degree, not a full blown doctorate, just an associate's... I had my teaching cert, so it was just to pad my resume and maybe earn a little extra, so I got my child psychology degree to go with the teaching cert and childhood development degree. When I was walking from my last final and I got this call... They said they were with Harley's company, and gave all the right codes and everything..."

"What did they say?" Ron asked as gently as he could when Shego's voice seemed to have failed.

She glanced at him as if she'd forgotten he was there, and took a deep breath before continuing, "That he'd been killed... Then, like literally seconds later, some... Some stupid school function filled the hallway before I could even take it all in... I-I dunno if it was the stress of the call while being five months pregnant, or the sudden crowd, or if I got jostled wrong or what… And with-... With Harley gone... I was stressed, and I… I finally got someone's attention, someone I knew and told them I just got a call 'bout Harley... She and her boyfriend took me home, and I just got this bad feeling. Just as they got me home, I started cramping…"

"Oh, God…" Kim gasped, making the logical jump and letting go of Ron's hand to cover her mouth in shock, "That's… That's what you meant this morning, about a miscarriage…"

"Yeah…" Shego's eyes were staring at the tabletop, but she wasn't seeing it. Instead, she was seeing the ceiling of Go City's Lakefront Regional Hospital, hearing the sounds of a heart monitor... And wishing she saw a face that she knew she'd never see again.

"It was bad… Apparently, my friends drove me to the hospital..." she didn't speak for several seconds, reliving it all. "I was in a coma for two and a half days before waking up."

"Was anyone there?" Ron asked, and was startled when Shego barked a hard, cruel sounding laugh that bore no relation to humor whatsoever. She pulled her hands out of their grasp and scrubbed at her face a few times before returning her hands to the tabletop.

"Oh, yeah..." Shego turned her face back to Kim and Ron, rage sparking in the depths of her eyes, almost hidden behind the grief more easily visible. "My worthless brother was there!" Somehow she kept her voice below the level of a yell, but the hatred in her voice was terrible to behold, making Kim shiver slightly. "That sanctimonious piece of garbage asked me why I'd done it. I had no idea what he was talking about until later... Then Harley's mom called me and asked me what happened, because Hego wasn't allowing me to make calls! The bastard was worried about the press..."

"But..." Kim whispered, "You had a miscarriage… Lost the baby..." Kim whispered, and Shego nodded, her unfocused gaze falling to the tabletop, "Why?"

"The friggin' press!" Shego hissed, ignoring Kim's question, "Hego was pissed and wasn't telling me what, just kept asking why I'd done it, what was I thinking, shit like that. Neither he nor the dumb bitch O.R. nurse he brought in with him would tell me what... Just kept grilling me, despite the fact that I'd almost bled out and kept falling in and out of consciousness..." Shego turned her face and acted like she was spitting, and a cruel, hateful smirk took to her face, "Heh, luckily, we, Team Go, I mean, can take whole blood… Nine units went into me, which is really not surprising, considering how much I spout during that time of the month…"

She sighed, looking down at the tabletop, "Anyway, the floor doc had him escorted out, and then Harley's mom, Matilda, got ahold of me. Apparently Hego couldn't be bothered to call Harley's family... She... She asked me what happened, 'cause I was in the hospital and when Harley got home no one would let him in..." Shego reached her hand out blindly, as if at a memory, and was shocked back to the present when Kim and Ron again wrapped their hands around hers. She opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out for several long seconds. Finally she sighed and nodded thanks to them, before continuing, "Harley... He... He wasn't dead... Someone screwed up..."

"Did you tell her?" Kim asked, and Shego nodded, her hand grasping Kim's with surprising force. She opened her mouth to ask Shego to let up slightly, when Shego looked at her hand, and lessened the pressure on her own.

"Yeah..." the older woman grunted, "I did... And I waited, and waited... He never showed up... Never came by... I... I was in and out of consciousness, even after waking up from my coma." she looked away, and after holding them back for so long, a few tears forced themselves past her defenses, "After the next time Hego visited, I got a nurse to allow a call out, and got ahold of Milty..."

"No' good?" Rufus squeaked, and Shego focused on him briefly.

"No... Not good at all, Bud..." she took a shuddering breath, "Harley, he... He'd come home, and said goodbye to her... His uncle, he's is in the Army too, told me later he took some offer the Army gave him, went into some deep black ops training shit..."

"Wh-why?" Kim asked, startled by the weirdness of the situation.

"Because, Princess…" Shego paused again, "Um, sorry, let me back up a bit, 'kay?" The two teens nodded, and Shego paused to catch the breath that seemed to be trying to escape her. "This kinda relates to how Slocomb screwed with me, too."

"Oh, yeah…" Kim flushed slightly, and Shego shook her head and held up a finger.

"Not your fault, Pumpkin." Shego waited until Kim nodded, then spoke again, her tone belying the calmness of her face and body, "Throughout all of this, Slocomb had been trying to get under my skin. He'd tried to convince me to either completely quit hero work, or quit school. And he almost succeeded on both counts, almost failing me for missing seven of his classes throughout the first year, even when Hego once had to literally drag me out of class to help the team."

"Wha-…" Ron started, then thought for a moment before nodding, "Yeah, I could see him do that…"

"Yeah." Shego's tone was ironic, "And I had to take another class with Slocomb during my psychology degree. Every goddamn time I ran into him between classes, he'd say shit to me, put me down, the whole nine yards… And always did it with either some sycophant of his around, or no other witnesses…"

"His words against yours…" Kim said, "He started out that way with me, but eventually he just seemed to stop caring who heard."

"Probably because you didn't let it get to you in classes…" Ron said, and Kim looked away from him in shame. He immediately placed a gentle hand against her chin and turned her face back to his, "No, KP, we've been over this… I don't blame you! And neither did anyone else, except maybe that asshole! You needed to vent your frustrations… And if you remember, I told you to do just that if you needed it!"

"I know, Ronnie, I just…" Kim sighed, her voice foggy with emotion, "But I shouldn't hav-…"

"But nothing, Princess." Shego smiled at the scene slightly, despite her own anguish, "I never thought I'd say this, but your Doofus has a point…"

"He's not a doofus…" Kim tried to make it a joke, but her own emotions ruined the attempt as it came out sharp and biting.

Nonetheless, Shego let it go and continued, "Anyway, it got worse when I started showing… He'd even made a comment that if I had to leave his class once for morning sickness, he'd have me removed from any classes he taught."

"What a dick!" Ron's outburst was shocking to everyone there, even apparently, to himself. He flushed slightly and scratched the back of his neck self-consciously, "Heh, sorry…"

"It's okay…" Shego allowed a fragile laugh, "Thanks, Ronnie… I needed that." She took a few moments to consider her words before continuing, "Anyway… He's apparently the one that told Hego about my condition, and when Hego got to the hospital, the nurse I mentioned grabbed him and took him aside... When Hego finally came back a second time, he came back with that nurse, and..."

"If he was causing problems, why didn't they kick him out again?" Kim asked, then shook her head, angry with herself, "Wait, he's a hero, right?"

"Exactly, and a different floor doc." Shego nodded, "Anyway, as soon as he got back, he ushered the nurse out and asked her to watch the door... Lakefront Medical has nearly soundproof doors, so family can bawl their eyes out if their family member's dying without bothering patients that're stable or their families..." Shego growled as the memory washed over her, "When that bitch left... He laid into me, bitched me out about having an abortion, wouldn't listen to me when I said I had no idea what he was talking about, nothing…"

"What kind of a moron brother would think you had an abo-…" Kim began, but a firm hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"KP!" Ron half yelled, "Let her finish!"

Shego stared at Kim, shocked at the vehemence in the younger woman's tone, and the apparent willingness to side with her against Hego, then at Ron, trying to puzzle out why he seemed angry at Kim's outburst. She shook her head after a brief pause, "Um, anyway, the nurse told him I'd asked for it, and he said he'd asked a doctor if I had... The doc, I talked to him later, said I'd had one, but before he could explain I was unconscious, that it was to save my life, Hego stormed off..." Shego's face screwed up in confusion, "Y'know, I never understood why he pulled that... Or why he couldn't remember me even being in the hospital back then! I mean, I have theories, but…

She shook her head and took a few breaths to calm her frustration, "Anyway… He told me that Harlan had come by, and had asked him to tell me it was over, then he told me I had a spot on the team, if I hadn't fallen too far into my evil ways… Otherwise I'd be disowned."

"Wait…" Ron said, holding his hands up as if to stop traffic, "Hold up… This guy loved you, or claimed to, but he left you after you had a miscarriage? And evil, what? How?"

"Yes to the first." Shego sighed, "He did, Ron, he honestly, really did... But for a while after Hego told me that... I was too hurt to care. I'd lost my baby, and been told I was on the verge of losing my family, and that the love of my life had left me…"

"But?" Kim asked through clenched teeth, knowing that a few months before, she'd have had trouble believing some of this, not without research. But after dealing with Hego a few times in Go City as a 'fellow hero', she could see the overblown egoist pulling everything Shego was claiming.

"But…" Shego sighed, "But, he'd been told the same thing as I was, sort of. He'd apparently come home, and Hego had intercepted him as he got to the hospital. He'd told him about how I was becoming evil, and had decided to abort our child and that I was claiming it was because I'd heard he died... Said that I didn't want to see Harley… When Harley called bullshit on that, Hego told him not to go near me, and then twisted the light pole right in front of Harley's car... Then picked Harley up, threatened to do the same thing if he made me fall any farther from the path of righteousness!"

"What?" Kim exploded, half standing and this time clasping Shego's hand painfully. She immediately realized what she was doing and sat, almost letting go of Shego's hand, but the older woman kept a firm grip, as if the act of holding Kim and Ron's hands was all that kept her grounded in the present, and not in the past.

"Like I said, though, Hego told me he'd left, saying if I couldn't keep his baby just 'cause I thought he'd died..." Shego choked up for a moment, closing her eyes and shaking her head to banish the emotional torrent her comment forced through her, "God, sorry I keep going back over the same thing, guys..."

"No worries, Sheegs..." Ron said, standing as Shego swallowed against a dry throat. He went to the liquor cabinet and poured two fresh glasses of orange juice, then offered one to each of the ladies at the table. Kim let go of Shego's hand with only one of hers, just long enough to down the rest of her screwdriver and then most of the orange juice before returning her hand to Shego's without a second thought. Shego was less aggressive with hers, taking several slow pulls as she composed herself.

"Thanks, Ronnie..." Shego said softly before returning to her memories, "Um... After Hego told me all that, and bitched me out, I sat in the bed for an hour... Maybe a li'l more, I dunno... But when I actually thought about it, I realized he had to be wrong, or lying... That's when I got the head nurse to put a call out for me..."

Shego stared at Kim's hands when they tightened reassuringly on hers, then almost started as Ron sat back down next to the red-head and grabbed the former thief's free hand, giving just as gentle a squeeze. She felt the warmth of the two teens hands, and drew what strength she from them could before continuing, "The nurse - she'd known me since I was a li'l girl - let me use her cell, since I wasn't allowed to use a land line... I got ahold of Milty... I asked her what happened to Harley, and she said when he got home, he grabbed a few things and... And just left. I asked her if he'd said anything about me, but..." She shrugged and went on, her voice cold with building rage, "She had no idea...

"And it got worse..." Shego's tone darkened again, rage slipping into her tone like an oiled blade, "When I was released, Slocomb tried to screw with me some more... He told me I missed my final, and that I'd failed his class. I was…"

Shego stopped speaking, her body shaking and she began to bear down with her right hand. She then stopped shaking and looked to her right when a blue glow flared up brightly. "Um, Sheegs? Mind toning that down a bit?" Ron let a grimacing smile come to his face, "The game of mercy this morning was bad enough, but even with the MMP this kinda hur-..."

"Huh?" Shego blinked, snapping out of the memory she'd become lost in and looked to her right. She blinked at Ron's tense face and looked down where his hand was half curled in on itself within her grasp, and she could feel his bones creaking despite the Mystical Monkey Power. She gasped in shock and let go, cursing under her breath and trying to pull her hand away, "Sorry, Ronni-..."

"No, Sheegs..." Ron said gently, placing his other hand over hers, "The MMP's still a bit sketchy, but it's workin' right now... And no plasma this time!" Ron and Kim both smiled at her and Shego tittered a bit nervously, "Sheegs, seriously, it's okay, promise..."

Shego blushed and nodded, her blush part embarrassment and part because of the way he patted her hand. Again she felt a strange flash of familiarity with Ron, and was reminded of a time not long after she'd received her powers, before her strength had amped up like it was now, and a boy she'd known since she was eight holding her hand in such a similar fashion... She wanted to crush the memory, but found she didn't have the heart, and instead whispered, "If you're sure..."

She turned to glance at Kim as a worrying thought struck her, half-expecting to see a jealous glare from the red-head. She was utterly shocked to see only a comforting gaze that seemed in full agreement with Ron's assurances. She felt like she wanted to cry, so she blinked and tried to center herself without the loose, hurtful rage she was feeling. It took her several minutes, but Ron, Kim and Rufus all sat patiently until she succeeded. When she finally did, she glanced back and forth between them, a sheepish expression, "Sorry, but when I'm really piss-..."

"It's okay, Shego," Kim assured her this time, "Just like Ronnie said..."

"Um, 'kay..." Shego muttered, taking a few more breaths before continuing, "Anyway, I was really getting pissed at that point, and Hego kept harping on me when my other brothers weren't around... Kept bitching me out about my 'choices', about how if I kept it up, I'd become evil... Kept saying Harley left me 'cause... 'Cause of what happened... And then Slocomb really started pushing his shit on me in class, so I had at least a couple students that were willing to back me up. That's when I took my problems with him before Dean McDermott …"

"He got things straightened up?" Kim asked, and Shego nodded.

"Yeah, I took my final from a different teacher with a nearly identical, but somewhat more difficult syllabus, and passed." Shego took a long, deep breath, "And I went back to Team Go. But… It wasn't the same. Especially since Hego wasn't letting me go see a counselor like I wanted, like the hospital staff begged him to do..."

"Um..." Ron said softly, as if worried about his question, "How could Hego keep doin' all this?"

Shego sighed, her lips twisting ruefully, "It's because, after we became wards of the state, various rules were placed upon us 'cause of our powers. And when he turned eighteen, he was old enough to claim guardianship, but we were under his thumb 'til we were twenty-one..." Shego shook her head, "But I didn't care... I was goin' out and partying all the time, I became something of a raging alcoholic for a while…"

"Ouch…" Ron winced in sympathy, "That must've cause all kinds of issues with Hego…"

"Yeah, well, that's not the worst..." A strange smile took to Shego's face, a mix of distaste, fond memories and honest humor, "I didn't exactly become a slut, but I... I wanted to forget, to escape, so... In the next four months, I had five different girlfriends, and four and a half boyfriends..."

"Wait..." Ron asked, screwing up his face in confusion, "How... What, didja date a midget?"

"No!" Shego laughed honestly, giving Ron her best, if failing, attempt at a whithering glare, "One boyfriend I tried to have something with, a rebound, basically... Three bed buddies, and the last one was a guy I thought I'd stick to screwing, but ended up dating and almost screwing..." Shego's tone was droll, and Ron looked at her as if he hadn't expected that.

Kim merely nodded in understanding, "You just wanted to forget, like you said..."

"Yeah..." Shego nodded, glad Kim wasn't judging her for the actions she'd taken, "Sadly? I only had sex with three of the girls, two kinda steadily... But the one that might have been something long term? Hego ruined that when he caught me making out with the dude in Go Tower's conference room… Which was kinda funny, 'cause that's how Hego confirmed that GJ was actively trying to get me to join up…" Shego opened her mouth to give some more detail, but thought better of revealing too much about the situation and merely ended with, "Up to then, he thought I'd only had basic contact with them..."

"Oh, God!" Kim said after Shego gave them time to let it sink in. Despite the highly taxing emotions flying about the room, couldn't help but giggle at the image in her head, "So you were making out with a GJ agent, in Go Tower?"

"Um, yeah… He was cute, and had a damn cute ass... And he was kinda not just an agent, but my training coordinator, since I'd signed on as a cadet, so it wasn't exactly proper?" Shego rolled her eyes as if slightly chagrined by that, but then shrugged and gave Kim a half hearted glare. "Don't ask..." she said as darkly as she could muster, while inside she actually felt... Nervous about the identity of the agent, I'm just glad I didn't tell her who that agent was...

"Who was it?" Ron asked, startling Shego slightly, but she recovered quickly.

"That included you, too, Doofus!" Shego griped, but then chuckled, shaking her head at the teens and naked mole rat. She pursed her lips, finally saying as airily as she could, "No one important..." She let that sink in for a moment, then went back to Hego's reaction, "But, honestly, Hego's reaction was great… All red faced and veins popping out, the whole nine yards..."

"But afterwards he literally threw the dude out by his collar, he came back in and freaked. Basically accused me of throwing away everything right and good because I was willing to leave the team, and to be such a slut to do it… And the way he freaked out that night, it got me to thinking…" Shego sighed, her grimace almost a pout, "So I went and looked up Harley's uncle, Barry, to see if he was still in the States… He was, but like I said, Barry told me he went into some deep black ops unit, so I couldn't call him...

"But he left a video message with Barry..." Shego's face crumpled, "He... He told me about Hego, what he'd done in the parking lot... The threats..." Shego let out a long, humming sigh, shaking her head in disgust, "I went back home after viewing the video, to confront Hego about it..."

"That's when you left the team, chose to be an evil sidekick?" Kim asked, wincing slightly as the words left her mouth.

It didn't seem to bother Shego, as she let loose a ruefully amused snort, "Nope, I was too stupid to by that point!" She loosened her grip on Kim and Ron's hands, and they let go so she could stand up. She walked back to the liquor cabinet and grabbed the orange juice, refilling the glass Ron had gotten for her.

"I got myself ready to leave, packed some stuff... But instead of leaving right then, I grabbed my keys, stormed out of the tower, and got myself well and truly drunk..." She downed the juice quickly, leaving herself nearly gasping when she was finished. Setting the dirty glass down, she turned stared at the floor, sliding an arm across her body to grasp the opposite elbow and spoke in the barest of whispers, "After waking up on one of my lezzie bed buddies couches, I decided I'd stay, but since I was turning twenty-one in a week, I made up some rules of my own... Then I got a call from Mego, he said it was really important... When I got back to Go Tower... There was an Army major and a chaplain waiting in the living room... They were looking for me..."

Kim gasped, and Ron lowered his head, almost prayerful in manner. Shego's body shook slightly, and for several seconds she drew deep, shuddering breaths. When she had a semblance of control, she spoke again, her voice louder, almost clear, "They... Had word, for me, about Harley... He... He was killed in action, saving a bunch of of his troops, and some women and kids from some shithole in Africa..."

"I was ready to stay, when that hit me... I needed to be home, to stay with my family..." The grip on her arm was so firm that both Kim and Ron winced in sympathetic pain. But the mint hued woman continued unabated, as if she felt nothing, "The reason I left was 'cause Hego blamed me for Harley's death! He said... The self-righteous bastard said it was Karma that he died! Punishment for my evil ways. That was when I told him, 'I'm not evil you jackass! But if you think I'm evil now, then how about I show you how evil I can be?' So I got my things, and never looked back 'til Aviarius stole our powers with his staff…"

"And he claims to be your big brother?" Ron growled dangerously, both hands cracking as they closed into tight fists, "He's an even bigger douchebag than I thought! That is not how a big brother acts! No way, no how!"

"Yeah!" Rufus agreed, thrusting a fist of his own in the air like a superhero making a stand.

"He shou-..." Ron's rage was palpable, and Shego, who had still been staring at the floor, was shocked at the emotion in the blond's voice.

"Cool it, Ron!" Kim's voice seemed soothing on the surface, but bore a core of malice that startled Shego cut her fiancé off, "If I can't blow up, neither can you!"

Ron glanced back, his face still contorted in a jumble of emotions that clouded his face in a confused jumble, "But... But I... Dammit..."

"I know, Ronnie..." Kim soothed, placing a gentling hand on his shoulder, "I know, I... I feel the same way, but... There's not much we can do now, it's in the past..." She glanced at Shego, and although she bore a gentle, sorrowful smile, there was still that strange undercurrent of malice that Shego didn't understand, "We're not her family, but we can be here for Shego when she needs it, right?"

Shego continued to stare wordlessly, realizing that Kim's malicious feelings were directed at her brother. She wasn't sure what to think about that, and was contemplating asking about it when her gaze snapped to Ron. The blond had exhaled the breath he'd been holding in an indignant huff, "Yeah, yeah, we can be..." He took a few breaths and let his entire body relax for a long moment, then opened his eyes, glancing between the red-head and the former thief, "You're right, KP, sorry..." He smiled at Kim and reached up to caress her face with his palm, then gave Shego a searching look, "And sorry, to you too, Shego... I know you probably didn't need to hear it..."

"It's..." Shego started, her voice strained as if she hadn't spoken for weeks, "It's fine, both of you... I lived with it for years, now, I think I'll be okay..." She shook her head when they opened their mouths to protest, "Guys, seriously... If... If you're willing to be there for me... If I need to talk, I promise I won't hesitate, 'kay? I mean... I probably will need to talk, to someone... You guys, a counselor, I don't know..."

She took a deep breath and held it, before letting it out in a long, forceful exhalation, "I... Haven't had many friends for years, 'cept for Drew, and for a while, Junior... Then there was a couple of the henches that were drinkin' buddies, but that doesn't make for trusting someone with shit like... Like this... And... The way you guys reacted? I'm not used to it... With having people believe me..." She chuckled with a tone of remorse that once would have drawn a feeling of disgust at the weakness it implied, but now gave her a feeling of liberation she hadn't felt since before college. "I... I could do a lot worse for friends than you tw-... You three, huh?"

Rufus gave an agreeing squeak, drawing a misty eyed smile from Shego, and Ron nodded in agreement with his buddy, "Probably." Ron retorted with an impudent smirk, then his tone became serious. "And, honestly, Shego... You didn't have to share all that with us, and... I'm pretty sure KP'll agree with me, it means a lot... That you'd trust us with that, y'know?"

"Yeah, it does..." Kim said, and Shego nodded her understanding, "Seriously, Shego… I can't believe how much shit you went through… Oh, God, that sucks…" The red-head cocked her head and smiled slightly, "I guess… I can see why you went evil. I thought I had it bad, but…"

"Kimmie…" Shego said, walking back to the table and sitting down. On a whim she returned the earlier gesture Kim had given, gently grasping Kim's hand in her own, "You went from being, well, who you were, and where you came from, into what amounts to a lion's den… Don't discount what happened to you over the course of thee months for what happened to me over the course of three years…"

"Um, 'kay… But you went through a lot more than I did..." Kim blushed slightly as Shego favored her with a gaze that suggested dropping it. After a moment she asked, "Um, Shego... Do you have any idea why Hego does that whole... 'Attracted to evil' spiel about you?"

"No idea," Shego shrugged nonchalantly. Kim, Ron and Rufus could all see it was false bravado, but said nothing, letting Shego bring some of her defenses back up. She didn't seem to acknowledge it, but they got the impression she was grateful, even as her voice regained some of its usual biting edge.

"If my give a damn was still broken when it comes to him, I'd think it was to avoid bad press, but..." She shrugged, then absently started to run her index finger over Kim's knuckles the strokes gentle, "Being with Drew helped me grow up a bit or something, 'cause I can actually think about it... Best I can figure is that he realized how much he'd hurt me, so he's blocked the whole thing out, compartmentalized it so deep he can't even remember it. I dunno, though..."

Kim nodded as she assimilated that. After a few minutes of silence, a smile graced her features, "So, you said all this is part of the reason Vivian was angry at you when you ran into each other at that cafeteria?"

"Oh, yeah…" Shego chuckled, "No, I didn't tell her any of this... Just some Cliff's Notes... Y'see, I kinda ran into her after quitting Team Go and telling GJ to shove it…"

"And?" Ron asked, drawing Shego's face to him.

"She busted me shoplifting a cell-phone…" Shego chuckled, "I mean, I've been a klepto since I was thirteen. I mostly had a handle on it, and would only take things like candy bars, that kinda thing… But after I left the team, I needed money, since Hego had all of my legitimate funds frozen…"

"She didn't turn you in, I take it?" Ron prodded, and Shego shook her head.

"Nope, but she did read me the riot act…" Shego grimaced, "I told her to shove it and walked off… And she called out to me, saying she was willing to help me, but if I kept my back to her, well…" She shrugged, and began unconsciously running the tip of her index finger along the knuckles of Kim's index and middle finger. "It's all in the past, I guess…"

"Doesn't sound like it…" Kim said softly, startling Shego with her sincerity.

"Well, maybe not…" Shego smiled, her finger's movements changing from absently stroking the knuckles to just as absently stroking the webbing between Kim's fingers with gentle, but strangely persistent pressure. After a few minutes of silence, she let out a startled laugh. "But at least part of it is! And getting Drew together with one of my ex-girlfriends helped…" She sighed and disengaged her hand from the younger woman's to scrub at her eyes and face, missing the note of disappointment that flashed across the heroine's features.

Ron didn't miss it, nor did he miss the fact that Kim started blushing from Shego's unconscious actions. Just as Kim opened her mouth to say something that Ron knew would embarrass both women, he glanced at the TV. "Oh, no, we missed part of the game!"

Kim's mouth snapped shut with a click and she glanced at the clock, a thankful look briefly flashing over her face, "Eh, only about five minutes. Looks like they haven't even finished one down yet…"

"Still… Doesn't look like Brick's QB, but he might play, and I don't want to miss his big debut if he does!" Ron stood and quickly grabbed the plates. He put them back on the carrier and carried it to the door, placing it just outside and then making sure all three locks were solidly in place before jogging over to the couch in front of the TV.

"Your fiancé is weird, Kimmie…" Shego said with a strangely subdued expression on her face. She stood and went around the table towards the bathroom, neither of them realizing Rufus had jumped from the table and snuck into Kim and Ron's room.

"Yeah," Kim agreed with a smile, and Shego paused as the red-head continued, "But I like weird!" She glanced at Shego and stood, reaching out impulsively to draw the older woman into a hug, "I'm sorry you went through so much shit, Shego…"

"I know…" Shego whispered back, not bothering to comment on Kim's use of a curse word. It was quite apropos, after all! "It's okay, Pumpkin… Really…" Shego took in a deep breath as Kim let go, and glanced down into the younger woman's eyes, seeing sympathy, and knew the red-head had left some things unspoken, questions unasked, for which she was thankful. "Thanks…"

Kim didn't ask for what, only nodded and replied, "Thanks to you, too, Shego…"

Kim released the older woman and stood back, before turning and walking to the couch, "I'll wait for you to go first…" she called back with a faint grimace.

"Oh. If you're sure, then okay…" Shego sighed and glanced at the clock, giving a rueful chuckle, "Damn… Nearly four-twenty back home…"

Rufus, standing next to her ankle, tapped the bony protrusion and she glanced down, an eyebrow raised at his furtive manner. In his hands, hidden from Kim and Ron by Shego's leg and his back, were two white cylinders that had a very slight ovoid shape.

Shego's eyes widened slightly before leaning down to offer her hand to him, and he jumped up, running to her shoulder and leaving the objects in her hand. She palmed them and glanced at him, whispering, "Germany's laws are still kinda strict on that, Bud, and my medicinal card doesn't carry any weight here..." Rufus shrugged, winking at her, and she shook her head fondly, "I guess you're a recreational smoker?"

Rufus shrugged and held up a hand, waving it in a fifty-fifty gesture, but his smile was a sickly sweet, innocent thing that drew a raised eyebrow from Shego. "If you say so... I kinda have an idea for the perfect spot, so if you're sharing..." Rufus nodded happily and Shego carefully palmed what was in her hand, calling out to the other two occupants, "Hey, I'm going to go get some air, and Rufus said he wants some too. We'll be back in a li'l bit, 'kay?"

"Sure!" Ron called, and Kim waved in a vague fashion as Shego walked out of the room.

Shego glanced down at Rufus, "Bud… You're a lifesaver!"

Rufus nodded and answered with a surprisingly clear, "No problemo!" as Shego closed the door and turned towards the elevator…

Author's Notes

Ok, no action this time, but... I hope the read was worth it. ^_^ This chapter was a challenge for me, as I tried to portray a, to my knowledge, fairly original reason for Shego leaving Team Go. Yes, there's a lot unsaid, and, yes, there's hints at more... Hopefully, they'll all make sense in time.

As to the story... Poor Shego. To go through so much, and then to have a brother that doesn't even acknowledge it happened? As Kim said, "I can see why you went evil." And the fact that she trusts them so that she'd reveal such pain and loss is proof that, even when she's down in the dumps, Kim Possible really can do anything, non?

The question remains, however, if this helped Kim... Time, of course, will tell. I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter, and I hope you continue to enjoy the fic in general. As always, great thanks go to Neo the Saiyan Angel for her flow/feel beta work, and remember, there's lots of fics out there so keep up the reading, and remember to review the fics ya like!