~o0o~
Dammit, Shego thought, staring at the computer screen, there's nothing anywhere to show who's responsible.
Leaning back in her chair and putting her feet up on the desk, her gaze drifted around the room while she pondered the implications. This room was in startling contrast to the metal corridors and stone walls of the rest of the lair, outfitted in dark oak paneling, polished wood floors, and a green and black motif for the furniture. A king sized bed dominated the room, complete with a dark green comforter and black satin pillows.
Someone got into the lair, impossible. Sabotaged Kimmie, impossible, and then wiped any and all reference of their activities, impossible.
"It's impossible," she muttered as she ran her hands through her hair.
I know I'm good, but finding out whoever did this is beyond me, she admitted in frustration. This is up in Nerdlinger's territory, or... She dredged up a name, and then a face from her distant past. Or Worm's.
Walking out of her room, the door sliding shut and locking, she headed back to see how Kim was getting on with her doppelgänger.
So, who could do this? she pondered, deciding to come at the problem from a different angle. There's Drew, she thought, adding him to her mental list, Gemini, Dementor, and GJ. No one else has the knowledge or experience for such an operation.
Slowly walking out of the lairs living quarters, she turned into a central corridor, still pondering her problem.
Drew? He's got the access, but he simply lacks the skill to erase everything this surgically. So, no. She crossed him off her list.
Heading down the central corridor, she passed the main control room with barely a glance. Finally stopping at a row of lifts, she tapped her foot as she waited, continuing to analyze her problem.
Gemini or Dementor? I doubt they even know of this place, and even then they'd be hard pressed to get to it, let alone break in. They definitely don't have anyone who could access and manipulate Kimmie's AI. So, again, no. She crossed them off her list.
The lift descended quickly with Shego inside, leaning against a wall and deep in thought.
GJ? Maybe? She left them on her list. They already had access to the lair, but again, no one who could surgically edit Kimmie's AI in such a way. Sooo, no. She grudgingly removed them from her mental list, leaving her with no one.
Walking down the featureless corridor, Shego stopped and opened a small door. She walked back into the warehouse sized server room that she and Kim had broken into earlier.
"Who could do it?" she growled softly to herself.
Are we talking a new player here? Her steps slowed. Someone with seriously mad science on their side? She stopped in her tracks as her thoughts spun towards a logical conclusion. Someone who'd attack Princess and me - in her house.
Oh yes! she exulted, a mirthless grin flashing across her face as she resumed her trek. Someone's in for a world of hurt!
~o0o~
"Sir, we've lost our connection with the Omega Lair."
"Has anyone tried to gain access?" came an icy voice from the darkness.
"...They have, sir."
"Unacceptable! Please initiate the lair's self-destruct."
"Yes, sir!"
~o0o~
"SHEGOOOO!?" Kim yelled, her furious voice echoing out of the small room and into the lair, alerting the only other living inhabitant as to her current emotional state.
"Hey ya, Princess, what's up?" Shego drawled as she sauntered into the small computer room. She raised an eyebrow in question as she listened to the echoes of Kim's scream bounce around the lair's ventilation ducts.
"What is..." Kim growled, her hands clenched into fists, "THAT?" She extended a solitary digit and pointed at the very naked Kimmie.
"I'd say it's a pretty good likeness, everything considered," Shego said offhandedly, the smirk remaining as she glanced at the nude AI, then back to Kim. What the hell's going on? Why is Kimmie naked?
"What's with- with naked, and- and dressing up in- in... lingerie?!" Kim yelled, slowly standing and walking over to Shego. Incensed, her eyes focused on emerald green as she studiously ignored her naked twin standing in the middle of the room.
Hoo boy, she's going ballistic. This is a real first.
"Sorry, Shego," Kimmie apologized, "a lot of file permissions have been corrupted or reset. I'm currently fixing them."
Hmm, no mistress anymore? Shego noted. She casually leaned against the door jamb with a faint hint of green on her cheeks, deliberately keeping her gaze away from the naked Kimmie. Though, with an apoplectic Kim in front of her, it would have been hard to focus on anything else, anyways.
"Oh, calm down, Cupcake," she said, raising her hands in a conciliatory gesture, "I only got her to pole dance for me a few times."
Shego watched in quiet celebration as Kim's face went from dark green to almost white, truly speechless. As Kim's clenched hands began to rise, she decided it was time to explain before Kim truly lost it and actually tried to attack her.
"Look, Pumpkin, it's like this," Shego said as she rested a hand on Kim's vibrating shoulder, feeling all the stress and tension in her. "If you're going to build a proper 3D model, you have to start from the ground up, so I did. I stole copies of all your medical records from Middleton Hospital, and then built her from the skeletal system up. That's why there's a nude and the accompanying underwear, cause the rest is just added over the top like real clothes. And ya gotta admit, the results are pretty near perfect?"
"All fixed," Kimmie announced happily, the mission clothes once again adorning her body. She realized she hadn't been heard as both Kim and Shego were firmly focused on each other.
"If I'm going to do something, Princess, I'm going to do it well, you know that," Shego said quietly as she gently squeezed Kim's shoulder.
"But... but... lingerie," Kim stuttered, slightly derailed from her righteous anger in the face of Shego's calm and logical explanation.
"Hey, it's what I always pictured you wearing under your mission clothes," Shego smirked as she crossed her arms while looking Kim up and down.
"Interesting," Kimmie said into the sudden silence, her head tilted to one side, interrupting the staring match between the two women.
"What!" both Kim and Shego snapped at the AI.
"Someone just tried to make me activate the lair's self-destruct." She looked up into the shocked faces of the two women. "I disregarded it of course," she added calmly.
~o0o~
Kim slowly eased herself back into the chair, all the while watching the verbal wordplay between Shego and Kimmie. She watched how they thrived on the competition as they both tried to come up with a solution as to how someone could have sent the self-destruct code.
Shego and I always got so caught up in our fights that I never realized how passionate we got with each other. This is what Ron and Drakken always saw, and now I'm finally getting to see it from the outside.
Though not so much lately, she realized with a sinking feeling, I've let her take the mistress mantle a bit too much. I- I guess I've been worried if I fought back she might just up and leave, but now I know she won't. She's acting just like a big sister... I've- I've got a big Sister! She silently cheered, her growing smile going unnoticed by the two verbally sparring women.
Then, Shego flicked her hair to one side and said, "Doy!" Kim stifled a laugh as she remembered her earlier conversation with Kimmie about Shego and that saying.
Kimmie glanced at her and silently mouthed, "Doy!" She rolled her eyes and Kim almost lost it.
Then, they both mouthed, "Doy!" That was it. Kim burst out laughing, accompanied by her twin.
Shego could only stand there, her mouth agape as she watched two chortling Kim Possibles. "What the fuck are you two on about?" she snapped, aware she was the center of their joke, but unsure why.
"Ohhh, Doy!" Kim said, starting a fresh round of giggles from the two of them.
"If someone doesn't start talking soon, there's going to be some serious hurt going down," Shego threatened as she raised a glowing fist.
"Well, Doy!" Kimmie said, collapsing to the ground in fits of laughter, while Kim fell back into her seat, giggling madly.
"Well screw the lot of you!" Shego yelled as she found her temper snapping. "I've got better thing to do than watch you two idiots make fools of yourselves." She marched out of the door with the sounds of 'Doy' in her ears.
~o0o~
Shego stormed into the Omega Lair's large dome shaped control room, still cursing and swearing about all the redheads in her life.
Don't they have anything better to do than talk about me? she thought angrily, throwing her hands in the air in exasperation. Standing there in the dark, she sought out a victim for her irritation, only to growl in frustration at the silent and vacant room.
You'd think Kimmie and... Princess... would... Oh shit! What have I done? She leaned against a desk and groaned in dismay. I've put the two of them together! I've put TWO Kim Possibles together! Of course they're going to talk about me.
They're going to be comparing notes, double teaming me, she thought as she slowly paced around the dimly lit room.
She knew Kimmie, the AI, would not give away any true secrets, but she was built around Kim's personality. She was as close to perfect as Shego could make her. She was Shego's masterpiece, made from petabytes of data and weeks of intense specialist programming. The result was everything she could have dreamed of, and here she was, hoist by her own petard.
"Damn it!" She yelled, blowing off some steam as she stopped her pacing. "Let's see what Drew was after," she growled, pulling out her phone and using it as a distraction from her redhead problem.
A few quick clicks and swipes later, and she had his email open. She had no idea what he wanted her to do at the lair, since she had automatically tuned out most of his conversation as soon as he started explaining. Once he had finished talking, she had told him to email it all to her.
"Mm-hmm," Shego murmured as she read the email. It was a mostly rambling affair, but there was an invite for Christmas dinner, touting his now much loved 'formerly evil family' phrase. She did not instantly dismiss the idea, as in a way, he was. He had been there for her when no one else was. She finally got down to the whole reason for the email, this urgent need to inventory the Omega Lair.
"What?" She growled out loud, her jaw dropping as her barely relaxed face frowned in disbelief.
~o0o~
"No!" Kim exclaimed, a wicked grin on her face.
"Yes, it's true," Kimmie chortled, "Shego loves singing in the shower, but only if no one's around. Of course, I don't count as someone, so I've heard her many times, and she's actually very, very, good."
Arm in arm, the two Kims were currently strolling along one of the many well-lit, featureless corridors of the lair. The well-polished floors and smooth stone walls were occasionally punctuated by recessed blast doors that every villain's lair needed. It hadn't taken them long to decide that a quick tour of the Omega Lair was needed, their conversation naturally drifting back to their favorite comet-powered woman.
"Even better," Kimmie stage-whispered, pretending to be secretive, "I overheard some of the henchmen mention that Drakken once got her to sing at one of his karaoke nights. Apparently, she was so good he sulked and never asked her to do it again," she said, finishing with a giggle.
Oh I have to get her to sing for me... somehow, Kim thought with a smile, instantly deciding it was her new mission in life.
"Annnnnd here we have the main hangar bay," Kimmie announced as they walked into a massive chamber that disappeared into the distance.
"Overcompensating much?" Kim deadpanned, unable to keep the comment to herself.
"I know, right!" Kimmie agreed as they walked past various bays with tarpaulin covered vehicles in each. "It's like he's gone, ooh I've got such a small... hand." Their eyes met. "I've gotta overcompensate." They both broke into giggles.
The two chuckling women wandered down through the hangar bay. Kimmie pointed out various covered machines, making comments about each, their voices echoing around the chamber. Walking along, something caught Kim's eye, making her instincts itch. She was not sure what it was, but something was out, and she automatically began scanning the dimly lit hangar.
"And here we have the ultra-special, the crème de la crème, the Liberace hovercraft," Kimmie announced, bowing slightly as her arm gestured towards another tarpaulin covered vehicle. The grand statement distracted Kim from her itch and her eyes focused on the hovercraft.
"Really?" Kim looked at the large tarpaulin covered disc. "What makes this one better than all the rest?" She waved a hand up and down the massive hangar.
"Well, for one," Kimmie said as she removed her arm from Kim's and walked over to the hidden vehicle, "it's an amalgamation of all his other hovercrafts, all their best bits included, and two." She pulled the tarpaulin off in one fluid move. "Shego loves to tinker with it."
Shego tinkers? She's a mechanic, an engineer? "She really tinkers?" She was hungry for more knowledge of anything Shego related as she walked over and put her hand against the unbelievably smooth metallic-blue hull of the hovercraft.
"Oh yes, she's not just another pretty face."
So true! Uh... I did not just think that!? Kim thought, mortified, hardly paying attention as Kimmie leapt up and onto the edge of the craft.
"C'mon up and I'll point out a few of her modifications," Kimmie called down.
"Um... " a distracted Kim said, an apologetic look on her face as she held up her crutch.
"Oh, sorry," Kimmie said, frowning, "and I'm meant to be the super-intelligent AI around here." She jumped back down next to Kim.
"You - me - out of here," Kimmie stated as she linked their arms together and turned back towards the doors.
"But- but-" Kim started to protest as she was gently but firmly led from the hangar, her eyes casting one last glance around to try and spot what had felt out of place.
~o0o~
"Wait...! You're serious?!" Kim almost shouted, barely managing to keep it down. "Drakken- Drakken actually asked her out after that awards ceremony?"
It was too much for Kim, and she found herself leaning against a wall in disbelief. That... that... Drakken... had actually- "But he's almost twice her age," she finally managed to splutter out, shaking her head.
"Agreed," Kimmie said, the same look of wrongsick on her face as Kim had on her own.
"What... happened?" She was curious as to how Dr. Drakken had survived.
"Not what you'd think," Kimmie teased, deliberately being vague. She offered a hand to Kim, who slowly levered herself off the wall with her twins help. "Now, where was I," she said, once they were strolling arm in arm along the corridor again. "Oh yes, Shego politely turned him down."
"That's... so out of character," Kim mused out loud, so lost in her thoughts that she did not even bother reading the large sign saying 'medical wing' as they passed under it.
"I know, I can't work it out either. I have no idea why she didn't plaster him across the room."
Shego... Drakken... Dating...! Kissing! Ewww!? Kim thought with distaste. I- I know I should be more tolerant, but still... ewww!
"Here take this," Kimmie said, holding up a hand, a large white pill in her palm, a glass of water held in the other.
"What's it for?" Kim asked automatically, her thoughts of Shego dating someone evaporating. Looking around, she finally focused on her surroundings, noting the examination table she was next to and the large medical ward they were standing in. White, was all Kim could think of. The walls, floor, and furniture all followed a similar theme of white. Running off into the distance were dozens of beds, all neatly made and covered with plastic, while across from her were double doors marked surgery.
"You may be able to fool Shego for a little while, but don't forget I am this base. Nothing escapes my sensors. I know how injured you are, and on reviewing your initial entrance, how you've reopened some of your lacerations in repairing me. So here." She offered the pill again. "This will help."
"It's not something Drakken invented, is it?" Kim asked, already vowing to say no if it was.
"Nope, better, it's from HenchCo, whipped up with a lot of help from DNAmy. Go on, trust me," she said, seeing the doubt on Kim's face. "It works really, really well."
How can I not trust a super-intelligent AI of myself? Kim thought in wry amusement, slowly reaching out to take the mysterious pill. She rolled it around in her fingers, still weighing the pros and cons of taking a pill designed by known villains.
I'm not going to offer me something harmful, she finally decided. "Well, here goes nothing," she murmured, swallowing the pill and washing it down with a mouthful of water.
She immediately felt a warm rush flow through her body, covering her from head to toe in goosebumps. Blinking rapidly at the wondrous feeling, she felt it intensify, becoming almost orgasmic in nature. Overwhelmed, her eyes rolled back into her head as she drew a ragged breath, barely aware of her death-like grip on the table. "Gaaaawd," she whispered, lost in the sensation, her heart pounding away in her chest.
Then, slowly, she gradually became aware of the world her again, the wondrous feeling subsiding and leaving behind in its wake a pain free Kim on wobbly legs.
"Wow! Oookay," she said a little breathlessly, "that was... intense!"
"Told ya," Kimmie said with a grin. "The chemical compounds bond to any active pain receptors, reducing their input to a manageable level while also allowing any new traumas to be registered."
Kim nodded her head slowly in understanding as she tentatively rolled her shoulders to test the limits of the wonder drug.
"Now, let's see to your injuries," Kimmie said, a serious tone to her voice. It was a tone Kim knew well, one she often used on her brothers.
"Well I'm here, so I may as well," Kim agreed, her body still tingly from the after effects of the drug. Plus, it will save Shego worrying about me.
~o0o~
It's weird, Kim thought, not the weirdest I've seen, but certainly up there.
She was sitting on the padded examination bench watching herself, or more precisely Kimmie, restitch one of the lacerations on her leg. She was surprised and happy that once she had undressed, the examination had only shown her with two lots of torn stitches, the rest holding firm from all her recent activities. Now, here she was, sitting on the bench in just her panties and feeling quite relaxed.
Strange. Kimmie, Mom, my doctor, and I don't care, but I substitute in Shego and I lose control, why?
"There we go," Kimmie announced, tying off the last of her stitching, "good as new."
"Spankin'!" Kim straightened her leg to admire the handiwork. Very nice, Mom would be proud of us. She smiled at the thought. Pulling on her tank top, she realized Kimmie had not moved, a look of uncertainty on her face.
"Is everything okay?" Kim asked, curious as to why Kimmie, an AI, would be acting as if she was nervous.
"I know I'm just an AI to you, but would you consider us friends?"
Oh wow, this is just like when I asked Shego yesterday. Not even hesitating, she reached out and took Kimmie's hand and gently squeezed it in reassurance.
"Yes, I do. I count us as friends," Kim said earnestly. "After all, you're me, so how could I not," she said, grinning.
"Well, I'd like to ask you a big favor while we're here like this," Kimmie said, her frown slowly disappearing, replaced by a hopeful look.
Anything," Kim automatically replied.
"Any... thing?"
"Anything!"
"I'd love to get a proper 3D scan of you, to update my model for Shego's sake?" Kimmie said enthusiastically.
"No big." Kim gently slid off the table and extended her arms. "Is this okay?"
"Kim, by scan, I mean without any clothes," Kimmie said as she dropped the bombshell.
Uh...! Kim thought as she realized the request she had blindly accepted. Me...? Pose nude! For- for- Her heart was already beating faster at the mere thought. Oh Gawd, how do I get myself into these situations, she mentally berated herself.
"I wasn't sure if you'd want to, after I saw how you reacted earlier over my file error," Kimmie calmly added. "Though, I'm still unsure why? You're stunningly beautiful, self-confident, a true hero in every sense of the word. Why should this bother you?"
Kim swallowed deeply as she eased herself back on the examination bench, wondering how to explain embarrassment to a version of her that seemed above such emotions. She knew that if she had the answers, she would have conquered this achilles heel a long time ago.
"It's like this," Kim tried to explain to her puzzled twin. "Everything Shego saw back then, everything you've watched of our fights, you both saw me in hero mode. You have to realize, I'm still just your basic average girl, very conscious of how I look, how everyone sees me."
Kim watched as the light dawned on her twin's face.
"Does that mean you won't do it?" Kimmie asked sadly, resignation in her voice.
"Yes. No. Oh I don't know." Kim sighed, running a hand over her face. "Posing for you, or for anyone, is such a big deal. Even if some people seem to think I'm... you know... slightly attractive," she said softly.
"It's okay," Kimmie said, smiling sadly.
Kim then watched in horror as Kimmie's face... her face, became so cute it was monstrous. Her bottom lip stuck out and quivered slightly as her eyes became big and watery.
"I understand," Kimmie sniffled as she unleashed the full force of Kim's own puppy dog pout against her.
No! Argh! I can't...! "Fine!" Kim exploded, her iron resolve crumbling under the onslaught. "Okay... all right... I'll do it, just- please put that... away," she said, sighing in resignation.
"Spankin'!" Kimmie said, clapping excitedly, her face switching from pout to full on gratitude in an instant.
"Shego's not going to walk in on us?" She glanced at the door, feeling self-conscious already.
"No... she's not even on the same level as us," Kimmie said as she pulled the screen around the table.
Only for Shego, no one else. Kim sighed silently as she slid off the bench, preparing for her first and hopefully only ever nude photo shoot.
~o0o~
Did she really need to be so exact on how I'd look in all moods? Kim thought.
With her scanning done, injuries taken care of, pain reduced, and her full body blush and embarrassment finally under control, Kim became aware of how hungry she was. With all the excitement of the day, she realized how long it had been since she had last eaten.
"I don't suppose there's anything to eat?" Kim asked hopefully as she pulled on her sweater, distracting herself in the ordinary after everything Kimmie had asked of her.
"Sort of. The lair was never officially activated, so all of the foodstuffs here are of the preserved kind, survivalist rations and such."
Kim made a face. "I'd prefer not to!"
"Yeah, they can be a bit hit and miss, but if you're really stuck, I'm sure we could whip something up."
Kim stood in thought while she looked at the problem from various angles. Shego would have known there was nothing here, so she must have had plans for lunch. Plus, I'm here with Shego, so I think my mistress needs to live up to her caring duties, she thought while grinning.
"Let's go and ask Shego, see what she had in mind," Kim said.
~o0o~
Kim followed her twin through the labyrinthine halls of the base, even descending quite a few levels in one of the lair's countless lifts. Finally, Kimmie stopped and gestured ahead of her towards a massive reinforced door that took up the far end of the corridor.
"She's all yours," Kimmie said before she faded from view.
"All-" Kim started, then stopped as another pressing matter came to mind. "How do I get in?" she called out to the departed AI, looking at the huge steel door and the small access panel accompanying it. Her question was immediately answered as yellow warning lights began flashing around the door, followed by the clank and groan of hidden machinery.
She patiently watched and waited for the heavy steel door to ponderously open, impressed by its almost ten feet of reinforced titanium. The door finally ground to a halt as the hazard lights stopped flashing, and she walked forwards.
Her curiosity was aroused as to what Shego could be doing behind such a door. Shading her eyes from the corridor's harsh lights, she looked into the darkened room, amazed by what she saw. Missing was the harsh steel clad chamber she was expecting, instead, there was the dim outline of palm covered sand dunes under a starry sky, pale moonlight filtering through the thick canopy.
Wow!
She carefully took a step forwards onto the sand covered interior, looking around with interest. With the cold impersonal light from the corridor covering her surroundings, she found it hard to see very far. Then, as she was just about to take another step in, the massive door slowly began to close, eventually shutting her in.
Better. Alone on the dunes, her eyes adjusted to the scattered moonlight. She gingerly bent down with her crutch to feel ground, her hand passing through some of the leaves, feeling the soft spongy surface underneath. This confirmed her suspicions, It was a mixture of Drakken's amazing hard light technology and holograms, all woven together to give an extremely realistic illusion.
Standing up, she took her first good long look at her surroundings, pondering her options.
A crescent moon was visible through the palm fronds, along with a sky full of twinkling stars. A glint of water could be seen between the trees, and wafting through the palms was a gentle breeze, carrying with it the sound of waves lapping at a seashore. The phantom night was also warm and quiet, with only the occasional faint cry of a gull in the distance or the chirp of a lonely cricket singing out to accompany the waves.
Destination in mind, she headed off through the palm trees towards the ocean.
"It's a beautiful night," she whispered into the peaceful scene, a smile on her face. Her searching gaze caught the hint of a green glow as it appeared and then disappeared, her eyes spotting the lone figure sitting on the sand with her back to a palm tree. Gotcha!
"Hey, you," Kim called out as she slowly walked down to the beach.
There was no reply from Shego, not even an acknowledgement that she had heard the friendly greeting. There was nothing but the sound of waves upon the beach and the intermittent glow from Shego's hands lighting up the darkness.
What's happened? Kim thought worriedly. Something's happened, but what? Why didn't Kimmie say anything? She paused, her mind working furiously. But she did, didn't she. She said all yours, so she knew something was up, and knew it was best if I handled it alone.
She nodded to herself. So alone it is.
She resumed her trek along the beach, slowly making her way towards Shego. The pale moonlight revealed Shego with her knees up, arms resting on them, her hands out in front clasped together, and her long black hair falling forwards, covering her face.
Kim couldn't help but feel a sudden lump in her throat at the sight of Shego sitting there all alone in the dark.
"Hey," Kim said softly, arriving next to Shego. She gingerly sat down on the sand next to the silent woman, crossing her legs and clasping her hands on her lap. Still, there was no response from Shego, just the brooding silence and pulsing hands.
"Is everything okay?" She threw as much warmth and friendliness into her voice as she could, concerned about the despondent woman.
Shego finally acknowledged her presence and looked up, and while her hair covered most of her face, Kim could see the seething anger barely contained within. As Shego's hands flared with plasma, lighting up their little world, Kim felt a bump against her foot. Glancing down, the ground still illuminated by the glow, she saw that Shego had slid her phone over with a foot.
Kim did not bother asking why, or what for, she just picked up the small device.
Okay, let's see what's got her so riled up.
In seconds, Kim was reading the email that Drakken had sent. She read the heartfelt invite to Christmas lunch, the incredibly cute 'formerly evil family' phrase, and lastly something called Operation: Gherkin 2. Apparently, it involved the inventorying of the Omega Lair's jars of pickled gherkins and recording their amount and expiry dates.
"I tell ya, Possible," Shego hissed through clenched teeth into the darkness, "if he'd tried this trick on me a year ago, he'd be in the burns unit for a month." She leaned her head back and rested it against the palm tree, staring into the glittering sky. "Is this all I'm good for now?" she whispered, her anger draining away.
Kim heard the ache in the voice, the emotions Shego would never admit she had. Her own heart ached in response, knowing the feeling well.
"Well, you're good for me!" Kim stated.
Shego gave a mirthless smirk, which just as quickly disappeared back into the darkened shadows of her face. Unclasping her hands, she ran her fingers through her hair to relieve some of her anger, stiffening as delicate fingers gently touched her shoulder. She opened her eyes, surprised to see Kim looking at her with utter sincerity on her face.
"Shego, I'm serious, you do. Ever since the Lowardians, I've slowly been worn down by everything that's happened, until I was feeling dead to the world and just going through the motions." She bit her lip, trying to put into words how Shego was affecting her in a way she would believe. "Then you showed up," she said, briefly smiling, "and it feels like I'm waking up for the first time in ages."
Shego watched as Kim scooted around so she was in front, her face serious. Kim's effervescent personality pushed to the side in her earnestness to get her point across.
Touch is the key, Kim thought, we both react better when touch is involved.
"I know the world's been turned upside down for the both of us since the invasion," Kim said as she reached out and took ahold of Shego's pale hands with her own. "So if you can break me out of my rut, embarrassment and all, then I'm more than willing to do anything to help you with whatever you need."
"It's never that simple, Princess, I-"
"Note, serious face." Kim adopted a very stern expression while she squeezed Shego's hands. "You've been on the other side for years." She carefully made sure not to mention Drakken. "Then you were away from the world for a year, and I know you value your independence and anonymity. So whatever it takes, whatever you need, even if... " She ducked her head sadly. "Even if you just wanna leave and head back to your island."
Fuck, Princess, how do you do it? She felt her anger and bad mood beginning to fade with Kim's heartfelt offer.
Then, out of the blue, Kim raised her head and poked her tongue out. Shego was unable to stop the slight twitch of a smile, letting Kim know she had been successful.
Got you, Kim silently cheered. Now to rescue you.
"Maybe," Shego said quietly, removing her hands from Kim's gentle hold. "I still don't see why you'd help when you have better things to do?"
"See family motto," Kim said, knowing she had won. "So, how about we have some lunch?" she asked, standing up slowly, "and then I can explain in great detail how good you are for me."
Lunch sounded like an excellent idea to Shego. When didn't she put her own personal enjoyment ahead of Drew's idiotically petty needs?
Stuff it, Shego decided, he can wait. She flowed to her feet in one long, sinuous movement. "Lunch," she agreed as she looked Kim up and down and then took in her own state of dress. "But first, a quick shower and change."
~o0o~