~oO 10 Oo~
A monitor played footage of Shego's chase in the dense Middleton neighborhood. Rewound and played again. Something was off but Betty couldn't place her finger on it yet. It looked like a playful chase. The tackle was too easy but that wasn't what was off. Kim looked happy. Same as the footage captured from the security cams at Kim's university; like Belize was just 'no big'. No one could shrug off what she did. This acceptance bothered Betty to no end.
Questions circled in Betty's mnd. Did Kim really give up her hero gig? Her site was no longer operational. It had only provided a generic message that she'd be enjoying normal life as a student and possibly working towards a career in bioengineering. The site gave no other details. Her family and friends were only seen in very public places and then they'd disappear only to reappear elsewhere without any evidence of transit. It was clear stealth was used and obviously it was Shego's doing - it had to be. But how much did the others know? Had Shego really been keeping her promise? Did she really not care of GJ's dark projects so long as Kim was safe? The amount of effort Shego was going through for Kim was ludacris. How much longer could she keep it up?
How the hell did I get into this mess? The question was almost a mantra each time Betty checked on Kim's and Shego's status. She knew the answer all too well already but the question was just a habitual response to how much deeper of a hole she was digging herself into. And to think, at one time, GJ was only to align with justice.
It was a whimsical pipe dream. Special agents to detain the world's super-powered villains with ingenuity, technology, and careful, tactical precision. And for the most part, that was working quite well. The problem, unfortunately, didn't rear its head until unique, private prisons were required to contain said criminals. Each unique power required a unique facility. Enemy allies would often be the ones to break out said criminal and cost more damage than it took to build the facility. Yes, costs were an issue.
And then came along 'Satan's Teacher', or rather, his father, Dontler Adolrumf. A vile man who dealt with arms and weapons trade with a side service of providing torture houses. Or, to Betty's knowledge at the time, readily available prisons designed to take in the world's worst. Had Betty not been so desperate for a solution, she might have investigated Mr. Adolrumf more thoroughly. She was thrilled to have been contacted with such a well suited plan. Why shouldn't she have been? The numbers worked out for her, the transfers were as easy as the swift marking from a pen, and above all, no additional management from GJ.
But justice was a fickle beast, especially when intended to run on a global scale. Resources quickly became too scarce to handle the size of all growing incidents. Being on the wrong end of a pointed finger for disasters, not enough time to develop new tech or tactics to handle new threats, and the lack of a sustainable framework failed to push Betty's agenda forward. She needed resources, staff, and of course, money.
Betty thought to enter the arms market. But she feared such weapons would be sold to soiled hands and that's when she had an idea. Sell vitiated machinery to any run-of-the-mill supervillain under a different secret organization - two birds, one stone. What could go wrong?
The plan seemed adequate. She'd capture and imprison the villains at reasonable ease, be praised by the 'good' work, and then throw them back into society to repeat the process. It allowed Betty to focus more on the real terrors and cut down on her usage of private prisons. This cut costs even further, that was, until Mr. Adolrumf realized he was losing GJ's investment. And technically, Betty was becoming a competitor in arms trade. That needed to be fixed, he thought, and quickly.
What Betty didn't know about Mr. Adolrumf was that he was more than just a businessman. He was a terror of his own. A terror that GJ should have locked away, should have disposed of, should have never associated themselves with. But it was too late. Betty was in far too deep and and he made it very clear that too much was going against her and the organization for her to compete.
Mr. Adolrumf had kept tabs on her. Teams had been set up to investigate everyone she associated with. He brought to light every bad deed and failure she had ever done with Global Justice. The arms trade was just icing on the cake. The publicity alone would be enough to take her organization down, but legally, she would either have to continue working for Mr. Adolrumf or spend the rest of her life in one of his prisons. Prisons that were brought to her attention immediately upon Betty asking to reduce her association with him.
Will Du interrupted her thoughts, having entered her office with the briefest of knocks. Betty was appalled by his sudden entrance, "Agent Du, why are you barging into my office?"
As stiff as a board, he answered, "Ma'am, we are getting a long list of reports that many villains want the same opportunity to reenter society as the villain Shego. We don't know where to process these reports."
She craned her neck, "You needed to barge into my office to tell me this?"
"I… the department was… getting overwhelmed and…," he took a breath, "it won't happen again."
She calmed and leaned back in her chair to give him her attention, "How many?"
"Ma'am?"
"How… many… villains?" She enunciated each word.
"Forty-three."
Intrigued, "I see. Hand me the reports." He did immediately. Dr. Director looked them over, "Good work Agent Du. I'll handle these from here."
~oO0Oo~
Eight text messages were from Ron, five from Amy, two from James, one from Anne, and finally, one from Wade. Shego checked the messages in the order of priority - Wade first.
|Can we please give Ron a little more info? He's theorizing again. I'm going to get a few hours sleep.
Her reply:
|I'll talk to the buffoon. Get a full eight hours, I'll talk to you in the morning.
Then she hesitated over Ron's message, but decided to skip his until later. Next was Kim's mother.
|You can't take my boys! I won't allow it Shego! Stay away from them. It's bad enough my husband wants to be involved. You leave my boys out of it!
What the fuck is she talking about? Shego shook her head and moved on to Kim's father.
|I can help. I built the craft you're flying everywhere. That's supposed to be Kim's by the way! Shego, you can use me, I can help. SHE'S MY DAUGHTER!
|I'll apologize to him, Lipsky, I know he still holds a grudge.
I can't deal with him right now.
|I'll think about it. Think about how Kim doesn't want YOU involved.
What would Kim want me to do? She wouldn't want him involved, but he wouldn't need to know anything, and it would be good to have another elite engineer on the team. She dragged a hand down her face. I'll discuss with Kim. Before Shego could scroll back to Ron's message, James replied.
|SHE'S MY DAUGHTER! I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HER! NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. I don't have to know anything, I can just help!
Shego was getting quickly agitated.
|I SAID I'LL THINK ABOUT IT! We will have this discussion THEN.
Again, Shego hesitated over Ron's messages. It was going to be either irritating or overly emotional.
|Shego, yeah, hi, it's Ron. Um, can I talk to Kim please? I just want to know she's okay and I want to hear it from her. I miss hwe.
|her*
|Come on shego. This is so not fair!
|How can you expect me to train these recruits when you won't even tell me who we're fighting against.
|Did you brainwash wade?
|Would you tell me if you did?
|Wait, am I brainwashed?
|Okay, call me.
Shego let out a dreadful groan. "Whyyyyyyy?" She let out a sigh, took a breath and called Ron. Three rings and Shego's eye began to twitch at how long it was taking him to pick up.
He picked up on the fifth ring, "Oh, hey Shego, what's up?" His voice void of any pleasure in talking with her.
"What's… up? All you have to say is 'what's up'? What's wrong with you?" Shego didn't know what to expect after reading his numerous texts, but this, this was not a reaction she was expecting, "Why else would I be calling!? You dimwit! Do you have any idea how hard this is for everybody? Not everything is about you. Out of everybody you have it the easiest. The least you could do is-"
"Easiest!?" His eyebrows furrowed. "I'm isolated from everyone like I'm some kind of reject. I've been extremely patient, you know, going with the flow. No one will tell me anything except, 'it's better that you don't know'. That doesn't help anybody!"
"Ron-"
"I am a hair away from grabbing Wade and getting the hell out of here! I don't know what you did to him but-"
Shego gasped at this, "Don't! You don't know what you're doing! You'll ruin everything! Listen to me, you need to-"
Ron was getting tired of being told what to do, "And you! Where the hell did you even come from? Huh? How could Kim ever love you? After what you've done? You know, I've been holding this in for a long time. You've hurt her so much and it was me and her mom that patched her up. You weren't there, applying the pressure on the wounds YOU inflicted. I don't know how you did it, but I'm damn sure you tricked her."
"I didn't!" she snarled and tried to compose herself again, "I didn't trick her. We hid it from everyone."
"Well it's too bad you couldn't hide the three scars on her thigh that were a hair away from an artery. You could have killed her!"
"I'm sorry!"
"What did you say?" Ron broke from his anger somewhat. He thought it had to be a lie.
"I said… I said I'm sorry. I'm not the same person as I was when I did those things. I'll make up for it. I'm trying. I'm trying so hard to protect her, her family, friends, even you. She made me promise. I have to keep you in the dark. She told me that you can't know. You have to trust her. Ron, you know I don't beg, but I'm begging you. We will tell you everything but we need more time." Shego's eyes shifted between pleading and demanding. Her expression alone tried so hard to convince him.
Ron was silent for a moment, "I want to talk to her."
Shego covered her eyes, frustrated with her ongoing battle from actually trying protect Ron from the sick to Kim breaking down, "It's really not a good time. I don't want you to ask her about anything. She's not well. But we're getting help, okay? She misses you, too. She wants to call you, she's just afraid of falling apart. I'm afraid…, too. Just a little more time. Just… just don't do anything to put us all in danger. Look at me, I am not fucking with you."
He rolled his eyes in one annoyed motion, "Fine." Ron was angry and was ready to hang up until Shego spoke again.
"I love her."
He scoffed, "Yeah, well, I know you think I'm just a big idiot. Everyone does. But this idiot has been her best friend since kindergarten. I've been in her life a lot longer than you have. I love her. I know her and I know what not to say," his voice trailed off, "I just wanted to say 'hi'."
Shego took a breath, "Look, she's studying now. When she's got a spare moment, I'll tell her to give you a call."
He sighed, "Goodbye, Shego," he hung up.
Shego muttered to herself, "I cannot catch a break." She pressed her palms to her eyes and rubbed outwards in an attempt to blink away the stress.
"I guess you really can't." Kim walked into the kitchen.
Shego was startled, "Eh! Damn it, Pumpkin. Why aren't you studying?"
"Got distracted," she looked at Shego accusingly.
Shego slumped, "I'm sorry. He was asking a lot of questions."
"He'll come around. What are we cooking tonight?"
"Shit, I didn't even look, I…" Shego fumbled, "C-can I ask you something?"
"Sure." She shrugged, not feeling one way or the other.
"Did I really… almost… kill you?"
"I'm here now, aren't I?" another shrug, "It doesn't matter." Shego cringed hard. "Shego, we were both very different then, you know that."
"Even then…," her throat tightened and her face tingled with guilt and regret, "I never wanted to kill, I never wanted that."
"You really didn't know?" Shego shook her head no. "Good, I'm glad." Kim gave a slight smile to her. A little relieved that, even then, Shego never actually wanted to go so far as to end someone's life. It affirmed that she really hadn't killed anyone innocent in her past, or at the very least, never had the intent if she ever had. She settled with the assumption that she hadn't. "Let me talk to Ron," Shego looked up but Kim continued, "I'm okay…, really. It's under control. You go find us something to cook slash eat tonight." Shego nodded and handed her the Kimmunicator in her hand. Kim went off to the couch in the family room.
Shego, again, dragged her hands down her face and then realized something. She still hadn't read Amy's messages and it was likely Kim was going to see them first. Shit. It's fine. We were going to discuss it anyway. She tried to get her mind off by actually doing what she initially wanted to do; find something to cook. She walked to the cabinets, the fridge, spice rack, and found that she was quite limited on options. I really need to make Mego go out and restock. I better tell him. Shego looked to her wrist to find it bare. Doy! I gave it to Kimmie. She grunted. "Well, it's going to have to be French toast s'mores." I wonder if Kimmie still wants to eat it off me. She huffed through her nose. She decided to get everything out and ready and wait for Kim to finish.
~oO0Oo~
I can do this. Kim quick-dialed Ron. It took five rings before he picked up again.
"Yeah, Shego, I get it okay-" he gasped, "K! P!" His frumpy face immediately turned to shock then happiness.
"Hi, Ron," she said coyly.
He calmed, "Um, hi." He's wanted to talk to Kim for so long and couldn't really think of anything to say. "Um, how's it going?" He immediately facepalmed, knowing that she wasn't in the best of conditions, "You don't have to answer that."
"It's okay, Ron. And just so you know, I haven't been brainwashed. But, you should know, Shego is our supreme overlord." She winked at him with a subtle smile but slowly retracted. "Ron, I know I have a lot to explain, but…," she quickly became stern, "you owe me my money back for that month of Naccos," her brows knitted.
Not expecting what was suddenly thrown at him, "What? Why?" He never really wanted to take her money in the first place, but it was a month's worth of naccos.
"Shego told me you threw a box full of them at her." Kiim carried a disappointed expression. "You promised not to freak out!" She threw her hands up.
He did the same, "But it's Shego! You know, the woman that tried to kill you."
"Ron…" Kim dragged his name out, "let me talk about it then. "
He really didn't want to talk about it but now was as good as any to hear the explanation from her, "As your friend, I will hear you out, but I make no promises it'll make any sense to me, Kim."
"Okay," she hesitated a moment and tried to find the right way to tell him, "We were enemies Ron. And I won't lie, I really hated her. She seemed like the most evil, uncaring person - at first. The worst of my injuries from her were from that time. But she soon realized something."
"What?"
She turned her nose up and spoke a teensy bit conceitedly, "I'm a badass and I can dish out just as much as she can. And on some occasions… more." Kim smiled. "She actually started crushing on me years ago."
Ron coughed, "Jailbait."
Kim snickered, "That's what I said." She continued, "I, on the other hand, was still figuring myself out. And it was confusing…, morally." She paused a moment, "I am so sorry I hurt you. That I am who I am. I never wanted-"
"Kim, you don't need to do this again. I understand, okay? It's not necessary."
Kim swallowed her apologies, nodded, and continued, "I didn't know I liked her until I hurt her and she got real angry."
"Shego is always angry," Ron tried to distract himself with humor.
Kim laughed, "She's not! I got to know her during our little fights. We um, we often got really far from you so we could talk between jabs. Her innuendos became genuine flirts. It got really hard for me. I had to keep it secret. I know I can tell you anything and everything Ron, I do, but this… was different. I was having a hard enough time already and I know you wouldn't be supporting this relationship if we hadn't already started something." Her eyes plead with Ron, but digressed, "Had some really good times, though. We um, some of those fights, involved more grappling than necessary, I really couldn't talk to you about those." Kim started blushing and immediately felt shameful realizing these words were probably twisting a knife in his heart, "She only got really angry when either Drakken called for help… or you got in the way."
"We're heroes, we're supposed to get in the way!"
"I know, I know, and you did a good job of it."
"Wait, wait, wait," he craned his neck and pointed at the camera, "Did you let her go when you could have caught her?"
"That's not important," her eyes shifted to the ground.
"Kim?"
Those eyes shot to the ceiling, "Okay! Like... three times… and after we got whatever it was she stole at the time or destroyed whatever Drakken was building." She rolled her eyes, "So not the drama, Ron."
"You've gotta be kidding me!"
"Come on, Ron. She'll never admit it, but she let me capture her too. No one really got hurt."
"YOU DID, KIM! We were so scared. Don't you remember? You almost bled to death. I will never forget that."
Kim covered her eyes at the remembrance, "That was before. She's changed. She didn't know. And I…" Her eyes drifted to floor blankly, "I've survived far worse," her voice softened as she forced herself to focus on the conversation in front of her, "She's making up for it, so I want you to be nice to her, okay? Please trust me."
Ron pursed his lips a moment, feeling frustrated and unable to comprehend how a relationship could begin with such a violent past. He then relaxed into a saddened frown, "I don't understand your relationship, but if you say she's changed, that she's good now, I trust you. Just so long as she makes you happy. But know this Kim, if she hurts you again, I will never forgive her. I don't even think I can for the stuff she's already done. But..., if she's making up for it, I'll try."
"Thank you, Ron. I promise, she's taking care of me, us… really everyone," She paused, "which I will talk about later."
He put up his hands, "I understand, I won't ask."
"Um, how have you been these past couple months? I'm sorry I didn't call, I just, I kind of needed to get away…," her voice trailed off. "I needed time."
"It's okay, I missed you is all. I'm not really used to not seeing you and it's weird." He fiddled with his hands, "But, I know we're still best buds and we'll see each other again."
"Yeah, definitely. And I'll talk to you more. I promise. I just need to work some things out. You know, get my head straight," Kim cleared her throat, "I'll talk to you soon, okay?"
"Oh…, yeah…, sure. Talk to you soon," he forced a smile and waved goodbye.
Kim did the same, "Bye," and signed off.
When the screen darkened, she felt uneasy. In the months apart, she realized they had very little to say. She looked around the room, unsure what to do with herself. It was a feeling of not wanting to get up or stay still. She thought about calling Wade, just to catch up with him as well, but after hearing that Shego was putting him on a 'million other tasks' she didn't want to bug him. She was also afraid to see how tired he'd be. She decided to try to message him instead, but soon realized it wasn't her Kimmunicator when she saw the messages to Shego. She read through Wade's, Ron's, her mom's and dad's messages, but not Amy's. They hadn't been read yet. Despite her concerns, she decided against reading them. She sat for a moment, ruminating over the messages briefly, and went to Shego who sat at the kitchen table with her eyes shut. Kim decided to make herself a little more audible by sliding her feet against the floor which caused Shego's ears to twitch at the approaching sound. Kim went behind her and gently wrapped her hands around her. She took a breath, "Here," she handed Shego's Kimmunicator back and kissed the back of Shego's head. She spoke calmly, "Employ my father, but keep him in the dark. Keep my brothers out of it entirely."
Shego stiffened, "Kim, I swear, I have no intent to involve your family, especially your brothers." It was obvious she read the messages, "I don't know what your mom was talking about, I never asked."
"I believe you. I figure my mom was trying to preemptively get her message out before my dad suggested anything. He didn't, so it's fine. I only want you to let my dad help because he'll try to help anyway, even if you said no. It would be better if you guided him so he doesn't hurt himself or do anything that could endanger the rest of us."
Shego arched her head upwards to look at Kim looking down, "I promise, he won't know anything."
"Good."
"Um," Shego felt a little nervous asking, "what did Amy want."
"I was hoping you'd tell me. I didn't look." She walked around and sat across from her, "But you don't have to, at least, not now." She looked at her a little more intently, "But eventually."
Shego remained silent a moment and then spoke, "Can we wait? It may turn out to be a completely non-issue. Let's just try to get things as normal as we can." Her eyes seemed to plead with her.
Kim didn't want to wait but maybe Shego was right, sticking closer to normal is what she needed right now. "Alright," she dismissed, "So… what are we cooking?"
Thankful for the agreement, "Heh, well, pretty much all we have to cook right now is that kidney failure inducing breakfast again - French Toast S'mores. What do you think?"
Kim swallowed, "I am drooling."
Shego hummed a laugh, "Good. And for dessert, lettuce… because that's all we have for a salad."
"Sounds fine to me." Kim got up and approached Shego.
Shego was getting up to get started but was stopped by a sudden, seated hug. She thought to ask her why, but it wasn't necessary. She returned the hug in kind and enjoyed the contact just the same. "You're gonna study after we eat right?" Kim nodded. "Good, because I have no problem kicking your ass if you get behind."
Kim smiled, "I know."
~oO0Oo~
In Kim's room, "How are the accessibility tools working out for you?" Kim was studying at her desk and Shego just came up after cleaning the kitchen.
"Oh, I'm not using them."
"What? Kim! You need to take care of your hands or they won't heal." She gestured a hand at her.
"It's a giant pain, it's easier for me to just use two pencils," she lifted them to show, "and jab at the keyboard, which is what I'm doing."
Unconvinced, "How is that easier than speaking?"
She craned her neck, "Well, considering I'm not proficient in stopping myself from muttering 'no, wait, backspace, no, don't type backspace, damn it', this is easier."
A mild and deserving eye-roll, "Fine, I tried. But if it gets too bad," she pointed, "you're learning how to use it so you can HEAL."
A quick dismissive wave over her hand, "Yeah yeah, now shush, I'm getting into 'the zone'."
Shego raised a hand, "I'm shushing." Shego walked to the edge of Kim's bed and brought out a thick notebook from her nightstand. She flopped herself on the bed and began writing.
Kim glanced at Shego, "Whatcha' doin?"
A small huff, "What happened to that zone?"
"Fine. Don't tell me."
Shego smiled from the side of her mouth, "I'm considering a change to the course work for when I officially start next Monday. I'm thinking about using something a bit more visual so people can see various ways to 'crack a safe'. I need my students to be open to hacking so they know how to defend against it."
"You're really going to teach?"
"And why not? I'm being reinstated into society and I'm staying close to you. Besides, what were you expecting? I'd just let all the students ogle my ass for an hour and a half?"
"I'd sign up for that."
"Yes, I'm sure you would. Good thing you get that any time you want."
"Any time?" A raised brow presented itself as she jabbed at the keyboard.
"Mmm, within reason, of course. Like after you're studying." Her tone was a little more demanding than suggestive.
Kim sighed, "Fine."
"Procrastinator."
"Succubus."
Shego's eyes narrowed, "Sloth."
"Poignant temptress."
"Teen!"
"Pff." Kim began to grin, "Cock…"
"Don't you say it Kimmie."
"Juggling…"
"I'm warning you!"
Kim went a whisper, "Thunder-cunt."
"That's IT! START RUNNING! SOMEONE'S GETTING A TOASTY ASS!" She lunged off the bed after Kim. Kim tried but couldn't quite leap out of the way and both her ankles were caught. Kim landed on her forearms and elbows to protect her hands and felt her body getting dragged towards her chuckling captor slowly. "Oh Kimmie, what were you thinking?" Shego brought her to her lap and firmly gripped the waistband on her back, "Now, what was it you called me again?"
"I called you a…"
Shego pulled her pants down to her thighs and playfully dragged her fingers over both cheeks, "Yes?"
Kim then felt heat increasing and cleared her throat, "My darling, understanding, intelligent, and beautiful love…?"
"Hmmm, I suppose that's acceptable. Are you going to focus on studying? You know I'm very good with rewards as I am with punishments."
"Mm, is it weird that I like both?"
"Yes," she helped Kim back up to her feet, pulled up her pants, and hugged her, "Go study, we'll play later."
"By play, do you really mean sleep?"
"All depends on how late you plan on studying."
"Fine, fine, time to buckle down."
~oO0Oo~
After Kim spent the last six hours in front of her PC, she realized it was time to call it quits. She turned to Shego who was resting on the bed, eyes closed, and her notebook hugged under her arms. She was not quite sleeping but not quite awake either. Kim took a moment to gauge if she had enough energy to brush her teeth. She was at war with her eyelids fighting their damnedest to shut. After wrestling with the idea a moment, she pushed herself to get it done and then climbed into bed. With her weight shifting the bed slightly, Shego dumped her notebook on the floor without ever opening her eyes and held Kim close, as always.
Kim spoke once more before she went to sleep. The thought had lingered on her mind the whole evening. She spoke softly and gently, "I… I don't always feel scared. Like now..., with you, I feel safe," a beat, "I'm sorry about earlier. Sometimes I just lose control. Thank you for keeping me together."
Shego brushed a warm hand through Kim's hair, "Shh, sleep time is now, you apologizing is never." She felt Kim's face briefly with her hand to find her lips and kissed them. "I love you, always." She heated her hands once again and caressed Kim's shoulders sending a pleasurable shiver down her body.
"Damn it that feels good." Shego dragged her fingers over the edges and back of Kim's ears and if Kim could, she'd pur. In a few short minutes, she was out. Shego smiled and fell asleep along with her.
~oO0Oo~
"This whole thing is fishy Will. Don't you think so?" Agent Cynthia Tai asked across her desk, parallel to his in the open floor plan. A few remaining agents were making their way out the door for the night. A rare occurrence when terrorist attacks were at an unusual low. But that was a good thing.
Du was dismissive, "That's not for us to discuss."
"So…, you don't care?" Her incredulous look bothered him.
"I didn't say that." Again, he was dismissive and he didn't want to further the conversation. He wanted to output better information for his superior as he was asked.
"Well, you kind of just did. What's with you, Will? I know you're her pet and all but even you have to think this case is strange."
"First of all, I am not her pet," his brows knitted when he looked at the agent parallel to him. "And second, there is nothing strange about investigating the relations of a high class villain with a…" he loosely waggled his hand in front of him as if to grab the right words from them, "mediocre hero."
"HA! Mediocre huh? Didn't she show you up multiple times, Mr. 'I'm top agent'?"
"Enough, I don't have time for this!" His voice was raised, but it wasn't a bark. He kept reminding himself a good agent keeps a good temperament.
"Calm down, Will. I don't question your skills, but Kim is far from mediocre." She swiveled her chair to him, "All I'm saying is, we're investigating a hero who's never used stealth just to go to from point A to B before and is now doing it constantly. She used to be in her dorm and now she's not, and yet, still attending classes. This case has been put on high priority to a select few and yet we can't go near her. I thought she wanted a job here. It doesn't concern you a little?" He was silent with the exception of a disapproving grunt. "Fine. Just think about it. I have a feeling this is bigger than we assume. And you know how right I am about what I feel, don't you?" She rolled her chair nearer to him and batted her eyes, "Hmm?"
"Stop. We agreed, not at work."
Cynthia rolled her eyes, "No one's here. We're the only one's working tonight." She then grinned, "When are you getting off?"
"Cyn, don't," his face began to redden.
She craned her neck, "Come on, say it."
Will looked around nervously and leaned in to speak quietly, "When…"
"Yes?"
He spoke as quiet as he could above a whisper, "When you get me off." He buttoned his lip and turned away shamefully to the sound of Cynth snorting into laughter.
"That's right." She came to a whisper in his ear, "Good boy." She returned to her desk, "Now finish up whatever you're doing so we can get out of here. Two of our nights have already been ruined by this crap."
~oO0Oo~
"I don't recall, Will, but I have a faint memory of someone raising their voice to me." Cynthia looked to Will with a whip in her hands. She let the multiple tassels run through her hands before dragging them across Will. He was bound to the wall in their single bedroom apartment with arms above his head. He was positioned slightly lower than her and was forced to look up at his master.
"-ess," the gag could only allow so many consonants.
"Hm. I see. Who was it Will?"
He took a few breaths before answering. "-muhee."
"What was that?" He took a few more breaths, anticipating his punishment, slowly getting aroused by the thought. His hesitation earned him a strike to the chest and allowed a sharp but muffled moan to escape. "Answer your master!"
"-muheee. -ish -muhee." His chest reddened slowly and his breaths quickened.
"You pathetic worm. How am I to punish you if you enjoy this so much?" She draped the whip behind his neck and his breaths calmed. She looked and stared into his eyes, "Beg."
He shivered and moaned his words, "PUH-leef! PUN-uh ME!"
"Hmm, good." She whipped his thighs and made him moan in ecstasy. "I never said to stop begging! Now b-beg…" Cynthia broke character, "Baby, I'm sorry, I'm not feeling it. This case is really wracking my brain."
He let out a loud disappointed groan, "-ho cose -um uggghhhnn!"
"What? Hang on." She unbuckled his gag and took it away.
He sighed and was frustrated, "I'm so close, come on. Cyn, please just finish it, I can't take this." His face reddened.
"Ugh, fine." She lubed one hand and dug her nails into his thigh with the other. In a few short moments he received his glorious release. "Can you just agree that something isn't right?"
He was left a bit breathless, "I agree, that could have lasted longer."
"Will, I'm serious. It's blatantly obvious a 'villain' is protecting Kim… her family… her friends."
"Cyn, untie me."
"I looked into the villains Kim took care of…" she looked at Will, "by herself, and none of them want anything to do with her ever again."
"Cyn?... Untie?"
"There are a couple people I still need to look into, but Will, I don't like where this is leading me."
"Cyn! Either use that damn accessory you expertly know how to use or untie me this instant!" Cynthia looked at him with fierce piercing eyes. Despite how serious she was being, he couldn't help but be aroused by the look alone, "P-please… ma'am." He looked bashful, "I can't have a serious conversation like this. Can we get dressed?" She tightened a corner of her mouth and took off his restraints. "Thank you. Give me a moment to… clean up."
"Fine, I'll change too." She heard a slight disappointed sigh from him as he walked off. He did, very much, like the outfit she was wearing.
~oO0Oo~
Will looked at the time with a heavy heart. It was well past midnight and his lover would not sleep. It's not that he didn't care what she had to say, it's just that he's been awake for twenty-six hours already and their bondage games helped him unwind. Now, he was getting tense again. "Cynthia, I've been working with Doctor Director since…" he struggled with words, "almost the beginning. There's no way a hero of her caliber is doing anything but good. She's the reason I joined GJ."
"I don't question she's done good, really good. But this feeling-"
"Well, maybe this feeling is overdue to be wrong… er for being wrong. Cyn, I require sleep, can you please come to bed?"
She sighed, "I'm sorry, Will, really." She joined him under the covers, "I know Betty was your motivation. Believe it or not, she's mine too… and Kim. Kim kind of introduced me to GJ indirectly. She's blogged about it for years. I transferred out of the marine corp so I could be here. I wouldn't have found you, you sick little monkey, if it weren't for her."
"Mm, well, I suppose I should thank her too."
"Too bad we can't be within fifty thousand feet of her, which, again, doesn't make sense."
Will looked at her with pursed lips, "Cyn-"
"I'm sleeping, I'm sleeping. See, eyes closed." She went silent as Will turned off the light. She came to a very quiet whisper, "Her blog also removed all references to GJ."
"CYN!"
"OKAY! SLEEP! GOODNIGHT!"
He sighed heavily, "I promise, in…" he checked the time again, "six hours, twenty-three minutes, we can talk about it more."
"Okay, thank you." She smiled to herself but then thought of something that concerned her, "You wouldn't talk to her about this, right? I don't want to get fired… or worse."
"I'm your pet, not hers." He came to a whisper, "Six hours, nineteen minutes."
"Okay, gaaahhd. Such a precision-asshole sometimes."
He snickered.
~oO0Oo~
Shego woke up with the thought of almost killing Kim on her mind. She tried to remember which of their past fights it was. She struggled and grimaced recalling each bad deed done to the woman next to her and yet, still couldn't remember which fight it was that caused the scars on Kim's thigh. She lifted the bed sheet and gently felt for them. She noticed the scars were closer to the inner thigh and towards the knee. As soon as she felt the raised skin, tears began to well. She still couldn't remember.
Kim groaned, "N-no… no panties."
Shego softly chuckled through her tears. It seems it'll be a long while before she'd be able to tease Kim with them again. She winced at the thought of never having been able to in the first place. The thought of never having Kim beside her. Her heart ached to a point she could no longer muffle a single escaping cry.
Kim woke to it, "W-what's wrong? Shego?"
"I-" Her voice cracked and each remaining word came out as a scratched whisper, "almost," a needed breath, "killed you." A few more tired breaths, "I'm so- s-so sorry."
"Shego, it's oka-"
"It's not! I can't even remember when. I h-hate myself. I'm evil! I'm s-sick!"
"You aren't!" Kim pulled Shego close and spoke as calmly as she could. If she started a heated argument about how she wasn't evil, it would only feed the fire. "You saved me from Belize."
Shego was completely unclear as to what Kim could possibly mean by that, "What? I wasn't there. I don't understand."
"They had guns, they knew the terrain, but Shego, they were slow. They surrounded me, it was the only way they could land their kicks, their punches." They wanted to beat me, rape me, they wanted to do the worst things to me. They only shot at my feet. They wanted me alive," Kim was being careful with the detail. She took a quick moment to push it down and away. She took a needed breath and continue, "But it was only because of you that I was able to escape. No one fights like you. You trained me, you conditioned me. Shego, you saved me. I was only able to get out of there because of you."
She didn't agree with the logic, "But I-"
"No 'buts', Shego, and you're saving me every day, now. I don't mind reminding you of that."
She decided not to argue, "I will never hurt you again."
"I know." Kim snuggled in.
"Why can't I remember?"
"It was a long time ago. Our first few fights, I think. I was a bit of a novice to the whole hero thing."
"Please tell me."
Kim sighed, "Shego, I don't think about it. I don't hold anything against you and I think I just wanted to try something new and miscalculated. It was more my fault than yours."
"Please, Kim."
Sleep was not to come until Kim went ahead with the memory, "Okay, okay. Do you remember the vortex pulsator device?"
"The... what?"
"It's what Drakken called it. He was going to use it on key fault lines to cause earthquakes."
"Oh, right. He needed a high energy source to power it."
"Exactly, and you, my sneaky, sexy, thief, stole it." Kim tried to lighten the mood. "That thing was massive, I still don't know how you snuck it out without anyone noticing sooner. Anyway, I caught up with you in a small town in Nevada. You were in the middle of connecting it to Drakken's device when a cute little somebody - me - was charging towards you."
"When… when did I do it? It's coming back to me, but I just don't remember it that well."
"Well, I think about a minute into the fight I decided to do a high kick at your head and you deflected. I think that's when you tagged me with those well filed nails of yours. I didn't even feel it."
"But, you kept going, you followed through and got me in the chest. And that's when Ron-"
"Made things more dangerous than it should have been and that when it was time for everyone to get out."
Shego's eyes darted around, looking at the memory, "You were still standing, I didn't see any blood."
"Baggy pants hid the blood running down my leg. I was too 'in the moment' to think anything was wrong. I watched you and Drakken get out and that's when I blacked out." Shego was starting up her tears again. "Shego, I'm okay!" Kim grabbed Shego's shoulders. "You didn't know. It was obviously an accident."
"I don't make mistakes like that. I'm precise. I'm accurate."
"I know you are. It was my mistake. I noticed you've never really used your glow on me either, Shego, not really. You seemed to know when you were actually going to make contact and if you did, you never burned me. It took me a while, but that's what helped me figure out that you were drooling over me."
"I didn't drool over you. If anyone's drooling, it's you over me… and literally every night."
Kim threw her eyes and hands up, "How did I know you were going to go there. I can't help it, I'm a mouth breather, jeez."
"Kim..., knowing I could have ended you isn't easy for me. I can't shrug that event away even if you say 'it's okay'. It's just, I've always made sure that, whatever I did, there was something or someone that wouldn't guarantee that end. I watched, every time. And now, knowing that just a few moments after I thought you were going to be okay, how many times did I really almost kill you? This is earth shattering for me. I'm such an awful person. I'm pathetic. A fool. I didn't even care because I thought I was being 'good enough'. I don't deserve you. I don't deserve anything." Every shove from a hovercraft, every throw through glass windows, every kick, scratch, and every bad deed done to Kim erupted violently in Shego's mind.
"Shego, Shego, stop. Please."
"I feel sick." Shego quickly turned away and held her mouth. She groaned uncomfortably for a moment, but held whatever she thought was going to come up, down. Kim came closer to her and rubbed her back.
"You feel awful and despicable don't you?" Shego nodded. "Would anyone evil actually care?" Shego didn't answer. "Don't let this guilt consume you. It happened. I've done everything in my power, in the long past, to do awful things to you, too. I may not be able to see the scars on your body, but I know I caused some. I'm sorry, too, Shego. For everything that I've done to you, I'm sorry." Shego shook her head to disagree with her, but Kim wouldn't have it. "I never wanted to admit this Shego, but early on, I really wanted to hurt you. I wanted the absolute worst for you. But that was only because I thought you were actually evil. And you aren't. And you taught me that things aren't just black and white. They aren't so binary. Life throws things at you, blurs lines, and puts a veil over your eyes. It's not that we are so imperfect, it's that life is. That much is clear to me now. And you are so contrary to evil that I'd go so far as to insult you by calling you a hero. Because you're mine, in every way."
Shego turned around and hugged Kim tightly and softly cried, "Don't call m-me tha-that."
"You're my hero, Shego. Always."
"Ss-stop."
Kim pushed her back a little to look at her, "You can't make me, my hero." Kim leaned her forehead against Shego's and stared into her tear filled eyes, "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you. Directly or indirectly, it doesn't matter, you are the root of my survival." Kim held her once more, a few slow breaths and she brought herself to a whisper, "Let's sleep. Life is way too stressful to lose more of it. Come on, I was dreaming you were a dragon again, I want to get back to it." Kim gently guided Shego to her pillow.
"A dragon? Wait," she sniffed, "again?"
"Yes, one so big and powerful she could hold the world in her mouth. Her breath could give life or a fiery death. And I, well, I command her, love her, and pamper her."
"Command, huh?" She wiped away any remaining tears with a wrist swipe as she whispered back to Kim.
"It's just a dream. And the sooner you sleep, the sooner I can drool on you." Kim snuggled into her again, "I can just spit on you to get the party started."
Shego softly chuckled, "Don't you dare." She released a heartfelt sigh, "You're perfect."
"You're my hero."
Another chuckle, "I promise to be a real one to you."
"You already are." Kim kissed her lips before she could protest, "Sleep."
"Okay, okay, " a brief moment, "I love you."
Kim smiled and whispered, "I love you, too."
So I tried to humanize Betty a bit. Let's just roll with it. Let's just assume that Betty didn't have the power to get rid of a sick villain such as Mr. Adolrumf even though that was exactly the whole purpose of the organization. Let's just assume that in her early days of starting up GJ that Dontler embedded enough of his roots to control the organization with blackmail and corruption that would effectively secure his role as a sick villain while leveraging GJ resources whenever he wanted. Let's assume that years of manipulation and abuse has turned Betty into a self-preserving villain of her own that she is okay following his rules so long as she doesn't become a victim of his private prisons. SO YES I ADMIT IT, this plot point has a grocery list of issues. BLEH, I could spend a few months ironing the logic out but really, do we want to wait this long? I SAY NAY! I'm just letting you all know, the plot point has holes (comparable to swiss cheese, yes - SHEESH), and I'm aware. It shouldn't stop you from enjoying the story (are you enjoying it?)
Anyway, I want to explain Kim's mood a bit - and I'm hoping the story already did a good job of - let me know otherwise. So Kim obviously has a high amount of stress. That was made a bit more clear in the last chapter. This chapter she seems to be in a lot more control. A few factors to consider, 1) Kim hasn't nailed down her methods for coping yet and invisible problems tend to just appear, sometimes without any warning. As Dr. Mallory explained (and is the case in real life) it can be triggered or it can just come. 2) Kim has anti-anxiety meds, anti-depressants, and something that should lower her blood pressure. As I progress the story, you'll see Kim more in control. The anti-anxiety meds are near immediate, she is taking these but I'm not writing this every time there's an issue because that would be ridiculous. 3) So long as Kim can keep herself distracted (school, play with Shego, exercise, cooking) she can remain in control. That's why we see her a little more playful towards the end of the night.
Apologies for the TLDR, I'm just hypercritical of my own work and hoping people agree with the explanation above. :)