Author's Note: Told you I wouldn't make you wait long! Warning, some seriously testing times ahead for KP. The real world is about to intrude on her in a big way... but first, one of those little interludes I mentioned not fitting in the middle of last chapter is here to kick off the start of this chapter. And it'll have some pretty major impacts, despite being a small-ish part of the chapter. Hope you enjoy the new chapter.

My thanks to everyone who has read and left a review, or added me to their favorites/alerts, I appreciate it as always.

Standard Disclaimer: The various characters from the Kim Possible series are all owned by Disney. All registered trade names property of their respective owners. Cheap shots at celebrities constitute fair usage.

Kim Possible: Shadow Plays

Chapter Ten:

KP KP KP

New York City:

If there was one thing Jack Hench hated doing more than anything else in the world, it was getting his hands dirty. Being directly involved with any of his numerous less-than-legal ventures was bad for business. Being directly involved increased his risks exponentially. Being directly involved took his time away from other parts of HenchCo that needed almost constant attention.

Being directly involved was risky and messy and dangerous, three things Jack had avoided at all costs for the vast majority of his life.

Unfortunately, there were times where only direct involvement would do. This was one of those times.

Fortunately, if things went according to plan in the next few minutes, one more piece of the puzzle would fall into place and his plans would be that much closer to complete… and he wouldn't have to do this again in a hurry.

As the limo pulled up to a nondescript office tower, a message from his senior Hench commander arrived on his secure HenchCo phone. With a sense of building anticipation, Jack opened the message and read it.

Senior Island taken. No casualties. Commencing interrogations.

He smiled, and composed a message to the number.

Commander Michaels, excellent work securing Senior Island. Senior knows where Betty Director is, and I suspect he knows where Shego is too. I want that information. Any means necessary. Use the family for leverage if you have to.

After sending the message, he thought for a second, and composed another.

Also, the regular Henches are a... liability. We can't afford for any word of this to leak, not with what's at stake. I regret the necessity of putting you in this position. Additionally, be prepared for any unexpected visitors. Ensure that anyone that lands never leaves that island - unless I clear them myself. And if you happen to see Shego… kill the bitch.

Jack regretted the hit to the bottom line that each dead Hench represented - the training costs for a single Hench were not insignificant, so throwing them away was only ever a last resort - even in a worst case scenario.

Though if I go through with the next steps, the Hench division is going to be severely downsized anyway, Jack thought. So what's a few early… retirements.

Slipping his phone into his pocket, Jack stepped out of the limo and strode into the office tower with a renewed sense of purpose. He called a specific lift, one that only had a single destination - the top floor - and steeled himself for the confrontation to come.

He pushed open the doors -

"Hello, Jack. It's nice of you to finally show up." Vinnie Wheeler's smarmy voice floated to him over the (fake) mahogany desk. The leather backed chair spun around to reveal the sleazy scumbag in another ridiculous suit. Jack faked a scowl as he strode up to the desk.

"Vinnie. I'm not some servant at your beck and call. HenchCo is a busy company, and my time is at a premium."

"My word, Jack, there's no need to be so… hostile. Are you under a lot of stress at the moment? I can help with that, you know! I'm sure I know many talented folk who'd be delighted to take the reins and help HenchCo through this… difficult… time."

This time, Jack didn't have to fake the scowl, it stayed in place naturally. Fuck you, Vinnie. The sooner you are out of my hair permanently, the better.

"Well.. yes, I'm under stress," he said slowly, as if unwilling to admit weakness. "But it's not something you could get rid of by taking HenchCo from me. And infact, I think you ought to be more worried about it than I."

"Oh? How come?" Vinnie asked.

"Your plan backfired," Jack said simply. "Remember the whole 'If we remove Kim Possible, nobody else will interfere' line you fed me? Well, you were wrong."

Vinnie folded his hands together in his lap. "Remind me Jack, who was it that couldn't find Kim Possible when we agreed to explore the options available to us?"

Jack's scowl deepened. "Look, the crazy bitch disappeared in Japan somewhere and it didn't matter how much money I spent, I could never find her. It was your idea to have a fake in place. Unfortunately… that plan has backfired as well."

"How?" Vinnie exclaimed. "The impersonation was perfect."

"Yeah, well, the cleanup wasn't. Shego and Betty Director were both spotted on Senior Island recently, then Shego made a raid on the FBI HQ, where they were keeping the fake body."

Vinnie paled.

"And I just got word that someone is working their way through anyone connected. Senator Willard's dead. Senator McCallum is dead. Senator Roberts is dead." Or he will be any second now, if things went according to plan for once! "I can't help but think that they're trying to find out who's behind the fake."

"That's not Shego's style. Or Director's," Vinnie pointed out. "Who else would be searching?"

"Maybe the person we hired to take out Kim Possible discovered that we'd played them for a fool," Jack suggested quietly. "Maybe they're not happy about being used."

Vinnie's paled further, and his eyes narrowed.

"Maybe," Jack added. "They discovered who was used as the fake.. and they don't appreciate having been hired to murder one of their own."

"And how exactly would they have found this out?" he asked.

Jack shrugged. "It sure as hell wasn't from me. I aimed her at Director, gave her the best possible shot in Ohio," he said. "Maybe she overheard something she wasn't supposed to, and got suspicious. All I know is, I'm not going back to HenchCo HQ after we're done here."

"What? I thought you said HenchCo was a busy company," Vinnie said, a mocking tone returning slightly to his voice. "I thought you said your time was at a premium."

"Oh, it is, don't you worry. But I'm not going to be running HenchCo from my headquarters any more. Too many people know where it is to be safe right now. I have my alternatives in place. I suggest you do the same," he said.

Vinnie blinked. "I… I don't really have…"

Jack smiled widely. "My friend, I believe I have just the thing to help you out."

He pulled out a half dozen pages, stapled together, from inside his jacket, and passed them over carefully.

"What… what is this?" Vinnie asked.

"This… this is an opportunity! It's an investment in your safety! It is a new beginning for Vinnie Wheeler… this is a standard HenchCo Rent-a-Lair contract."

Jack paused, made sure Vinnie was looking straight at him, and launched into his spiel. "It's for a new facility, just recently opened, never yet hired! It's our top of the line Class 5S model, and it has four levels, with multiple configuration options available - we'd just need five days to get it to your specifications or of course you can take the default configuration as is, with a hangar, barracks and training room, scientific laboratory fitted with all the standard mod cons, security room including four HenchCo Mark Sixteen Inescapable Holding Cells, and the pièce de résistance: a Central Control room on the lowest level, complete with master control panels in the arms of your luxury leather command chair, and giant wall screen for monitoring not only the lair, but the world! It also comes standard with a self-contained power supply good for at least 10 years radiation free clean fusion power, all rations and luxury supplies are included for the length of your rental, and, last but not least, it grants you an all important HenchCo Black Card, which guarantees you a 15% discount on any future rentals or rental extensions, as well as a 5% discount in the HenchCo store off your next order (worth five million or more). The initial rental term is 30 days, with an optional extension to 90 days after the first week of occupancy - assuming that you're satisfied of course. Oh, and I'll throw in a free 10 Hench hire package as a special sweetener, just because you're you, Vinnie."

"I don't…"

"Vinnie. Listen to me. If we are at risk of being exposed, we need to have a place to retreat to - you need a place to hide, I have a brand new Rent-a-Lair looking for it's first ever tenant at the moment, it's perfect."

So perfect that it could have been scripted, in fact. Take the offer, Wheeler, just take it.

"Why are you offering me this?" Vinnie asked, a trace of suspicion on his weasel face.

"Because I realised that we are partners, even if we don't necessarily like it. Neither of us can do this without the other," Jack said. "The plans we agreed up on need the two of us to pull off."

Pity for you I have no intention on going through with the plan we previously agreed upon. But you'll never know that until it's far, far too late.

Vinnie nodded. "True. Say… only 10 Henches?"

"Did I say ten?" Jack said, beaming. "I meant for a facility that size, it'll have to be at least fifty. It'll make you feel extra safe, having some decent manpower around. My boys aren't slackers, either."

Outside, the smile never wavered. Inside, he was calculating, however. He'd have to make sure that they could handle yet another unexpected cost to the Hench division when he got back. Beau was probably going to yell at him for overextending them yet again, but the short term pain would be absolutely worth it in the long run. Beau just couldn't know why until the deal was sealed.

They just had to avoid completely collapsing HenchCo before everything played out.

Speaking of deals, Vinnie pulled a pen from his desk drawer and signed the lair rental agreement with a flourish. Jack held his inner evil grin in check, and plastered only a smug, satisfied smile on his face. "Congratulations, you're the proud renter of a brand new Rent-a-Lair in picturesque Georgia. Here's the fine details of the Rent-a-Lair tenancy agreements, including our NDA, our Indemnity and Disavowal policies, as well as the master key, command codes, and your Black Card." He handed over another bunch of papers, as well as an envelope with the latter items.

"Jack… do you think…" Vinnie trailed off.

"I do," he said, nodding seriously. "I'm going to mine, you should make plans to move to yours immediately. We can stay in touch, once you're set the command system has a direct link to the HenchCo network, it'll be like we were standing this close again, trust me."

Five minutes later, Jack was in his car, headed to the airport, and his encrypted phone was by his ear.

"It's me," he said. "You've done good work so far, apart from the failure to eliminate Betty Director in Ohio. However, I believe I've just manufactured an opportunity for you to redeem yourself. I have intel that suggests her next target location - a new facility of mine, just recently opened. I don't know how she knows about it, but I want you to get there and get ready to engage her when she makes her move. Oh, and there's a new tenant moving in shortly," Jack added. "I would like you to stay incognito. That's not going to be a problem, is it?"

He paused, then smiled widely. "Good to hear. Now.. the facility is in Georgia… here's the master access codes you'll need to slip in and disguise yourself as a newly hired Hench…"

KP KP KP

Middleton, Colorado:

As soon as Shego had called in that she was under attack and covering a group of scientists, but her father wasn't with them, Kim had started to worry. When Wade had confirmed he was in his office, she had bolted from Shego's jet, pausing only to grab two items on her way out and slamming the ramp closed as soon as she'd pulled them both on.

Kim wasn't sure exactly what she was doing - all that was moving her forward was a single thought that ran over and over through her mind:

I will not let them hurt my Dad!

Everything else - the fear, the nausea, the pain of her still healing body - it was all pushed aside by an overpowering need to find and protect her dad from the Cerberus troops currently storming the Space Center. She could hear gunshots and explosions from inside the building as she burst through the roof doors and into the facility proper, and picked up her pace, wincing as her legs protested their first full workout in months.

Luckily for her, Wade had been as good as his word in respect to having something ready to help her out. He'd originally designed the bodysuit that she'd hurriedly pulled on as a support to help get her back into shape, after he'd seen the extent of the surgeries she'd required. Kim had seen another use for it in her moment of desperation - as an improvised battlesuit.

A tingle ran through her legs as the suit adjusted and compensated for still slightly out of shape legs, and all of a sudden her stride became easier as the artificial muscles in the suits legs began to assist her.

As she ran through the top floor of the Space Center's main offices she had a sudden realization. My hair might still be short and blonde, but my face is kind of recognizable... so I'll have to hide it. I can't let anyone know I'm alive and back in action just yet, and I definitely can't let Dad see me - uhoh!

A pair of soldiers in camouflage uniforms and wearing black balaclavas over their face rounded the corner ahead of her. She dove sideways into an office and a dozen rounds from the stocky submachine guns they were carrying streamed past her.

Looking around the room, Kim took stock of her options, and decided she really didn't want the soldiers throwing flashbangs into the confined space. As she heard the two soldiers race up the corridor towards the door, she threw a conveniently placed office chair through the window to the outside before ducking back behind the desk. The soldiers charged into the room, guns at the ready, and stopped in apparent dismay as they took in the broken window.

"Aww, damn," one muttered. "I thought we'd cornered someone and we might get to have a little fun."

"Look, the window's been blown out," the other replied. "What if it was Shego and she ran?"

"If it was I wish she'd stayed and fought!" the first soldier declared hotly. "I'd certainly have enjoyed putting a few rounds into that green bitch after what she did to us a few years back."

Before she knew what she was doing, Kim was flying out of her improvised hiding spot. She moved with barely a whisper of sound, but both men were professionals and were turning towards her even as she leaped. They were too slow however, and she was on them before they could bring the guns to bear on her without risking hitting each other. She ducked a sloppy punch from one and slammed a palm strike upwards to the base of his jaw, his teeth slamming together and severing the tip of his tongue.

That soldier was immediately out of the fight, dropping the gun and falling to the ground, screaming through his hands as blood poured out. Ignoring his cries, Kim blocked a punch from the other with both hands then lashed out with kick after kick into his stomach, ribs and face. The trooper - the one who'd declared he would have enjoyed shooting Shego - looked completely surprised by her repeated attacks and his inability to defend them until she heard something crack in his rib cage and his eyes glazed over. She grabbed him with her hands and then spun him until he landed flat on his back, before delivered another kick to his solar plexus for good measure.

"I certainly enjoyed putting a few boots into you," she muttered angrily, as she pulled the balaclava off his head, and then over her own, ignoring the musky smell of sweat. She adjusted it until the eyes were okay to see from, then with calm precision, she punched the first soldier, currently curled into the fetal position, just hard enough in the side of his head to send him into unconsciousness. She took a second to look over their equipment, grabbing a couple of items that would probably prove useful.

Now I have go find Dad and make sure he's okay, she thought.

She vaguely heard Wade or Shego calling her name repeatedly over the earpiece she'd absently tucked into her ear but in her tunnel vision focus on her father, she didn't acknowledge or respond to either of them as she made her way further into the building.

Having been in the Space Center more times than she could count, thanks to her Dad's insistence on joining the Rocket Boosters club - and continuing to attend their open days long past any semblance of it being remotely cool - she knew her way around well enough to find her way to his office without trouble, dodging several sweeping patrols of soldiers in the process, dispatching one group of three when cornered with no convenient hiding space.

Just as she made it to the section her father's office was in, she spotted a pair of troops at the door. As she peeked around the corner, another squad of six soldiers, all heavily armed and with a door breaking device, swept into the corridor ahead of her. Kim trailed stealthily along behind them as they marched down the hall and stopped outside her Dad's office. As she ducked into an office closer to his, she heard a voice call out.

"Last chance, Dr Possible. We know you're in there. Open the door, or we open it and come in, and you won't like the consequences."

There was a resounding silence from the office, and Kim heard a muttered curse from ahead, then a voice came over the comm link she was still hooked into..

"Cerberus Actual, this is Ghost Team Four. We've cornered a Dr Possible in his office, but he's refusing to exit."

"Copy, Team Four, this is Cerberus Actual. You're authorized to breach and neutralize."

"Say again, Actual? Neutralize?"

"Affirmative, Four. We have enough of the scientists. One more won't make a difference."

There was a brief moment of silence then a sigh. "Understood, Actual. Stand by."

Kim felt everything that had been bothering her retreat even further away, as if taken back out to sea by a wave. Nothing mattered except stopping the soldiers from killing her dad.

She looked down and smiled grimly as she realized the two flashbang grenades she'd picked up from her first encounter were already in her hands, just waiting to be used.

She primed both, then rolled them down the corridor, ducking back into the office and holding her hands over her ears and squeezing her eyes shut tight. Despite the precautions, the sound was immense, and the shock wave thumped into her back through the wall, kicking her into action.

She spun out into a corridor full of pandemonium. The soldiers were in total disarray. Two that were closest to the scorch marks of the grenade's detonation points were slumped on their backsides, leaning against the wall, looking completely stunned, not moving. The other six were still on their feet, but most had their hands to their ears, or were feeling for the wall, the afterimage of the flash of light still burning in their eyes.

Kim took full advantage of their confusion and swept into them, showing no mercy or quarter to them at all. She pulled none of her strikes, hitting faces, eyes, ears, and groins with fists, fingers and boots. One soldier, that Kim realized had been farthest from the grenades, eventually managed to bring his gun around in her general direction, but before he could fire, she pulled another trooper between them, using his body first as a human shield, then as a battering ram.

She heard gunshots ring out, and the body she was holding jerked with each shot, starting to collapse even as they approached the shooter. Kim screamed in fury, slamming the dead or dying soldier into his compatriot, before leaping up and over, landing on the shoulders of the shooter locking her legs around his head and throwing herself backwards, flipping him over her as she finished her backwards roll, and the soldier went flying, slamming into the wall, then the ground, with a pair of sickening crunching sounds.

As she came back to herself, breathing heavily, she realized that his head was at an unsurvivable angle, and his eyes were open but unseeing, staring accusingly past her eyes and into her soul.

You killed me, his eyes said. Kim Possible killed me. Kim Possible is a killer.

Kim Possible will always be a killer.

She fought the urge to vomit that threatened to overpower her, crushing the resurgent nausea with every last ounce of control she could manage to find within her, even as she kicked two more guns out of twitching hands, seized one and pointing it at the final two conscious troopers, who gingerly held their hands up in surrender.

"Doctor Possible?" Kim called through the door, trying to disguise her voice - not exactly a difficult task given the bile that burned in her throat. "I have stopped the soldiers who were trying to kill you, please open the door now."

There was a brief silence, then her father's voice came from the other side. "How can I trust you?"

Kim frowned under her balaclava. "Wade Load sent me," she said, and a moment later she heard the lock in the door turning before it was pulled it open and her father stood staring at her.

For a brief second, she stared in shock. James Possible looked… old. No, weary might be the better term for it. Under his eyes, she could see the signs of lack of sleep, and the fine lines around his eyes had grown more pronounced and obvious… but the biggest change was his hair - where once a single strip of white had accented his hair at each side, now most of his brown hair was laced with grey. But rather than making him distinguished, it just added to the impression of deep sadness that poured from him.

Kim had to clamp down on the desire to throw herself into his arms to comfort him - and be comforted in return - for just a moment her weakness took hold, pushing her a step forward, but freezing the instant she saw him flinch away. A combination of terror, guilt, and self loathing surged through her, hurting more than any punch she had ever taken, sending her to her knees. She struggled to breathe through the emotions that rolled over and through her.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, concern laced through his voice. He stepped forward, crouched beside her, and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. For half a second, Kim was six again, her knee badly skinned after a somersault went wrong, and her Dad was comforting her while Mom went off to get the first aid kid.

Daddy! she cried inside her head. I've missed you so much! Without thinking, her hand came up to grasp his and squeeze tight, but before she could, reality asserted itself.

"Kim, if you're listening, I hope to god you have your father. I'm at the jet on the roof. We need to go, now!" Shego's urgent voice through her earpiece finally brought her focus back.

No! I can't let him realize it's me…

Through sheer force of will, she struggled her way to her feet, shrugging off his hand and mourning the loss of his touch the instant the connection between them was broken.

"I'm fine," she insisted, her throat tight with the effort of the lie. "We should move. Cerberus might have more troops on the way."

Her father looked around for the first time, blinking in surprise as he took in the carnage outside the door. Her eyes followed his as they eventually settled on the two dead bodies - a pool of blood slowly spreading around one, the other with it's accusing eyes still seeming to bore into Kim's soul.

She forced herself again to look away from the bodies, noticing that her father was also stuck staring at them, little tremors in his hands and repeated swallowing the giveaway that he was upset and afraid at the same time.

"Don't look," she whispered, grabbing his elbow and pulling him down the corridor, away from the evidence of her biggest ever failure. "Transport is on the roof."

As they retreated, Kim kept the conscious soldiers covered with the submachine gun she'd picked up until they had made it around several corners. When she realized she was still holding it, she threw it as hard as she could through a door into an office before looking down at her hands. She was surprised she couldn't see the blood on them, even through the gloves.

"You said Wade sent you?" her father asked curiously after a few seconds, as if to prompt her out of the freeze she was in.

"Y-Yeah," she stammered, then remembered to drop her voice low. "He hired me and my.. uh.. friend.. to protect you and the others."

He looked at her suspiciously again. "This friend of yours have a name?" he asked. "Do you have a name?" Kim cursed herself for even giving that much information away, but nodded. "Would I know it?" he pressed.

Oh Dad, you have no idea...

She nodded again, then held a gloved finger up to her masked lips, in the universal 'be quiet' sign.

He frowned, but she grabbed his elbow and pulled him along, retracing her steps back towards the rooftop the jet was on, thankfully avoiding any further soldiers as the gunfire below them slowly died out.

When they reached the roof, Kim recognized the figure standing at the foot of the ramp to the familiar green and black jet, and used her father's surprise to vanish from his side.

"Shego?" he asked curiously. "What are you.. hey, where'd she go?"

"Who?" Shego asked innocently. "Good thing you made it here, it's messy down there. I'm going to get you home, so get your butt on board."

Dr Possible spun a complete 360, looking around the rooftop but seeing no sign of the black-clad woman who had saved him and dragged him to the roof.

"How did you know I was going to be here?" he asked.

Shego shook her head. "No time to explain, Doc. Get on, or be left at the mercy of some very angry soldiers."

He blinked twice, then hurried forward, strapping into a jumpseat in the main cabin while Shego slapped the close button on the ramp and slipped past him into the cockpit.

"You okay, Princess?" she whispered into her mic as she settled into the seat and powered up.

"Y.. Ye.. No, not really," Kim replied equally quietly, still hiding out on the rooftop as the VTOL lifted off and banked into the distance. "Come back for me. I just couldn't.. let him realize.."

She broke off and a gut wrenching sob escaped her.

"I understand," Shego said soothingly, not fully aware of why Kim was suffering right now. "I'll be right back, I promise."

KP KP KP

Five minutes later, Shego settled the VTOL to the ground outside the rebuilt Possible house, and slipped out of the pilot's seat to open the rear hatch, then waved for Dr Possible to follow her. She kept her head on a swivel, looking left and right for any threats, but saw nothing out of the ordinary - for this street, anyway.

As she hustled Kim's father to the door, he fired a barrage of questions at her, which she continued to ignore, up until the point that he reached the door and it opened, revealing Kim's mother standing on the doorstep, a frightened look on her face.

"James!" she cried, and threw her arms around him. "I heard there was something happening at the Space Center!"

"I'm fine, Anne," he said softly, holding her tight, before reaching out and slamming a hand on the wall beside the front door.

Before she could react, a force field shimmered into existence around Shego, and it held up rather easily to the first three plasma blasts she threw at it. She sighed and dismissed the glow around her fists, scowling at the scientist and his wife.

"What the hell?" she complained. "I save your ass, and this is the thanks I get?"

"I need you to answer some questions," James said forcefully.

"Shego rescued you?" Anne asked curiously.

"Later," he said, waving his wife back. "Shego, I need you to tell me the truth. What were you doing there?"

"I got a heads up from Global Justice that there might be an attack on the Space Center," she replied, being mostly truthful.

"How? Why? Who are you in touch with at Global Justice?" he demanded, and Shego swore internally when she realized that Kim's parents must still suspect GJ had been behind Kim's 'assassination'.

"I've been working with Dr Director since… well, for a while," Shego replied, desperately trying to find a way to assuage their fears without having to reveal their daughter's survival yet. She was furious at herself for letting them back her into a corner like this.

"I don't believe she was responsible for what happened," she added. "Betty would never have done that, not to anyone, but especially not to Kim. It's no secret she wanted to hire her, before.."

"Why would someone attack the Space Center?" Anne asked, ignoring her reassurances.

Shego looked directly at James. "He's working on Lowardian tech scavenged from the ship Ron brought down. So was GJ. When everything went down in Washington," she said, then mentally kicked herself again when both Possible parents visibly winced. "GJ had a secure facility in Canada with a lot more than what you were working on, and it was raided. Everything gone. That's why they were after your colleagues, too. I suspect they're looking for people with the expertise to work on it."

James nodded thoughtfully. "We always knew there was more material, we just didn't know who had it."

"GJ thinks it's too dangerous to let any one nation have it," Shego muttered.

"They might be right," James said, surprising her, then surprising her again by deactivating the force field. "Sorry.. I just… I had to know a few things."

Shego nodded, she understood that need. "Look, I hate to say it.. but you guys are targets now. They'll know you escaped the attack on the Space Center, and they could be coming for you still. You represent a threat to whatever it is they're planning."

"What are they planning?" Anne asked, holding tight to her husband.

"I don't know," Shego replied. "But we're going to find out."

"We?" James and Ann asked simultaneously.

Shego mentally kicked herself for the third time. I'm really not in best form right now, she thought to herself. Worried about Kim. But so would they be, if they only knew…

"Yeah, 'we'," she replied. "Wade and I. We plan to keep looking until we find the bastards responsible. But like I said, you're a target now.. and so are Kim's brothers."

Both parents laughed darkly at that. "Anyone who goes after those two has no idea what they're letting themselves in for. There's nothing in the world that could possibly threaten the boys."

Shego spoke before thinking - again. "Kim probably thought the same thing."

The moment the words were out of her mouth, she wanted to either scoop them back in or disappear into the ground, or find a way to travel through time and shoot herself. Both of Kim's parents visibly deflated, and a look of total defeat washed over Anne's eyes. She sagged, and it was only James' strong arm around her that kept the elder redhead standing..

"I'm sorry," Shego whispered. "I'm so.. I didn't mean.. I.."

She turned and stalked angrily away towards her jet, tears welling in her eyes as she realized just how much she'd hurt Kim's parents. More than a small part of the anger that raced through her was at herself for even feeling upset in the first place. I don't need this shit.

Maybe this is the price for getting close to someone again, a traitorous part of her mind suggested.

"Shego?" James called out as she reached the ramp of the jet. She stopped, but didn't turn around. She couldn't bring herself to face them - either of them.

"Thank you for looking for her with Wade, before," he called. "And thank you for looking for whoever…" He trailed off.

She nodded a couple of times to show she understood, and kept her face hidden so the emotions swirling around on it wouldn't be seen. She strode up the ramp, slapping the close button on the way past then sinking into the pilot seat and powering the jet up entirely by muscle memory and not conscious thought.

As she pulled into the sky and re-engaged stealth mode, she couldn't help but see the crushed look in Anne's eyes over and over again as she reminded the doctor of her daughter's apparent death.

Congratulations, you heartless bitch. You really are an awful person, she thought to herself. I guess it comes from being out of practice dealing with normal people. Too much time spent with Drakken. Even so… was it really necessary to go and crush the Princess' parents like that?

"Fuck!" she swore loudly, and then jumped when Kim's voice came back to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly.

"It's.. I'll explain in a second. Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, anyway?" Shego said, and heard a little hiccup through the earpiece. "Where are you, Princess?"

"I'm still on the rooftop," Kim replied a few moments later. "Coming to pick me up?"

"You bet," Shego said. "And after this stunt, I'm not letting you out of my sight."

Kim's sigh was audible enough to bring a slight smile through the angry tears that refused to stop forming in her eyes.

"No attitude, Possible," she said as she slipped the jet into hover mode and crept over the Space Center rooftop. "I'm here, opening the ramp now."

A moment later, the jet rocked slightly as Kim boarded, and then the hatch was rising. Shego fed power to the turbines and the jet lifted into the sky again. She got them clear of Middleton, then turned them back towards Australia and hit the autopilot.

Time to go face the music, she thought to herself, and rubbed briefly at her eyes with the back of her gloves.

Kim looked up as Shego slipped back into the rear of the VTOL and received a sad smile from the green skinned woman, which morphed into a frown as she caught sight of a black-clad form slumped on the floor.

"Who the hell is that?" Shego asked.

"Dunno," Kim said with a shrug. "He surprised me on the roof while I was waiting for you. I guess he heard you take off, maybe? Anyway, he saw me without the balaclava, and he recognized me, even with the different hair."

"What!?" Shego said.

"I don't know how, but he definitely recognized who I was… I couldn't leave him there to tell everyone but… but… I couldn't…"

Kim trailed off and Shego filled in the end of the sentence in her head. Couldn't just kill him. Oh Princess. She decided to take the guilt away.

"Maybe this was the smart call anyway, Princess. I figured we could ask him who's calling the shots when he wakes up."

Kim nodded dumbly, and hunched back down in her seat. Shego walked over to Kim and crouched down in front of her.

"Hey, Kimmie.. look.. I need to apologize, okay?"

Kim gave Shego a shocked look. "What for?" she asked guardedly.

"When I dropped your dad off home, he caught me in some kind of force field cage-"

Kim burst into sudden mournful laughter that had no joy or warmth in it at all. "The 'Mormon Catcher?' I can't believe my parents let the twins keep that installed.. I'm guess now they'll have to change the name now to the Shego Catcher."

"Very funny," Shego said. "Before they let me out, they were grilling me on who was attacking the Space Center, why, and why I was there."

Kim tensed and looked at her. "What did you tell them?"

"A modified truth," Shego said. "Enough truth to convince them to let me go."

"So what's the problem?" Kim asked, giving her a confused look.

"Well, I also told them that they were targets now, because it's a sure bet whoever is behind the Cerberus raid knows about your Dad escaping now, even if they don't know everything because Wade took the cameras down when you made your move, and I suggested that the twins were a target too, and they laughed it off."

Kim nodded her agreement.

"And then I told them that you had probably hadn't considered anyone would ever take a shot at you either."

Kim blinked, then frowned.

"Yeah, it was a low blow, Kimmie, and I was sorry I said it the moment it left my mouth. I wish.. I wish I could have told them the truth."

Kim's silence continued, then before Shego could prompt her for a response, Kim surprised her by slipping into her arms and giving her a tight hug.

"It's okay," she said softly. "I understand. And in the circumstances, there's nothing to apologize for, even if.. what you said hurt them.. it's probably for the best."

She shuddered slightly, and Shego wrapped her arms around Kim, returning the hug.

"I wish we could tell them the truth," Kim continued, whispering into her ear, sending a tingle down her spine that she did her best to suppress. "But.. right now, it's just safer if nobody knows that I'm alive, that I'm looking for the people who did this.."

She trailed off, and then pulled back. Shego let her go, and watched on as she sat down heavily again. "It's better neither of them know what I did to rescue Dad."

It was Shego's turn to frown, and she looked at Kim, who was wringing her hands over and over. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Kim kept her gaze on the floor of the jet, and shook her head. "Shego.. I.. when I was stopping those soldiers from… from killing Dad.. I had to... I had to.. I didn't have a choice, I had to.." She trailed off, and a sob escaped her. Shego leaned forward, and gently lifted Kim's face to meet her eyes.

"You had to do what you had to do," she said firmly. "To protect your family, to protect the innocent."

"I killed someone," Kim cried out, the pain in her voice clear as day. "I threw him against a wall and broke his neck, and that was after using someone else as a human shield and getting him shot by his own..." She trailed off again and Shego folded her arms around Kim, pulling her tight into another hug.

"You did what you had to, Kim" she repeated softly. "And I know you wish you didn't have to, and that, more than anything else, is what makes you different. That desire to do everything to avoid killing, that makes you amazing."

She squeezed gently. "I know it won't help right now, but you have to believe me when I tell you that it isn't your fault, and you aren't a bad person for having done it."

"How can you say that?" Kim asked vehemently. "I killed someone!"

"How many police officers have had to take a life to protect the innocent? How many of them are bad people?" Shego asked softly, unknowingly echoing the words of Kim's therapist. "Sure, there are some bad ones out there, ones who don't follow the rules, but we give police weapons and training to take that lethal step because society knows that sometimes it's required, because sometimes it's the only option to save lives."

With a start, Shego realized she was rehashing an old conversation that she herself had had with her older brothers years ago, before she left Team Go.

"But I'm.. better.. I should be better.."

It really was like a repeat of that same argument. Oh Kimmie, I know you can do anything, so I have to believe you can accept this.

"You're entering dangerous territory there," Shego said slowly and carefully. "If you hold yourself to impossible standards - never mind the family motto - you're setting yourself up for failure. When you run into a situation like today where you have no choice and next time you freeze because it's not your dad that's at risk, what happens? What if it was ten million people's lives versus one?"

"You can't just rationalize it in numbers! Lives mean more than that!"

"Yes and no, Princess," Shego said softly, then she squeezed the younger woman again gently. "I'm not really sure this is either the time or the place for this conversation.. and I don't think I'm the best person to be talking to about this, for a number of reasons. Your therapist is a much better option."

"How can I tell her that I..."

"Easily," Shego interrupted. "The same way you told me. Straight out, honest. She'll understand, and I'm pretty sure she'll tell you the same thing I have, and do a better job of it, but you can trust that she'll never tell another soul about it. I made sure that she was trustworthy before I ever recommended her to you."

Kim sighed heavily. "I.. I'll talk to her. When we get a chance."

"Good. And until you do.. don't punish yourself too much, okay?" Shego asked, knowing it was probably too much to hope for. "You aren't infallible, if anything, the last twelve months have definitively proven that, so don't try to be. Keep trying to be the best you can, because 99 times out of 100, that'll be enough."

"And what about that last time?" Kim asked quietly.

"I'll try to be there to make sure you don't fall," Shego promised without hesitating, and Kim's head shot up to make eye contact.

Shego smiled at her, and used one finger to gently wipe away the tears from Kim's cheek. Kim's hand came up to grab at Shego's, and there was a momentary flicker of understanding between the two of them that words would probably never fully explain.

They were linked by more than just their former enmity, or the patient/mentor relationship that had been the focus of the last few months, or even the changes that had suddenly driven them into admitting a closer friendship than either had ever anticipated.

The knowledge that Shego understood this part of her gave Kim a lifeline to hold onto, reassured her that she would find a way to be okay, sometime.

The moment of intimacy was interrupted by a groan from the soldier lying on the floor near them as he came around, opening his eyes groggily. Shego gave the trooper a look, then frowned again. She leaned in closer to him, and then blinked in surprise. "Hey, I know this guy."

"You do?"

"Yeah, I've seen him before, I'd swear, I just can't remember where.. wait, yes I can. On Senior Island. He was a Hench, a few months back before I started looking for you. I remember seeing him a couple of times."

"Why would a Hench be part of a secret military group like Cerberus?" Kim asked, confused. "Has Jack really infiltrated everywhere?"

Shego scowled as something occurred to her. "What if it's the other way round?" she asked.

"You mean someone infiltrated HenchCo and planted this guy?"

Shego nodded. "It would be a hell of a way to keep an eye on the Supervillain community."

Kim nodded in agreement. "I wonder if Jack knows?" she asked.

"I doubt it. Jack doesn't take betrayal very well, people who turn on HenchCo tend to have very short lives after doing so."

Kim looked the soldier over. "Well.. maybe we should go have a little talk with Jack?" she suggested.

Shego nodded, then tapped the man's forehead with her plasma activated just enough to knock him out again, this time for at least a few hours.

"Good plan, Princess. I'll go turn us around. You strap our friend here down."

KP KP KP

A/N: So there you have it. Big changes in this chapter, life defining changes, potentially. KP has to find a way to come to terms with having had no other option but to take a life, and the fallout for that will continue to have impacts down the track.. but there's also a couple of other bits and pieces coming together here..

I'll do my best to have the next chapter up in about a week. Reminder: reviews are always appreciated, I like to know that you're reading and enjoying!