The Sequencer sat in the middle of the floor, tufts of rainbow wires sprouting from it, metal plates hanging open to reveal the inner components of the machine. Screws, bolts, cables and tools littered the floor surrounding it.

The bright flash of a welding torch flared behind the control panel, making shadows dance around the room. Sparks flew out in all directions, quickly dying away, to be replaced by more. The flare died down, the crackling and sizzling stopped. He must have been doing this for some time, as she was getting a metallic taste in her mouth from the acrid fumes which hung in the air.

Shego was dismayed by the disarray and threw the instructions onto the desk as she walked past.

Drakken stuck his head out from behind the panel. "Shego! Hand me that wrench, will you?" He stretched out his hand, blinking at her through the protective goggles he was wearing, his eyes magnified behind the thick lenses.

She stood arms akimbo, disbelief at his change in attitude from a few days ago. "I don't work for you anymore, you fired me. Actually, you ordered the goons to attack me. Remember?"

"That was just… a little misunderstanding. We can get past our differences. Can't we?" He looked down at his empty hand, then back at her.

She didn't think there was any point in trying to discuss this with him. "Look I only came to get my car from the garage. I asked nicely, but if you try to stop me, I'll blast my way out."

"We have a parking garage?"

She sighed, looked over at the Sequencer, then at him. "It's not going to happen." She found it hard, but felt the truth was long overdue for him to hear. "You're never going to take over the world."

"Of course I will Shego. Once the Sequencer is working-"

"That damn thing is never going to work!"

She didn't mean to yell at him, to take those steps towards him with her arms raised in frustration. He fell backwards on to the floor, knocking over the welding equipment, the bare flame still burning.

"Please give it up. I'm not going to be around to stop you from killing yourself."

As he raised himself up, she reached past him to switch the welder off, before heading to the service elevator.

"But Shego, you can choose any country… no, any countries you want!"

"Not interested." Shego waved an arm dismissing his offerings. Reaching to press the down button, she froze at the next words to come out of his mouth.

"Killigan said you'd changed."

An uneasy feeling rose in her stomach. "When were you talking to him about me?"

"I didn't believe him, but your recent behavior has confirmed it. Turning down the chance to have your own countries to rule over…" He rummaged around the items on the floor, picking up a wrench and returning back to the panel. "…saving Kim Possible yet again…"

He stilled at those words, and she heard him chuckle. Her breathing became deeper, her eyes narrowed. If he had turned around at that point and saw her expression, he would have known to stop talking. To his detriment, he kept his back to her. "Come to think of it, now I know how to take care of her, I don't need y-"

She covered the distance between them in seconds, pushed him into the control panel. The force made a dint in the metal and took the air from his lungs with an ooomph. She spun him around to face her, gripped his clothes in her hands, used her body to pin him into place.

"You're not to say anything like that to Kim again. She wasn't responsible for what happened to Stoppable. It was an accident. A stupid… stupid accident. It wasn't her fault."

His knees trembled uncontrollably, threatening to no longer hold him up. She grabbed him tighter. The lack of plasma was more daunting than if her hands flared with it.

"Have you told anyone what happened the other day?" He shook his head. Her eyes searched his, assessing if he was telling the truth. "And you're not going to, because it would be the last thing you ever did. And don't you ever talk with anyone about me. Got it?" He nodded vigorously and she released her grip, took a few steps back. Shego walked back to the elevator.

"One last thing." She planned to leave with the absolute last word. Turning, she saw he hadn't moved from how she left him. "I decided to quit a long time before you fired me. Don't contact me or try to find me ever again." The elevator pinged and the doors opened. Stepping inside, she kept eye contact with him until they closed.

xxx

Her car back in its place under the apartment building, Shego changed to go for a run to clear her head, to get rid of the anger inside her. She was certain Drakken had been telling the truth about not talking to anyone about Kim. However she found it frustrating that he now knew where Kim was vulnerable. And despite Shego warning him not to, he could try to use that against her again, or he could tell any one of Kim's other enemies, making her susceptible to getting hurt. Or something worse.

That last thought made Shego run faster. Her feet pounded against the pavement and she pumped her arms hard, unaware her hands were balled into tight fists. She ran like that until she reached the corner of her street, reducing her running to a slow trot, then a brisk walk, as she neared her building.

Stepping out of the elevator and into the hall, she found Kim sitting cross legged on the floor outside the apartment.

"Hey." Kim crammed the book she'd been reading into her backpack as Shego reached down offering her hand. Kim was easily lifted to her feet, stood close to Shego as the door was opened.

Inside, Kim dropped her backpack, wrapped her arms around Shego's neck. When they parted from the kiss, Kim led them to the bedroom. In the hallway, Shego sidestepped into the bathroom, taking Kim with her.

xxx

They were lying facing each other, faces flushed, breathing returning to normal. Kim gently caressed Shego's cheek, leaning in to kiss her. Before their lips touched, the muffled tone of the Kimmunicator broke the silence. Keeping the sheet wrapped around her, Kim jumped from the bed, ran from the room.

Shego rolled onto her back, replayed the past two days in her head, still confused how saving Kim from an attack by Drakken had led to this. Not that Shego could define what 'this' was. Being with Kim was nice, really nice, she couldn't deny that. But always on the far edge of her consciousness was the knowledge that she was sleeping with Kim Possible.

She was able to appreciate Kim's body, was amazed how it responded to her touch. She wondered why she'd never noticed it before and reminded herself she would have. Only back then, she would have been looking at where she could inflict pain, not pleasure. In the past she'd fantasized that one day she would have Kim begging her for mercy, to be released. Never did she imagine those things would be asked for when they were having sex.

I'm sleeping with Kim Possible.

She wasn't sleeping with the enemy, they weren't that anymore. At least she didn't think so. But they had a history and it wasn't a good one. That's what Shego was struggling to get past. Their past. Remembering what she had done to Kim and her family. The things Kim had done to her, most of which she would admit was warranted. But to go from that to a physical relationship was beyond understanding. And it all happened so fast.

She needed to understand what was going on, needed to make some sense of the madness. The physical side was easy, it was the other stuff which could be coming that she was unsure about. She needed time to work it all out.

The redhead returned to the bedroom, knelt on the bed beside her. "It was just Wade checking in."

As Kim leaned in for that interrupted kiss, Shego raised a hand to stop her.

"We need some rules."

xxx