In the Middle

by StarvingLunatic

KiBo. KiGo. BoKiGo. Shego wants Kim. Bonnie wants Kim. Kim wants them both. Who's going to have her way? Probably Kim because she can do anything.

21. Wednesday

I don't own these characters; Disney does.

21: Wednesday

Shego stared at the house phone as if she was trying to will it to do something. It was not ringing, just sitting there, much like Shego herself was. She continued to stare at the object while silence blanketed the apartment. She was the only one there. It was just her and the phone.

She leaned forward from her space on the sofa. It looked like she was going to reach for the phone, but she only leaned on her knees. She rested her elbows on her knees and rested her chin on her hands, eyeing the phone like she expected it to do something. The phone seemed to disappoint her by just… sitting there. Damn inanimate, unintelligent, non-psychic objects.

Shego knew she did not have a lot of time to sit there and contemplate the secrets of the universe, much as she would have liked to. She had to go downstairs in less than an hour, as she did have classes to teach, after all. She hoped Kim and Yori got in a good workout without her since she was planning on taking it to them twice as hard as usual during their lunch break.

She could have sparred with the pair that morning if she could just use the telephone like she was supposed to. It was just a mentally difficult call to make. She had promised, though. She had made a promise to her two loves and she needed to make the call.

"Fuck it," she grumbled as she snatched up the phone.

It really did not take that much physical effort to make the call that she needed to. All she had to do was push a button. But, that simple task took much more willpower than anything else she would probably do that month, in her opinion anyway. She did not take into account that the day was quite young.

Shego hit the one button quickly, as if she was trying to make sure that she did not chicken out. She put the phone to her ear, waiting for a familiar voice… one she repeated in her mind, she did not want to hear.

"Hello, is this my cranky child or one of her adorable mates?" Isabel asked as she answered the phone.

"Mommy," Shego grunted. She took a deep breath to keep herself from blowing up on her mother.

"Ah, my cranky child. It's rare that you call, so you must need or want something," Isabel commented. It was clear from her voice she had a teasing smile on her face.

A deep frown marred Shego's features. "To hell with you, Mommy."

"You're upset over the truth? Of course you are."

"Mommy," Shego growled.

"To what do I owe the pleasure? Maybe you would like to fill me on how you spent your anniversary that you didn't bother to tell your goddamn mother about," Isabel stated in a huff. She was genuinely pissed Shego had said nothing to her about the trio's anniversary a few days ago, even though she expected her daughter to keep such a thing quiet. That was how Shego was, after all. Still, she was quite pissed, as she wanted to be a part of her children's lives, after all.

"What the fuck? How did you know about it?" Shego demanded with a scowl. How the hell does she get this information? Does she have me bugged or something? She would not put it passed her mother.

"Doesn't matter how the hell I know about it. I know about it and I also know that you didn't bother to tell me. What the hell is that about?" Isabel countered.

"The fuck? I don't need to tell you about every little detail of my fucking life. I'm a grown ass woman. Besides, you would've just sent a bullshit gift anyway. Kimmie and Bonnie don't need you trying to spoil them with big, expensive gifts," Shego stated.

"I can spoil whoever the fuck I feel like," Isabel said. She had her answer, though. Shego had not said anything because she did not want anyone showering her lovers with expensive gifts. That was Shego's job. Isabel could respect that.

"Whatever. Look, I didn't call to talk about this shit. We need to leave that reporter bitch, Tina Mallory, alone now," Shego informed her mother in a cold, tense tone. The scowl on her face was so pronounced it felt like it was chiseled onto her features.

"What the fuck? Why?" Isabel demanded in a hard tone of her own. She wanted to make sure that bitch knew to never fuck with her daughter or her daughter's lovers ever again!

"She came by not too long ago. She… well… she apologized. And, goddamn it, Bonnie and Kimmie accepted the apology," Shego explained through gritted teeth. Her free hand was making a tight fist.

Isabel was silent for a long moment. "Did you accept it?"

"I don't know. I think so. I mean, I could tell she meant it. I mean, she was fucked up, Mommy. We made that woman a shell of a human being. I just…" Sighing, Shego shook her head. She did not know how to explain it.

"Firefly, you're not a monster. I understand if you have conflicted feelings about what happened. This woman hurt you and your loved ones, but you hurt her rather badly in return," she said, sounding reassuring and understanding. She knew the feeling rather well.

"Do you have conflicting feelings about it?" Shego asked in a quiet voice. She cradled the phone a little closer, as if to make sure she did not miss the answer.

"Not really, but then again, I'm not in a relationship with two law-abiding females and one of them who could be categorized as a goodie-goodie. I also didn't see what she looked like. You did. I might feel a little sorry for her if I had to see her, see what we created… but, out of sight, out of mind." Isabel shrugged.

Shego nodded, hearing her mother's shrug clearly through the phone. "I guess that makes sense. Well, either way, we can call off the dogs now."

"All right. I guess I'll have to find something else to occupy my time. Maybe I'll go hunt down your father and fuck him silly," Isabel mused aloud.

Shego scoffed. "He already is silly and where the fuck did he go already? I thought he was home." Her voice was normal, glancing right over her mother's comment and moving onto the next topic.

"He was. He woke up yesterday, walked out after ranting about wanting to surf, and hasn't been back since. I called his cell phone, but apparently the number I have dialed cannot be reached."

"He probably broke the damn thing again," Shego grumbled. She had never met someone who went through phones like her father did, not even Doctor Drakken. "So, did you hang up and try again?"

"Yes, because I'm always in the mood to waste my time," Isabel replied in a deadpan tone. "I figured he broke the damn thing. He'll call eventually if he is gone. Maybe he went surfing and gotten eaten by a shark."

"Please, he's lived with you for over thirty years. I'm pretty sure he can outlast a few sharks."

Isabel chuckled a bit. "Is this the end of our business, firefly?"

"Actually, I wanted to know if when we were younger we ever fought in any tournaments. I can't really remember," Shego said, scratching the top of her head in thought. There were plenty of fights when she was younger, some even organized, but she was not sure they counted as tournaments.

"Of course you did. We didn't do any real official tournaments, but you fought in plenty. Remember when we stayed with your great aunt in the Himalayas? There was a tournament at the end of every month, but we never called it a tournament. Hell, we never called anything a tournament. And I know you remember all of those underground fights your aunt used to sneak you off to. So, yes, you and your brothers were in more tournaments than most can imagine. Why do you want to know?" Isabel inquired.

"No reason. I was just trying to remember, that's all," Shego answered. That made sense and explained why she could never remember any tournaments.

"Uh-huh. Is that the end of our business then?"

"Yeah, that's it. Why the fuck are you trying to kick me off the phone?" Usually, Isabel would eat up a chance to talk to Shego.

"I have a life, too, firefly," Isabel said with a light laugh.

"Oh, please. We both know you don't. Now, get your lazy ass out the house and go find my Daddy. Lord knows what kind of trouble he can get into on his own," Shego remarked. She never said anything, but she disliked it when Kane left and did not tell her mother. What if something happened to him? She knew it was a long shot, but he was her daddy and she worried about the little guy.

"I'm sure he's fine," Isabel replied. She had the same fears as her daughter, though. "Besides, he'll call if he's really gone far," she added to ease Shego's nerves. And she would find him if he did not, if only to know where he was.

"Whatever," Shego grumbled and disconnected the call without anything further.

Shego sighed as she thought about her father and his habit of waking up one morning with the urge to leave the city, or even the country. She realized she had fallen for someone with a similar habit: Kim. Not only did Kim have the same habit, but she rarely called once she was gone, just like Kane. At least with her father, it was a recent development since his children were all grown and out of his way. With Kim, it was an old habit that was hard to break, and she was only vaguely aware of the stress it caused her girlfriends.

"Making her more aware than my dad," Shego muttered, but it was still disconcerting.

Shego shook those thoughts away, reminding herself that both her father and her redheaded girlfriend were more than capable of handling themselves. It would just be nice to know where they were every now and then, if only for a little peace of mind, but she digressed.

"I have to get my ass down to work before my students all fall asleep," Shego said to herself. One of the problems with having students so similar to herself was how quickly they lost interest due to lack of patience.

She charged out of the apartment and went down the stairs instead of using the elevator. She got down there just in time to see Kim and Yori finishing up their sparring. They turned to their pale colleague as she stepped onto the mat.

"Hey, love. You okay?" Kim asked as she wiped her forehead with back of her hand. She had a plain, pink tank top. None of them wore a traditional gi like in most martial arts schools. Since they were far from traditional, they did all things differently.

"I'm fine. I just missed everything, huh?" Shego inquired.

"Yeah. We need to get ready for class now," Kim answered.

"Damn." Shego sucked her teeth and then she turned her attention to Yori. "Hey, ninja-prude."

Yori growled. "I have asked you not to call me that," she said through gritted teeth. Her eyes flashed with fury.

"And I decided not to honor that request, doy," Shego stated plainly.

The kunoichi continued to frown and stormed off to her classroom. Shego chuckled, feeling good about herself for getting a rise out of Yori. She was pretty sure it was going to be a good day just because of that.

"Shego," Kim sighed.

"What? It's good for her and gets her to be included," Shego replied, totally justifying her bad behavior. They had both agreed to that.

Kim sighed again and Shego smirked, beckoning her over with crooked finger. Kim walked over to Shego and gave her a peck on the cheek before going upstairs to get ready for her own classes. Shego went through a quick, ten-minute warm-up before her usual first two students showed up. The couple, who were talking about the morning news as always, greeted their teacher with a wave and then went through their own warm-ups.

The day went on normally. Kim and Shego went to lunch with Bonnie. Yori had lunch with Ron. The three teachers came back together with almost a half-hour of their own time left. They had a nice, long two-hour lunch break. Yori and Kim glanced at each other and then locked their gazes onto Shego.

"Why are you two looking at me like that?" Shego asked, as if she did not know. She knew exactly what was coming and she had a big surprise for them.

"So… Shego… about that tournament," Kim started, tapping her finger against her chin in a thoughtful manner.

"What about it?" Shego inquired, looking down at her fingernails.

"We wish to have one, you know that. We are prepared to spend the rest of this time convincing you that we should have," Yori stated calmly.

"Well, ninja-prude, this could take a while," Shego replied smugly. "Maybe we should pull up a chair or two."

"Shego, I have asked you—" Yori began, but she was cut off.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Shego waved the whole thing off. "I know what you asked me. I'm not going to stop unless I get another, better nickname and even then I might just keep going. If you want, I could start calling you 'pokemon' or something." She could not help the smirk that crept onto her face.

Onyx eyes went wide and Yori gasped. "You wouldn't!" She would not stand for such disrespect. Should Shego start calling her that, then there would be a serious fight in the school that had nothing to do with a tournament and she would not hold back.

"Nah, I could come up with something better than that." Shego rubbed her chin in thought. "I'm sure there are more embarrassing things that have come out of Japan than you and pokemon. Maybe I'll get even worse and just call you 'Great Wall.'"

"I am not Chinese!" Yori huffed, stomping her foot and glaring daggers at Shego. She knew that Shego was being so ridiculous and annoying to get a rise out of her, but that did not stop the initial anger. She had to deal with idiots assuming she was Chinese more often than she liked, after all. It was not something she wanted to hear from an intelligent woman like Shego who was very aware of her ethnic background.

Shego smirked even more, feeling very good about herself from what her two companions could tell. Kim rolled her eyes, but she did not step in. She still thought it was good for Yori to show some emotion when in their company. She just wished Shego could bring out more positive emotions in people.

"Really? You look Chinese," Shego said, trying to dig in deeper.

Yori took a calming breath when she saw that smartass smirk on Shego's face. She was just feeding into the taunting by getting upset, but there was just something about Shego that got under everyone's skin. She glared harder at the pale woman, but let the teasing go.

"Anyway, we are still looking forward to having a tournament, Shego," Yori stated. She made sure to leave off the "san." It felt like she was getting Shego back for all of her horrible words.

"I'm sure you two pests are," Shego replied in a dismissive tone, going so far as to brush them off with a motion of her hand.

"Come on, Shego! Do I have to do the pout again?" Kim inquired. She did not give her girlfriend a chance to respond since she stood a good distance from her love. Her lip started quivering, as her eyes got wide and watery.

"Damn it, Kimmie! Put that thing away!" Shego ordered, pointing a threatening finger at her girlfriend. She turned away, not wanting to see the expression.

"But, we wanna have a tournament!" the redhead whined and stomped her foot like a child throwing a tantrum. She was not sure where that came from, but it seemed as good as any other tactic they had used. After all, nothing else had worked so far.

"Fine, you can have a tournament," Shego answered as if it was nothing. She went so far as to shrug and brush it all off.

"C'mon!" Kim and Yori yelled simultaneously, obviously prepared to continue, just as Yori had threatened.

They then blinked hard as what Shego had said reached their brains. They looked at her suspiciously, wondering if she was playing another one of her cruel jokes on them. Her face did not give anything away for once.

"What did you just say?" Kim inquired, wanting to make sure that they heard right. After all, they could both be going insane from Shego's stubbornness.

"I said you can have a tournament," Shego answered with another shrug. She had the nerve to sound bored about it, even yawning like it was no big deal.

"Are you serious?" Kim asked to be sure. She took a step closer to her lover, like that would help her figure out if Shego was just messing with them.

"What did I just say?" Shego countered, blowing out a long sigh, like she was exhausted with them.

"You're not going to take it back, are you? I mean, you're not going to wake up tomorrow and suddenly not want it again, are you?" Kim asked while Yori eyed Shego as if accusing the older woman of that crime already.

"I doubt it. You two are going to do all of the work, though. I'm not touching this shit until it's absolutely necessary," Shego informed them, brushing her hands off.

"We have no problem with that," the two other teachers replied with smiles on their faces. They then turned to each other and high-fived each other.

Shego could not help rolling her eyes, even though she had a small, amused smile on her face. They're actually kind of adorable together. She supposed that was good for Yori, too. Kim was certain being a little goofy was good for Yori.

"This is wonderful. I will finally get a chance to show Ron-kun what my students are capable of and what I have been able to teach them in such a short amount of time. Thank you for this opportunity, Shego-san!" Yori went so far as to bow to Shego.

Shego smirked in satisfaction and Kim groaned. There was going to be no living with Shego now, Kim thought. Yori quickly rose as she realized what she had done and how formal she was being, not to mention whom she was being formal with. This was the woman that now commonly referred to her as "ninja-prude."

"You two understand that you're totally responsible for this. I'm not touching it," Shego pointed out. While she did not mind the tournament, she definitely did mind the work. She wanted to yawn and whine just thinking about it.

"We got that, Shego. We've got it totally under control. All you have to do is show up on the day of the tournament. Hell, we might not even need you to judge anything depending on how we set it all up," Kim declared. She bounced on the balls of her feet, apparently hyped now.

Shego rolled her eyes. All they needed was a hyper Kim. She would let Yori deal with that.

"Oh, we should make it a weekend thing. There could be a day for individuals and then the second day for battles," Yori suggested. She was smiling, almost grinning. There was something infectious about Kim's attitude. Hell, even just the atmosphere of the ninja's work place seemed to be changing her.

Shego sighed while Yori and Kim went off into their own little world, planning the tournament. She smiled, happy to not have to deal with any of that and she thought it was funny how enthused they were about everything. They were occupied with that until their students started coming in for afternoon classes. The pair was careful not to spill the beans to their students. They wanted to hold off on that until they got better ideas of what they wanted to do with the tournament.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie sat at her desk, glancing at the clock every few seconds. She was a bit late after getting caught up in a case. There were too many angles for her to go at with this particular case, and that was why it consumed her thoughts. She needed to decide on the best avenue and go with that. She had realized rather belatedly that she needed to devote some of her time to other cases. So, now she was stuck working late. She decided to call her lovers, knowing they worried about her just as much as she worried about them.

She reached for the phone and dialed the home number. It rang a few times and she could just picture Shego sitting on the couch, right next to the phone, and not bothering to see who was calling. Hell, Shego was probably letting the damn cat play with the phone, Bonnie thought.

"Hey, baby!" Kim finally answered the phone.

"Thank you, babe. Is that lazy, good-for-nothing Shego sitting right next to the phone?" Bonnie inquired curiously.

"No, no. Our other great love picked her ass up off of the couch to go beat up on her favorite pinball machine. Cali was batting it around, though. The noise still spooks her a little, I think."

"Of course it does," Bonnie said dryly. Cali picked up on some things and took them as normal while other things just went over her head and drove her crazy. But, she was cute, so it was all right.

"Is everything okay?" Kim asked.

"Yeah, everything's fine. I'm just going to be working a little late tonight. I neglected a couple of cases and I don't want to save them for tomorrow just in case the same thing happens. So, if you two want to have dinner without me, that's fine," Bonnie said.

Kim scoffed. "You know we wouldn't do that. I mean, it's not like you're going to be there all night, right?"

"I shouldn't be, but I don't know how long I'll be here."

"Don't be too long, love. Do you want us to come down there and keep you company?" Kim proposed.

"No, I actually want to get some work done," Bonnie answered with a laugh. Her girls were way too distracting for her to want them around when she wanted to put her all into her cases. "But, I appreciate the sentiment."

"Just checking. We'll be up waiting for you. Do me a favor and just call back in an hour if you're still at work, okay?"

"Yes, Mom," Bonnie teased. "I am a grown woman, Kimmie. I'll be fine."

"Humor me, please. You know how it is."

"I do, and if you know how it is, why the hell don't you call more often?" Bonnie turned it all around on her love.

Kim coughed and then laughed nervously. "Guess you got me there. I'm sorry I don't call more often. I get caught up in the moment and the moment sometimes lasts a really long time. I'll try to be better," she vowed, sounding like a child that was scolded.

"You need to. You're making us old before our time," Bonnie pretended to huff, even though she was serious.

"I will try. Let me let you go so you can get your work done and we can see you soon. Love you," Kim said.

"Love you too, baby," Bonnie replied and then she hung up the phone.

Bonnie wiggled her toes, which were out of her shoes, as she began looking at one of the other cases on her desk. She had her shoes kicked off because that was just how she worked. She turned her music back on; classical was her music of choice for the day. She hummed along with a symphony as she went through the case, making notes along the way.

Bonnie was not sure how much time passed, but she heard her office door open. For a moment, she thought it might be her girlfriends, coming to check on her. She looked up from her work, wondering who was disturbing her at such a late hour if it was not her girlfriends. She could have sworn almost everyone had gone home for the night, but apparently she was wrong.

"Lyle, what do you want?" the brunette demanded as her vile coworker stood in her doorway. Her gaze turned hard when her eyes fell onto his form. It was like her eyes were trying to send him away already, damn what he wanted.

"I don't know why you're so hostile. I just want to be your friend," Lyle commented, pouring on his "southern charm" rather thickly, in her opinion. He smiled at her, like the expression was supposed to set her at ease.

"I don't want to breathe the same air as you, let alone be your friend. Now, get the hell out," Bonnie commanded, pointing to the door, so he could not get lost on the way of exiting her office.

"Aw, come on, darlin'. Don't be so mean," Lyle remarked as he shut the door and stepped a little deeper into the office.

Bonnie frowned at the man's boldness. He did not seem to notice, but if his smile was any indication, he knew he crossed the line. His blue eyes seemed to dare her to do something. The smirk begged her to do something. She responded. There was no way in hell she was going to let him push her around in her own office.

"The hell is wrong with you? Are you fucking slow or something? Get the hell out!" Bonnie commanded as she slipped her shoes on before getting up. It was force of habit to make sure that she did not greet a client or a senior partner in her pantyhose.

"I don't think so. I want to know what you got against me. I mean, you send your little attack dyke after me and try to almost get me fired. If you want my attention, you don't have to go through all of that," Lyle commented with a warm smile that did not match the expression in his eyes.

"You silly, conceited bastard. I don't want your attention! I want you to go the fuck away!" Bonnie huffed, walking to him with determination in her step. She did not go too far as he stepped in front of her. Instinctively, Bonnie disliked this new predicament, being trapped between him and her desk.

"No, I know what you want. You want to try to fuck up my life. Well, you got another thing coming if you think I'm going to let you do that," Lyle said with a growl of his own, his accent slipping a little. He frowned down at Bonnie, trying to tower of her, even though he was only a few inches taller than she was. Bonnie did not flinch.

"Why don't you just leave me the fuck alone?" Bonnie demanded, glaring up at him with angry fire in her eyes. "Trust me, I don't want to bother with you enough to fuck up your life."

"You're nobody. You're a nothing. You should be happy that someone like me even took an interest in you," Lyle stated in a sternness that let her know he was serious. He genuinely believed she should be flattered by his attention.

Bonnie was about to fire something right back at him, but he did not give her a chance to say anything. He grabbed her, taking her by surprise. She gasped as he turned her around and pinned her on her desk. Her heart rate shot up as her brain caught up with the position that she was in.

"You're just a little bitch that needs to know her place," Lyle growled in her ear as he pressed hard against her back, keeping her on the desk.

Bonnie struggled and wiggled, trying to get away. He jabbed his elbow into her spine and she cried out in pain. He grabbed her shoulder and slammed her harder into the desk. She grunted as her cheek hit the wood and she tried to push away. He took hold of her hand and twisted her wrist.

"Stop!" she screamed as pain shot up her arm.

"Hold still, you little bitch, while I show you where the fuck you belong," he hissed, pressing up against her backside.

"No! No!" Bonnie cried, only to have him hit her in the thigh with his knee. It hurt, but not by much, not enough to keep her from struggling.

"Fucking hold still," he snarled and he slammed her head against the desk, enough for her to see stars for a few seconds.

Bonnie gasped again, head still swimming, as she heard his zipper open. She closed her eyes tightly, as if trying to will everything to go away. She could feel him rip her pants open, button flying to the floor and rolling underneath the desk. When she suddenly felt his hand on her bare ass, roughly groping her, she knew that closing her eyes was not going to help, and yet there was no way in hell that she was going to let the slimy bastard behind her have his way with her.

Bonnie reacted without thinking. She stepped on his foot, shoving her pointed high-heel into his foot. He hollered and backed up just enough for Bonnie to spin around. She wasted no time kicking him in the crotch with as much power as she could muster. He howled in pain and fell back as his hands were to his injured groin.

The panicked brunette rushed out of the room as if it was on fire. She ran out of the main hall of the firm, seeing it was completely empty. She set off down the stairs because she did not want to risk waiting for the elevator. Her heel broke off on the way down, but she did not stop, hobbling into the garage on the ground level that held her car. Her eyes were wide as she focused on her vehicle, one of the few still there. She hurried to her car with hot tears gathered in her eyes and she panted, trying to catch her breath. She drove off with her vision blurred by her tears. There were tire marks left on the ground.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god," Bonnie chanted over and over as her lungs burned for more air. Her throat burned, her eyes burned, everything burned. She wanted to throw up, but all she did was keep driving and weeping.

Bonnie was not aware of anything on the road. She went through several red lights, but luckily there were no police around. She almost hit a kid crossing the street, but he was smart enough to jump out of the way. She was not sure when she got home and just parked the car because it was a habit. She was not even aware she had parked, but she knew to jump out of her car and run upstairs.

Once she made it to the safety of the apartment, Bonnie broke down. She fell to the floor, hugging herself and bawling her eyes out. The first on the scene was the cat because she was the closest. She tried rubbing herself into Bonnie, silently begging for attention, but she did not receive the wanted caress, which let her know that something was very wrong.

"Bonnie?" Kim called before she got a good look at the body slumped at the door. Her mouth practically hit the floor when she saw the lump that was her first girlfriend. "Bonnie, baby, what's wrong?" she inquired with concern etched in her voice as she rushed to Bonnie's side.

Bonnie only wailed louder as Kim embraced her. She turned to weep into Kim's tank top, quickly dampening the cotton material. Kim held Bonnie tightly and whispered reassuring words to the attorney, hoping it would help. She gently ran her fingers through Bonnie's hair and kissed her forehead.

Cali puttered around close, rubbing her head against Bonnie. It was nice that the cat was trying to help, but Kim feared Bonnie might just need to let this out. The thing that scared her was wondering what got Bonnie to this point.

"What the hell is all the noise out here?" Shego wondered as she wandered out of the game room. Her brow furrowed and she frowned when she noticed her girlfriends curled up on the floor and Bonnie crying like a newborn.

Shego was down on the floor and embracing Bonnie within seconds. While Kim tried to comfort Bonnie, Shego started doing inventory, looking for signs of why their lover was distressed. For a moment, she thought Medea might have struck again and managed to wound Bonnie. When she did not spy any cuts or bruises, she dismissed that theory. And then her eyes caught sight of the open pants, the missing button, and the partially open fly.

"Kimmie," Shego said in a voice lower than a whisper. She made sure to remain as normal as possible because she was not looking to fly off of the handle just yet. She wanted the full story, so she would know exactly whom she would have to kill and feed the person's body to ants.

Kim looked over at Shego, who nodded downward, directing Kim's attention to Bonnie's disheveled clothing. At first, Kim was just upset with the fact that Bonnie's typically neat appearance was in disarray, letting her know something bad happened. She thought that maybe Bonnie was attacked, but nothing too serious, but then she saw what Shego saw. Her eyes flared with fury and she snarled before she turned her attention back to Shego.

"You don't think…" Kim muttered and then she turned her attention back to the crying woman in her arms. "Bonnie, baby, we need you to tell us what happened," she requested in a gentle tone, hiding how tense she truly was.

Bonnie began to babble incoherently because she was unable to stop her tears from falling. Her words fell over each other and she hid deeper into Kim, muffling her words even more. Eventually, Kim and Shego silenced her and just held her. Cali joined in, curling up at Bonnie's knees. For a long while, Bonnie just cried and they let her.

Once the weeping was done, silence reigned over the house. Bonnie trembled against Kim while holding on for dear life. Kim rubbed her back and Shego caressed her shoulder. It did not seem to have any effect on her, though. It was almost like she did not know they were there, despite the fact that she clung to Kim.

Shego and Kim kept their gazes fixed on Bonnie's ripped pants. They tried not to think too much on the destroyed article of clothing, but it was just staring them dead in the face as far as they were concerned. It screamed at them to do something about it and they wanted nothing more than to take it up on that offer, but they knew they had to remain calm for Bonnie's sake.

Bonnie slowly started to come to her senses. She realized she was being hugged. She knew she should feel safe and loved thanks to the powerful arms around her, but she did not. She felt an incredible emptiness that ate at the pit of stomach right through to her soul. She trembled and those same arms held her tighter, making the emptiness spread.

"Don't touch me," Bonnie pled as she pushed away from her lovers. Her back the door and she felt trapped in their arms. Her chest heaved as she tried to breathe, but found it impossible.

Kim and Shego were momentarily stunned by the words. Their faces fell, victims of painful words, but they could see their lover was panicking again. They released Bonnie, allowing the attorney to retreat. Bonnie fled into the dining area, putting a chair between her and everyone else. The martial artists looked at each other, gazes trying to heal jagged wounds caused by Bonnie's break. They then shook it off, thinking about the ordeal Bonnie must have just gone through to have such a reaction.

"Please, just don't touch me," the lawyer begged in a quiet voice. She wanted the empty feeling to go away before it devoured her entire being. She felt sick knowing it was caused by her lovers' touches.

"We won't touch you, baby," Kim promised in a tender tone. She and Shego put their hands up as if they were under arrest.

Bonnie nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. She felt like she needed to keep herself from flying apart, but also she needed to protect herself from them. If they touched her again, she might lose herself completely to that void inside of her.

"But, we do need you to tell us what happened, Duchess," Shego added in, making sure to use her gentlest voice. After all, she had to put the first ever name to her "kill list" and she needed to remain calm in order to get that information. After that, her behavior would put a wild lion to shame.

Kim and Shego felt like it took an eternity for Bonnie to respond, but it was only a few seconds in actuality. In their eternity, though, they felt as if they had died a million times, each time in the most gruesome of manners, only to be resurrected to die again in a way much worse than the last. The clock ticked down to which one of them was going to throw up first as each passing second felt like it stabbed them in the stomach.

"Nothing happened. I mean, it was something, but nothing," Bonnie rambled, shaking her head a little, as if trying to clear her head.

A vein bulged in Shego's neck as her body grew tenser by the second. She was obviously about to lose it. Kim placed a soothing hand on Shego's shoulder, wanting to keep her calm until they had the full story. Shego took a few breaths and regained her composure. She gave Kim a nod just to let the hero know she was okay… relatively speaking anyway.

"He just came at me. Just came at me. I couldn't believe it. It was crazy! I mean, one second, he's ranting about stupid shit and won't get out of my office, next thing I know he's got me bent over the desk!" Bonnie screamed and her body shook. She held herself tighter, needing to make sure she did not fly apart. Her teeth chattered and she touched the space on her cheek where it hit the desk. This drew attention to a bruise forming on her face.

Shego snarled and seemed to be bathed in a full-body green glow. Kim had to grab her to hold her and make sure that she stayed still. The glow did not disappear, but Kim seemed to be the only one that noticed it. Thankfully, Shego did not advance more than that and Kim held her tightly.

"Its okay, baby," Kim said and she was speaking to both of her girlfriends… neither of whom seemed to be listening to her.

"He was going to… he was going to… Oh, god!" A gut-wrenching sob escaped Bonnie's throat. It was loud enough to sent Cali running for cover under the nearest chair. The cat decided to watch everything from a distance after that. "His hands! His hands!" She wailed. "He was…"

"It's okay, baby. He didn't… right?" Kim asked. She hoped to hell he did not or this mysterious "he" was going to be in for a Kim Possible that not even Shego had seen before.

Bonnie shook her head and sniffled. "No, he didn't. I mean, he was going to." She paused and panted for a moment. "He even opened his pants." Her body shook as she remembered and she held herself tighter. This actually helped her feel better.

"He opened his pants…" Kim growled. In a second, she might not be able to hold Shego back because she would be out the door, hunting for this bastard.

Bonnie took a breath. "I got so scared and I panicked. I don't know how I got away or even how I got here. I just know one second I felt him behind me, pressing me, and then he was gone, so I ran," she explained, her eyes darting around the floor, searching for answers. She could not remember anything beyond the feel of his body against her at the moment. After he put his hands on her ass, everything was blank.

Shego relaxed at those words, but not by much. The dull green glow around her remained, but her breathing slowed and the snarl tugging at her lip like some crazed animal was gone. Kim released Shego, so that they both could turn their full attention to Bonnie. They made a move as if they were going to go closer to her, having forgotten her plea for them not to touch her.

"No!" Bonnie shouted as she jumped to her feet to create more distance between herself and her lovers. She moved quickly for a person wearing a broken shoe.

Kim and Shego flinched from the declaration. They stared at Bonnie, hating the look of conviction in her eyes. She did not want them to touch her. She did not want them near her and they could see that quite plainly. There was a hint of something else in those beautiful, but raging, turquoise orbs, and it cut into Kim and Shego like a rusty steak knife.

"This is all because of you two! My life was normal before I got involved with you! Now, thanks to you two I'm a worldwide joke! The whole goddamn world knows I'm a fucking dyke! I got fired from a firm I really liked to end up in this fuck-hole where everybody fucking hates me and thinks I got the job because I'm fucking one of the biggest clients! And to make shit worse, I almost got raped because you want to have a fucking pissing contest with Lyle! Fuck this! I'm sick of this shit!" Bonnie screamed and then stunned her girlfriends by storming out.

Kim and Shego were so shocked by the outburst that they did not react, for perhaps the first time in their lives. They just stood there, staring at the space Bonnie used to be in. When the front door slammed, they did not even blink. Cali, on the other hand, fled into one of the back rooms. It was like the world stood still.

"Did she… did she really just blame us?" Shego asked in disbelief. She did not even know how to take that since it was so out-of-the-blue and completely fucking outrageous. Her mind was barely wrap itself around that.

Shego actually swayed, like she was about to fall over. Kim caught her with an arm around her waist. Kim was not sure how long she would be able to hold Shego, though. Her own legs were weak, but that did not last long.

"She wasn't thinking clearly. She just went through a rough ordeal," Kim replied in a calm tone, feeling her body steeling itself. There was a crisis. She needed to handle it and Bonnie needed time to get herself together.

Kim was much more capable of processing what just happened, dealing with people and tragedy a little more often than Shego did nowadays anyway. This was a little more personal than either of them was used to and Shego was definitely taking it harder than she would have if only she was on the outside looking in. So, Kim let the information settle while keeping Shego on her feet.

"Should we just let her leave like that?" Shego inquired, eyes glued to the door.

"I think she needs some time to herself to get herself together. We both know Bonnie's stronger than we usually act. She was able to get herself out of that mess earlier without being raped, so I think she'll be able to work through the first few steps of this on her own. And, if not, I know where she's going to go for help," Kim answered.

An ebony eyebrow arched. "Where?"

"She'll more than likely end up with my parents. I mean, if you think about it, where else can she go?" Kim pointed out.

Shego nodded and she felt touched by that comment. It oddly made her feel better. Kim's parents would protect and help Bonnie. This reminded her just how few people Bonnie had in this world to care for her, so she was confident that Bonnie would return to them. It also gave her a new mission to focus on rather than worry about Bonnie. She needed to crush and slaughter Lyle.

"I know what you're thinking," Kim said when she noticed a devilish smile curl onto Shego's painted black lips.

"Then you better be with me," Shego stated. She would go this alone if necessary. No one would ever hurt her lover in such a way with her around. No one.

"I never thought I would be, but I am. I can't just stand by while someone tries to rape our girlfriend," Kim stated and she scowled.

Shego could see a haunting look in Kim's olive eyes. It was dark, brooding. Shego's smile only darkened, knowing Kim could only add to what she had in mind.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie got into her car, slamming the door so hard that the window slide off of the track and into the door. She did not notice and just started to drive. Hot, angry tears rolled down her cheeks as she cursed her lovers in her mind and tried her best to hate them in her heart. Fuck them, fuck them, fuck them. She then started punching her steering wheel as she realized she was driving to nowhere.

"I don't even have any place to go! My whole damn family hates me!" Of course, the feeling was mutual, but she did not recall that at the moment. She just knew her whole family hated her and she blamed that on Kim. "She cost me all of them! I'll never be one of them because of her! Fuck her."

Bonnie did not even think about her brother Johnnie, still seeing him as "family" in her fury clouded mind. She tried to think of any friends, but she had alienated many of them thanks to her personality or just the fact that a lot of people she used to know were surprisingly homophobic. Monique was out of town, back to work and traveling the country. Tara, one of the few people she stayed in contact with after high school, lived in another city now. She did not have anyone to run to, no shoulder to cry on.

"How pathetic is that!" Bonnie bawled. She did not even have any friends. Continuing on with her strange state of mind, she blamed Kim for her lack of friends. Being in a relationship with Kim had taken any friends she had because they did not want to be around a "queer."

A torrent of fiery tears blazed down tanned cheeks and Bonnie just continued to drive. Her mind went on automatic again and she just drove. Her consciousness only returned when she found herself standing on a familiar door. She must have already knocked, she figured, because she heard someone shout, "Coming!" Her brow furrowed in confusion, wondering what she was doing.

"Hello, Bonnie," Ann Possible said as she pulled the door open. She was smiling until she took in Bonnie's wild appearance. "Sweetie, what happened?" the neurosurgeon inquired with concern in her voice.

"I left Kim and Shego!" Bonnie wailed and she threw herself onto the older woman.

Ann did not say anything and returned the embrace with her own reassuring hug. She quietly ushered Bonnie into the house and out of the dark. She gently shut the door behind them while keeping her arms around Bonnie in a rather motherly manner. She led Bonnie to the sofa and let the lawyer cry into her shoulder. She rocked Bonnie a little like one would do a child and then held her when Bonnie quieted down.

"Would you like anything? I could have James put on some tea or cocoa," Ann offered.

Her husband lingered in the doorway of the kitchen, looking in on the scene with his usual – when it came to Kim and Bonnie anyway – confused expression. He clearly wanted to help, but had no idea where to start. He was going to stay close, just in case he could be of some assistance in someway.

Ann waved him off, if only to help put him at ease. He only frowned and held onto the doorway. He wanted to hold Bonnie and help put her back together, but he was not sure if he should join in just yet. She might feel overwhelmed. He knew she came from a household where affection was rare, so he would Ann handle this for now.

Bonnie only shook her head, declining Ann's offer. She slowly realized what she was doing, crying on the shoulder of Kim's mother after breaking up with Kim. As horrible as it sounded, even in her own mind, Bonnie did not care. Ann was comfortable and comforting. She wanted that and she was taking that now.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ann asked in a low tone, rubbing Bonnie's shoulder.

"I don't know," Bonnie mumbled, sniffling and wiping her nose with the back of her hand. She was not sure what she wanted to do aside from just feel loved by someone and safe.

Really? You want to feel loved and safe? A voice in her mind pointed out that she would have had that if she stayed with Kim and Shego, but she knew that was not true. The only thing her girlfriends held was that horrible empty feeling that she did not wish to experience.

"It's all right. You don't have to talk about it right now. If you want, we can get you out of those clothes and you can take a hot, relaxing shower. You should still have clothes up in Kimmie's room, right?" Ann asked softly.

Bonnie nodded; that did sound like a good idea. Ann was going to let Bonnie go, but she felt the attorney was not ready to let go. She waited until Bonnie was ready to end the embrace that they were locked in. When Bonnie started to pull away, Ann finally released her.

Bonnie walked off on her own, knowing the house rather well, of course. Ann watched her walk off, noting her hobble. Bonnie only had one shoe on. Ann's forehead wrinkled from concern. James came out of the kitchen when the coast was clear.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"I think something happened with the girls. Bonnie said she left Kimmie and Shego," Ann answered.

"Did she say why she looked like that?" James inquired, glancing in the direction Bonnie left.

Ann shook her head. "She didn't want to talk about it."

"You don't think Kim or Shego had something to do with it, do you?"

"I'm not sure what to think. She said she left them, but I don't think her disheveled appearance had anything to do with that. I'm sure she'll tell us what happened when she's ready," Ann said. Or so she hoped, anyway.

"What should we do?" he asked in a low tone, rubbing his chin. He hated the feeling of not knowing. He was smart man from birth and well-educated beyond that. He had always been able to figure things out, except these girl things that happened with Kim and now Kim's relationship.

"I don't think we have to do much, except for be there for Bonnie. She seems to be really distressed over something. We could always call Kim and ask if there's anything we need to do," Ann suggested.

"Should we do that?" James asked, looking worried as well as confused now. Now, he might not be in favor of same-sex relationships, but he was used to Kim being with Bonnie, and maybe getting used to Shego to a certain degree. He did not want to see that come to an end, knowing how hurt Kim would be.

"Let's take a little time. We don't want to butt into their relationship if they can handle it on their own. I mean, would you have wanted my parents butting in every time we had a little spat when we first got together?" Ann countered, not that this was something they really had to worry about.

James shook his head and frowned. He was satisfied with that and went about his business as best he could. He looked up the stairs as he marched back into the kitchen, needing some tea for himself.

Ann sighed and glanced up at the stairs as well. She thought about how Bonnie had run to their house and took comfort in her. She then thought about a trial not too long ago, a trial where Bonnie defended Kim for assault charges brought against Kim by Connie Rockwaller. Bonnie had gone against her whole family in that trial.

"That was probably the end of invites to any family gatherings. She's really lost everything. She didn't have a mother or a sister she could run to for whatever's going on," Ann realized, speaking to the air. She knew how terrible that was.

She removed herself from the sofa and went to find her husband. James was sitting at the kitchen table, reading some notes for work as his tea water boiled. Ann went and sat down next to him. He glanced at her as she wrapped an arm around his arm.

"You need something?" he asked.

"I was just thinking, I noticed you're doing much better with Bonnie and everything. I'm happy you're trying for Kim's sake. I want to ask something else of you," she replied.

"You know you can ask me anything," he reminded her.

"I just want you to keep up what you're doing with Bonnie. She needs a family. She needs us," the redhead stated.

James nodded. "I know and understand that. I'm here for her, for Kim… Shego, you might want to get back to me on," he remarked with a small smile.

"I'm not asking you to make the great leap here. I just want you to keep up what you're doing with Bonnie," Ann replied with a smile of her own.

Shego could take care of herself, after all, and no one was fool enough to think that James' lessening dislike of her was really affecting her. Bonnie was a different story, though. Bonnie needed people and they should be there for her, like she was there for their daughter.

"I have no problem with that. Bonnie is a very nice girl," James answered. His response earned him a smile from his wife.

"She is."

James sighed. "And I see the good she's done for Kimmie."

She had to look at him. "Oh, really?"

"Look, you know how I feel about same-sex relationships, but I also have eyes. Kimmie grew up when she got into a relationship with Bonnie. She's happy and I'm happy for her."

She gave him a deadpan look. "Really?"

"I'm happy for her in the sense that she's found a relationship with Bonnie that's successful and works for her. I have no idea what she's doing with Shego and I don't like to think about it," he said honestly.

She chuckled a little. "Well, that's something. It's good that you're all right with being there for Bonnie."

"She's a nice girl," he repeated. This was one of the reasons why he could not understand why Kim had run off with Shego or why Bonnie accepted that. But, again, he tried not to think about it. "She'll be all right, right?"

"We'll be there for her."

"Even if she left Kim?" he asked, even though he knew the answer to that. She just nodded. They would be there for Bonnie. "We're her family," he felt the need to say.

Ann grinned. "That we are." She patted his arm. He was a good man.

-8-8-8-8-

Kim and Shego paced the apartment in two parallel lines. They were not sure what to do, but they both needed to move. They passed each other in front of the living room, where Cali hid underneath the sofa and watched them, hoping things would get back to normal soon. It seemed that no one had any answers.

"Goddamn it! We need to find that jackass and beat the living shit out of him right now!" Shego finally screamed from the opposite end of the apartment as she turned to face Kim.

"That's not going to solve anything," Kim countered, even though she really felt like that was the best way to handle everything. She wanted to just go to wherever the hell he lived, tie him to the bed, and clobber him with a metal baseball bat until his whole body was bruised black and blue.

"The hell it's not! That bastard tried to rape Bonnie! Rape, Kimmie! Rape!" Shego hollered.

"Stop saying that fucking word!" Kim hated the way it sounded and she hated the way it hit her in the gut when thinking about how it almost happened to Bonnie. Doesn't she know I want to go out and beat the shit out of the guy, too? But, it's not the best course of action and I need to think.

"I'll keep saying, so you can move your ass and we can go take care of that fucking asshole the right way! Goddamn it!" Shego screamed, the end part directed at no one in particular. She ripped at her hair, actually pulling out several strands.

"Love, calm down. You getting so pissed that you're ready to tear yourself apart isn't helping. Now, we can't do anything before we get Bonnie back. I mean, do you want to do something and then end up pissing her off? You know how she feels about us doing illegal crap," Kim reminded Shego. Bonnie was already in enough of an emotional state. It would not do well for Bonnie or them if they were arrested again.

Shego only grabbed for another fist full of hair, not knowing what else to do. Kim rushed over to Shego, forcing her hands away from her head. Kim wrapped Shego's arms around her own waist, then she put her arms around Shego. It was not just an embrace, but a way to pin Shego's limbs to her side if she decided to start moving.

"Take a breath, lover. Take a breath," Kim whispered.

Shego had to take several deep breaths. Kim could feel the change in Shego as she calmed down, even though she remained tense. Kim could understand the tension, but was shocked when she heard Shego crying.

"Damn it, Kimmie, why did she have to blame us?" Shego inquired, her voice cracking, as she hid her face in Kim's lush red mane.

"She was just hurt, scared, and anxious, Shego. She wasn't thinking when she was talking and she didn't realize what she was saying. It wasn't true," Kim promised.

"But… I did antagonize Lyle. I practically crushed the man's nuts and I went after him. I wanted to get him fired. I wanted him crushed and I know he did this," Shego pointed out, shaking her head against Kim's neck.

Kim gave her a tight squeeze. "Hey, you didn't make him pin Bonnie down on her desk and we don't blame you for it. Bonnie was just upset. We'll give her time and I'm telling you, she'll be all right. She's strong and she knows we love her. She knows this isn't on us. So, you get all of those crazy thoughts out of your head. You didn't make him try anything and it wasn't your fault," Kim insisted, rubbing the small of her girlfriend's back to help ease away her pain.

"…are you sure?" Shego whispered.

"I'm positive. Shego, I've known Bonnie for a long time and, sure, most of that time I had no clue what the hell was going on with her, but now I know her pretty well. She didn't mean those things. She's just trying to make sense of something traumatic that happened to her. She still loves us and it's not your fault. He's responsible for his own actions."

Shego nodded in agreement with that. "I just hate to see her hurt."

"I feel the same way."

"I want to make it better."

"Me, too." Kim wanted to make it better for both Bonnie and Shego. Right now, she focused on Shego, though.

"I never want to hurt you."

Kim kissed the side of her head. "I know. I don't want to hurt you either and I don't want to see you hurt. This wasn't your fault. None of it was your fault."

Shego nodded and held onto Kim. They stayed hugged up for a while, feeling a little better. They knew they would not feel better until Bonnie got back into their lives. They also needed to teach Lyle a hard lesson. Shego hoped Kim would still allow her darkness to come out and play, if only to make the lesson stick a little better.

-8-8-8-8-

Bonnie finished with her hot shower and went up to Kim's old bedroom to get some rest. She had clothing in the room, including pajamas that she was able to crawl into. After that, she flopped down into Kim's bed and had a dreamless sleep. She was awakened by the smell of good food right next to her head.

"What time is it?" Bonnie groaned into the pillow.

"It's actually morning. You slept through the night. I brought you some breakfast and a kind ear if you're ready to talk," Ann replied in a gentle tone. She was in a chair by Kim's desk.

Bonnie slowly opened her eyes. She looked much better now than she did last night, Ann silently noted. Her eyes were still a little puffy and red from crying, but nothing compared to last night. She also did not carry that rumpled look that Ann was very aware Bonnie was not a fan of.

The lawyer was quiet as she sat up. Her attention was first drawn to the food, which was on a tray on the nightstand next to the bed. After all of the emotions and action from last night, she was starving. She moved the tray onto her lap and surveyed the meal. It was nothing really big, just two waffles, scrambled eggs, and two slices of turkey bacon with a glass of apple juice.

Bonnie stared at the scrambled eggs for a long time. They were light and fluffy; Kim made them that way. Shego always made the eggs a little brown and more like an omelet than scrambled. Both were good… tears began to slide down Bonnie's face.

"Oh, sweetie, what's wrong?" Ann inquired as she got up. She moved over to Bonnie and she put her arm around Bonnie's shoulders. She had to sit down on the bed for the move to work.

"I'm going to leave Kim and Shego!" Bonnie wailed. A powerful sob shook her small frame as it escaped her. The idea physically hurt, but it had to be done. This was too much. It was all too much.

"You are? Now, why would you do a thing like that?" Ann asked, holding Bonnie close against her.

"Because ever since I started dating them my life has gone to Hell! I've lost everything and the entire world has judged me. I lost my family and friends thanks to Kim. I lost my job and any respect thanks to Shego. Hell, because of Shego I was almost killed by a crazy witch and nearly sexually assaulted by a coworker!" Bonnie answered.

Ann felt a jolt go through her and she was stunned into silence for a moment. That was a lot to go through for one person, but it was also a lot to place on the shoulders of the two women who obviously loved her more than anyone else. She was not sure where to start, but then her mind picked up on "nearly sexually assaulted," which was something that she had not heard about.

"Are you all right, physically speaking?" the redhead inquired with held breath. She could only imagine what Kim and Shego were going through if they knew that information. God, she hoped the two impulsive women did not do anything and end up in jail facing serious charges.

"I'm fine. I was able to fight him off. It's just, he wouldn't have done it if Shego hadn't pissed him off," Bonnie argued.

Ann pulled away just enough to look at Bonnie. "Surely you don't believe that." I hope she didn't say that to Shego or Shego is probably going out of her mind. "You think he just came up with raping you as revenge against her? Is this the man that you've been having some trouble with at work?"

The lawyer looked surprised. "How do you know about that?"

"Kim has called a few times asking me for advice on how to help you. You know she worries about you and she wants you to be happy. They don't want you to suffer through that stuff just for a job. They want you to be happy," Ann pointed out.

Bonnie nodded, as that sounded about right to her mind at the moment. "But, they mess everything up. They make everything horrible. How can I be happy like that?" Her life had been terrible since she got involved with them, staring from Kim onward.

"Do they make everything horrible? I remember the first time you and Kim came back here when you started dating. It was Thanksgiving break and you didn't want to go to your family's house. You just wanted to stay with Kim. You were grinning the whole time and you couldn't stop touching her, which made her smile. It was the first time I ever saw you like that, but it wasn't the last," Ann recalled aloud, a smile plastered on her face.

Bonnie was quiet as she remembered back to Thanksgiving break so many years ago. It was the first time she and Kim had returned from college as a couple. They had gotten together months before that, but they always had a bunch of classes or work to take care of, so they never really could make it back to Middleton.

It had been a great Thanksgiving. Bonnie was able to see what a normal, loving family did on such a holiday. She was not surprised to see that there were no serious insults, verbal spats, or even fists fights in a Possible Thanksgiving. All of those elements and more could be found at the Rockwaller Thanksgivings she was used to. The best part about it was that Kim treated her like a girlfriend to the point where Kim did not even have to tell her family. Everyone just knew she was dating Bonnie from her behavior. It was so beautiful. She felt beautiful.

"I'm going to leave you to eat and let you mind settle down, okay?" Ann proposed. She suggested this because she could see that Bonnie was in deep thought. She knew that the lawyer needed to do some serious thinking.

Bonnie nodded absently, agreeing to the plan. Ann gave her one last squeeze to let her know that someone was there for her if necessary. Once the neurosurgeon left, Bonnie sighed. She did not know what to do.

"Kim always made me so happy…" Bonnie admitted to the air.

As she started on her breakfast, Bonnie thought about her first time in the room as Kim's friend. The joy she felt from being able to spend the night in this room, she could feel it just under her hurt. It was in this room that she professed her love to Kim, who was perplexed to say the least. It was also here that they shared their first kiss. Bonnie felt like she could have floated off into space that day. Kim just had that effect on her.

Bonnie smiled. "Still does…" She could feel the same joy Kim always gave her blossoming within.

She suspected Kim would always have that effect on her. Maybe that was how it was when a person fell in love at the tender age of six. As she thought about Kim, she felt like a weight was being lifted off her shoulders. Her mind drifted to the time her dream became a reality and Kim began dating her.

-*-(Flashback)-*-

"Spring break, thank you, Lord!" Ron cheered, pumping his fist in the air as he, Kim, and Bonnie pulled up to the condo they rented for their week of fun, sun, and absolutely no schoolwork. That last part was the best part as far as they were all concerned. They were all dressed for the occasion in shorts and tank tops.

"Really, I feel like it took forever to get to this break," Bonnie moaned as climbed out of the rented sports car. Kim decided that was the last time she would let Ron pick the rental. Bonnie was in agreement since she had been in the cramped back seat, riding with her knees in her chest for almost an hour.

"Considering you two are taking a million and two classes, I'm shocked you didn't drop dead yet," Ron remarked with a teasing grin.

"It's not that bad," Kim replied, taking a moment to stretch as she got out of the car. She had been driving.

"Oh, please, what're you triple-majoring in again?" Ron teased, folding his arms across his chest.

"It's just a double-major so far!" Kim argued. She was majoring in anthropology and criminal justice. She had considered something else, but she was not too sure if she wanted to do photography just yet.

"Soon to be triple. You're a workaholic," he kept going, waving her off. He felt like he had some rather good ammunition on Kim for the moment, so he would milk it.

Kim just rolled her eyes while bending down to pop the trunk. The trio then went to retrieve their bags. Kim and Ron traveled with duffle bags and backpacks while Bonnie had a suitcase with wheels on it. They entered the condo and just dumped their bags right there on the floor, as if they have carried the burdensome items for miles rather than a couple of yards.

"I am ready to just go to bed," Bonnie commented, raising her arms in the air to stretch.

"That makes two of us. These papers are killing me. I think I took one 300 course too many this term," Kim remarked with a laugh.

"Workaholic," Ron hummed and Rufus chimed in with a giggle from inside the pocket of Ron's cargo shorts.

"Try changing majors and then we'll see how you complain about the work load," Bonnie said.

"You changed majors?" Ron asked. He knew she had been talking about it and Kim seemed to be trying to talk her into it, but he did not think it had progressed beyond that. She had even asked his opinion, to which he stated, "Do whatc'ha wanna." It was pretty much his motto – next to "never be normal" anyway.

"I'm still thinking about it. I do love dancing, after all, but after I took that law class to fulfill a history requirement, I think I could get into law," Bonnie answered.

"I really don't see how you found 'Constitutional Law' interesting," Ron said as he flopped down onto the sofa in the small living room that about ten feet from the front door.

"Well, I don't see how you found a cake decorating course interesting," she countered.

"Touché, my friend, touché," Ron said, shaking his index finger in her direction.

"I really think that if you like law so much, you should change your major. Why did you take a dance major, anyway?" Kim asked before her brain could catch up to her mouth. Only after the words did she realize what she asked and she already knew the answer since she and Bonnie talked quite a bit.

Bonnie waved off the question since Kim knew the reason. She never said it out loud or really admitted it to herself, but she wanted to major in dance, join a troupe, and show her family just how good she was. Maybe then they would finally accept her and welcome her as one of them. It did not seem to be happening… and she had so loved that law class…

"Look, ladies, we didn't come out here to talk about school. In fact, that's the reason we didn't go home this Spring break. From now on, no one shall mention the s-word or the m-word while we're here," Ron ruled.

Kim smirked. "What about class? Can we say class? Or does that become the c-word?"

"No, course is the c-word," Bonnie chimed in.

Ron glared at both of them. "Are you trying to make me come up with some other words I shouldn't be saying to you?"

Kim laughed. "We're just trying to relax. Isn't that what you wanted us to do?"

"You know what, we're going to the beach right now to make sure no one mentions those words!" Ron declared.

"What about lying down?" Bonnie inquired.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you can lie down when you're dead. Right now, we've got a beach of beautiful ladies, and I guess dudes for you two, to go scope out! Let's go!" Ron cheered, throwing his hands up.

Ron really just wanted to do something that required no brainwork at all. It did not take much to go roll around in the ocean and check out women. He needed it and he knew Kim and Bonnie needed it, too. They both would run themselves ragged if he let them and he could only imagine how they never stopped to take a breath when they were at school.

The ladies did not argue with Ron's suggestion. They figured they could nap on the beach, anyway. Bonnie found out that napping was the farthest thing from her mind when they hit the sand. She really just wanted to gawk at Kim in a bathing suit.

"Bonnie, you might want to stop staring before you make me nervous," Kim teased as they lounged on their beach chairs. Ron was off swimming around in the water to cool off.

Bonnie only stuck her tongue out at Kim. Every now and then, she got caught looking and Kim never freaked out or got upset. Hell, one time Kim even did a little wiggle for her. It seemed to amuse Kim in a good-natured way that Bonnie did not mind when Kim busted her and taunted her about her wandering eyes.

"You're going to let me take you dancing tonight?" Bonnie asked while settling into her chair. She placed her sleek sunglasses on her face to shield her eyes from the sun and also to make it a little less obvious when she started to ogle Kim.

"If you ask me about this dancing thing one more time, I'm going to tell Ron you have a crush on him," Kim replied.

"You wouldn't!" the brunette gasped.

"I would. This place you want to take me—" the hero started, but she did not get to finish.

"Yes, Ron can come, too. You make it seem like I'm going to take you to some lesbian bondage club," Bonnie remarked, earning a giggle from her reclining companion.

"Didn't you try that that one time?" Kim teased.

"I didn't know it was fetish night! Besides, you're the one that wanted to go to that club. I hate that place," Bonnie argued.

Kim chuckled a bit, but she could not dispute that one since it had indeed been the club she wanted to go to. Bonnie had only made the suggestion of going out that night while Kim was the one that proposed the club in question. They had both been quite embarrassed when they walked in and saw all of the leather. It was just a little too much for both of them at the time.

"So, dancing?" Bonnie asked.

Kim only groaned. Bonnie smiled. Sometimes, it was fun to tease Kim.

Going to a club that night was not as shocking for the friends as "fetish night" had been a few weeks back. They let go for the night, trying to forget all the stress that had weighed them down in school and all the stress that awaited them when they got back. They all danced together until Ron wandered off, being led by the hand by a very attractive chocolate-skinned woman with long braids. Bonnie and Kim laughed at the goofy expression that he had on his face.

"Yori's going to kill him one day," Bonnie commented, shaking her head in an amused manner.

"And he'll never see it coming," Kim added with a smile.

They continued swaying to the music, knowing Ron would be fine on his own. He was not officially dating Yori, but he also was not stupid enough to do something that would mess up his chances to date her. Besides, if he strayed for too long, Kim would be on the hunt for him and she would find him before he had a chance to get caught up in anything stupid.

Bonnie and Kim came into close contact while dancing. Bonnie smiled outwardly and, inwardly, she grinned like a damned fool, enjoying the feel of Kim's body caressing her at a good rhythm. She made sure to keep her cool, but there was something else keeping her from just focusing on the feel of Kim against her. It was the fact that Kim was consuming a lot more alcohol than usual that night.

Kim did not realize she drank so much. It was just that she felt a jolt whenever she and Bonnie touched. She was not sure what the jolt meant since it was recent development, but it weighed down on her mind. Since they were not on vacation to think too heavily about anything, Kim decided to wash the thoughts away with alcohol. Needless to say, it was not working out as well as she would have hoped and she eventually noticed the rather large flaw in her plan.

"Kimmie, I think you need to slow down," Bonnie commented as the hero ordered another beer, her fifth of the night. It did not help matters that Kim did not weigh much and was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, anyway.

"I'm fine," Kim replied and then she staggered. "Well, I'm almost fine," she corrected herself. "Almost fine" was good enough in her opinion. "Let's keep on dancing."

"Are you sure?" the brunette asked. Her brow furrowed in concern.

"Yeah!" Kim answered a little louder than she meant to. Thankfully, they were in a crowded, noisy club and she did not have to worry about people looking at her like she was insane.

Bonnie decided to take Kim's word for it for the moment. But, as soon as Kim slurred a word or took a stumble (another one anyway), it was game over and she was taking Kim home. So far, Kim seemed to be doing fine, dancing and keeping her balance. Bonnie did crane an eyebrow when Kim's hands wandered a bit, fingertips grazing the brunette's ass.

"You feel good…" Kim purred as she stepped a little closer to her friend.

Bonnie tensed and gulped. "Okay, you know what, I think it's about time to get you out of here and in bed."

"Oh, bed," Kim purred again. "I like the sound of that."

"The great Kim Possible, a drunken flirt. No one would believe me," Bonnie muttered to herself as she started leading Kim out of the club.

The tipsy hero snickered while allowing Bonnie to take her out of the building. Kim leaned against Bonnie as they strolled out. Bonnie's heartbeat sped up as warmth from Kim spread through her.

"I can't believe I just noticed how nice you feel," Kim said, the smell of alcohol slamming into Bonnie.

"I can't believe I let you get this drunk," Bonnie replied. She hoped Ron stayed out for a nice long time because he would flip out if he saw how smashed Kim was. He would definitely blame Bonnie, too.

Bonnie managed to get Kim back to the condo, but she did not go unmolested. Of course she would have to be drunk to want to touch me like this. Kim seemed to think it was quite comical, too, if all of the giggling meant anything. Bonnie took Kim up to the room they would share. It was only two bedrooms in the condo since those were cheaper than others and they were poor, lowly college students, after all.

"Come on, Kimmie," Bonnie said in a gentle voice as she eased Kim down onto one of the two twin-sized beds in the room.

"Bonnie's gonna take me to bed," Kim snickered.

Bonnie rolled her eyes. She pretty much flung Kim on the bed after that because she was tired of the groping and the smell of beer on her beloved Kim's breath. This was not Kim and she could only wonder why Kim had done this to herself. It was not like Kim to get drunk to relax.

"I'm going to go make you some coffee and get you something to eat," Bonnie said to Kim, who did not seem to be listening. She supposed it was not the best plan to go clubbing on empty stomachs, but then again, it was so rare for any of them to drink.

Kim did not respond and Bonnie wondered if the hero had passed out. She did not turn around to check and just fled the room. She went to make coffee, as well as a couple of sandwiches. She returned upstairs to find that Kim was in a dead sleep. She smiled, sorrow hiding behind a gentle happiness.

"What got into you tonight?" Bonnie wondered aloud as she brushed some of Kim's hair to the side of her face. Even when drunk, Kim was cute.

The brunette put down the coffee and sandwiches. She pulled Kim's clothing off of her and then put the sheets over the snoozing redhead. She then left Kim alone and went to eat her sandwich. She left a couple of sandwiches wrapped up in the refrigerator while leaving a note for Ron to let him know there was some food for him if he was hungry. She then went to bed, taking a few minutes to stare at Kim and think about how she looked like a sleeping angel before she was sleeping, too.

Bonnie was taken from her sleep by the morning light and groaning coming from the other end of the room. Blue eyes opened to see a lump in the bed across from her moving about the other bed like a lost mouse. Bonnie snickered as she realized Kim was suffering from a hangover. She hoped that taught Kim not to drink so much, especially when she had not eaten and was not used to drinking.

"How're you feeling?" Bonnie called over to her current roommate.

"Like crap," Kim groaned.

The room was silent for a moment, neither female knowing exactly what to say. Kim then suddenly flung her cover from off of her and turned her attention fully to Bonnie. The brunette could only wonder why her heart sped up and her body felt like it would melt from the look Kim gave her.

"Thank you, Bonnie," Kim apologized in her typical sincere manner.

Bonnie blinked hard from confusion. "Why are you thanking me?"

"Because of what you did last night… and because of what you didn't do," Kim answered with a small smile.

"What do you mean?" Bonnie inquired, squinting as she tried to recollect just what she did and what she did not do.

"You helped me last night… and you didn't take advantage…" Kim explained, glancing away in embarrassment.

"Kim!" Bonnie gasped from indignation. "I would never do such a thing! You were drunk and you didn't know what you were doing!"

"Actually, I did know what I was doing. I knew what I was saying, too. I just couldn't stop it like I usually can. Lately, I've been having really weird thoughts and feelings about you. At first, I thought maybe it was just because I know you like me, but it's more than that. I mean, I've never felt the electricity that you cause to race through my body through a simple touch," Kim stated.

Bonnie's brow furrowed. "Kimmie, what're you saying?" she asked. Her insides trembled and her stomach felt ready to expel any little thing that might actually be in there.

"I think… I think I want to go on a date, Bonnie. I mean, a real date. Not what we've been doing all year where it seems like a date, but it's really just the two of us hanging out. I mean, that's cool and everything, but I want to try going on a date."

"I'd like that too, Kim," Bonnie replied with a smile.

The brunette was actually holding back a monster-sized grin. Her whole body felt like it was made of light. Kim wanted to go on a date! It was a dream come true and Bonnie was not sure how she should act. She did not want to seem too eager because she did not desire to frighten Kim. It was so hard to not dance and sing because of Kim's request, though.

"Is it all right if we go out tonight then?" Bonnie asked in order to avoid doing anything silly. She thought as long as she kept talking, it would be enough of a distraction for her to not make an ass out of herself. She hoped that her heartbeat calmed down sooner or later and that she did not start hyperventilating.

"Well, if Ron has plans anyway," Kim answered with a good-natured smile, so as not to hurt Bonnie's feelings. After all, it was not really a date if they had to bring Ron along, even if he was their friend. But, they could not just leave Ron alone since they were all supposed to be hanging out.

"Right." Bonnie silently cursed Ron's existence in her head, but she did expect Kim to say such a thing.

As it turned out, Ron did not have plans beyond hanging out with them. Bonnie mentally cursed him out for the whole break, but she was still happy. She had two good friends and Kim wanted to be even closer to her.

The two ladies actually were not able to go out on a real date until they went back to school. Ron really wanted to make sure that they had a good time while they were on Spring break, so he did not leave them alone too long on their own. He made sure they had a good time, but they did not need much help in that area since they enjoyed being around each other.

-*-(End Flashback)-*-

Bonnie smiled as she remembered the best Spring break of her life. It was a time when the love of her life opened her heart and decided to try letting her in. Just thinking about it gave her that same light feeling all over again.

"Kimmie…" Bonnie whispered. New tears gathered in her eyes as she thought about how she might have just thrown her beloved away because of some harsh words. God, why was everything so screwed up? More specifically, she wondered why she was so screwed up.

"Yeah, baby?" a familiar voice asked from the entrance.

Bonnie's head snapped up at the sound of Kim's voice. A smile spread across her face as she saw Kim and Shego standing in the entrance of the room. She silently admitted they had seen better days. They were thinking the same of her, but she definitely looked better than the last time they saw her.

"How'd you know…?" Bonnie asked.

"Aside from the fact that I know you? My mom did call us because she's worried about you. She wasn't too sure what to do," Kim explained. Her mother was worried about them, too, which was really why she called.

"She's been doing more than she knows," Bonnie confessed with a slight nod to support her words.

"I'm sure she does know, but she wants to do more. My father is hovering outside, wanting to do something, wanting to do more. We want to do more. You don't have to go through this alone," Kim informed her.

"Even if you still don't want us," Shego added. The words tasted utterly bitter in her mouth and she wanted to spit on the floor to rid herself of the taste. She held off and waited for Bonnie to respond.

Bonnie sniffled. "I'm sorry for what I said. I love you both so much!" And she was bawling again.

Shego and Kim groaned while glancing at each other. They really hated it when Bonnie cried. They both approached her and wrapped her in a loving embrace. She fell into their arms and hid her face in Kim's shoulder. Shego gently caressed the small of Bonnie's back.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I was just so upset last night. Everything is going so crazy and my head is spinning all the time," Bonnie tried to explain.

"It's okay, Bonnie. You were under a lot of stress," Kim practically cooed in a tender, affectionate tone.

"Still, I had no right to blame this all on you." Bonnie picked her head up and locked eyes with her baby. "Kim, I didn't even know what happiness was until I became real friends with you. I didn't know I could feel like I was make of candy and light until you agreed to go out with me. I didn't know how I could feel capable of taking on anything and everything until you kissed me. I can't blame you for losing family that never really cared about me in the beginning or friends that obviously weren't true to me because they left when I was dating you. Last night, I was just feeling so many things and I didn't know who to take it out on, so I took it out on the two people there at the time," she elaborated.

"It's okay. You went through a lot last night and you had to be overwhelmed," Kim said.

"That doesn't excuse the fact that I nearly threw away the two people I love the most, the two people who love me the most." Bonnie turned and looked at Shego. "I'm sorry to you, too, Shego. I know you were just trying to stand up for me when you went after Lyle before. I also know you don't have any control over your psycho ex-girlfriend. I know you're here to protect me," she stated.

"Damn right I am. I'm pissed that I've been doing a piss-poor job of it, too. I mean, what that cocksucker tried to do was because I didn't protect you," Shego declared with a scowl.

"No! That's not why. It's not your fault. He's an asshole. It's as simple as that. He's just a fucking asshole," Bonnie proclaimed loudly. Shouting such a thing actually made her feel a little better.

"That he is and we need to make sure that this never happens again," Kim said soundly.

"How? I mean, obviously threatening his life doesn't work," Bonnie pointed out.

"We're going to get him tossed out of that firm, first off. This shit isn't cool. I mean, before it might have seemed like some teasing, hazing, but this shit is serious. This is criminal fucking behavior and I don't give a shit what anybody there says, he's got to go," Shego said.

"Yes, we have to do something about his behavior. We don't want him thinking that he got away with one attempt because he might try again and he might come better prepared since he knows you can kick his ass," Kim informed their shaken lover.

Bonnie went stiff for a second, thinking about him trying it a second time. She curled into Kim's body while pulling Shego into her back, sandwiching herself between her lovers. Her stomach flipped as that familiar feeling of warmth and safety washed over her like a soothing showers. This is how they're supposed to feel, Bonnie commented mentally. She smiled, glad that horrible empty sensation was gone.

"Thank you both for loving me so much," Bonnie whispered.

"Baby, you're so special that it's impossible to not love you," Kim commented, fingers drawing small circles on the attorney's arm. She kissed the top of Bonnie's head.

"Only you two…" Bonnie replied in a trembling voice while pulling Shego even closer. Shego was now pressed up against Bonnie's back, blanketing the smaller woman. She placed a soft kiss to Bonnie's neck.

"Other people are too stupid to see it or you just scare them, but we love you and our families love you, too. You have people in this world, Bonnie," Shego promised the lawyer.

Bonnie nodded, knowing that was the truth. She had them and she had their families. Hell, Ann and James had taken her in, even though she was considering leaving their daughter. She hoped she did always have that type of support.

"We're always here, no matter what," Kim vowed and Bonnie knew those words were to settle her unspoken fears. In the event of a breakup, which they all prayed never did happen, they would still be there for each other.

"I love you both," Bonnie said.

"We love you, too," both Kim and Shego replied.

They were all quiet after that, just reveling in the closeness that they shared. Kim eventually moved the breakfast tray off of the bed and they ended up lying down. They stayed like that for an undetermined amount of time before Shego broke the silence.

"We should probably go up to the firm and speak to the partners about what happened," Shego suggested.

"You want to go talk to Charlie Darrow again? Every time you speak to him, he pisses you off," Kim pointed out.

"Well, I'm not going to let him piss me off this time. He's one of the named partners, so he has to be able to do something and I will make sure he gets off of his ass and does something this time," Shego vowed with grit in her voice.

"Do we really need to go up there?" Bonnie asked. She shivered a little, thinking about what had almost happened to her in that building just yesterday. She just wanted to forget for a little while.

"Of course we do!" Kim and Shego answered with fire.

Bonnie blushed, just slightly embarrassed from the emotion that her loves displayed for her. It made her feel good knowing they were willing to go through great lengths for her. She knew she would do the same for them, so she needed to do the same for herself. She also needed to accept their help.

"Would you rather we go to the police?" Kim offered. Bonnie was the by-the-book-lawyer, after all. Maybe she would rather file a police report and everything.

The idea made a lump form in Bonnie's stomach. If she were the lawyer for this and asked advise from a client, she would be all for going to the police. Right now, she did not even want to think about that. She did not want a record of this. She wanted to forget it ever happened. Besides, she knew Shego had plans that would be worse than jail for Lyle. After all, look at what Shego had done to Tina Mallory and Tina had touched her to harm her.

"Can we go up to the firm today? What day is it?" Bonnie wondered aloud. She felt so lost and considered it might be a Saturday or a Sunday.

"Baby, I think you just took an unofficial day off," Kim remarked while Shego snickered a bit. Shego was not sure the last time Bonnie took a day off, without counting when she was fired anyway.

"Damn it. I didn't think about calling in," Bonnie growled.

"It's fine. You were entitled to this one," Shego replied.

Bonnie nodded. She took enough crap at that firm to get a day off, especially after last night. At the moment, she would not even care if they fired her. While she loved having a job, she just was not interested in being some place that made her unhappy. Kim and Shego made her realize that life was not all about misery and pain. She could be happy and she wanted to be happy.

"I need to take a shower and everything before we go," Bonnie said.

"Take your time," Shego said with a yawn. Kim followed suit. They had not gotten any sleep last night and they figured they would be able to catch a little half-hour nap since Bonnie seemed to be okay now.

"Maybe you even want to finish your breakfast," Kim added.

Bonnie nodded and managed to pull herself away from her lovers. She watched them immediately fall asleep as she stood by the bed. She supposed she had exhausted them with worry. In a way, it actually made her glad because she knew they cared about her and they loved her enough to feel concern for her and anxiety because she left. She doubted any of her "family" ever gave a damn if she left.

"I hope this is forever. I don't know what I would do without all of their love and support," Bonnie murmured.

Bonnie reached out and caressed Shego's cheek. Shego turned into her hand and she pulled away, not wanting to wake Shego. She leaned down and gave her a light kiss. She then did the same to Kim.

"I love you both so much. You're so patient and caring," Bonnie whispered before stepping away.

The lawyer ate a little more of her breakfast and then showered. She thought about how she almost let a moment of emotional overload destroy the most precious thing she had: her new family. Shego and Kim were her family. Added to everything they gave her, they also gave her extended family. She was not willing to part with any of that.

"At least I know that now. Last night was just a major freak out, which they recognized for what it was. I'm glad they didn't take any of that to heart and they came to get me," she muttered to the air.

After her shower, Bonnie dressed in casual clothing, which consisted of a pair of jeans she had, a pair of boots (they were actually Kim's, but she never wore them), and a regular t-shirt with a cartoon female devil on it. She glanced at her lovers, who were still sound asleep, and decided to give them a few more minutes. She left the room and sought out Ann.

The neurosurgeon was in the kitchen, gathering up some papers and trying to down a mug of coffee at the same time. Bonnie did not disturb Ann until the papers were safely in a folder and the coffee mug was placed down. She then cleared her throat and Ann nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Bonnie! I didn't see you there," Ann said with an embarrassed laugh.

"I can see you were focused on other things," Bonnie answered.

"Yeah. I've got a special case flying in tonight and I was just reading up on him. Do you need something?" Ann asked.

"Only to thank you and your husband for opening your home to me. Thank you for being there and for comforting me, even though I said I walked out on Kim. You could've turned me away since I'm really nobody to you, but you didn't," Bonnie explained with a tearful look on her face.

"Aw, sweetie, you are someone to me and to my husband. We like you and we think you're good for Kim. Even if sometime in the future, something happened and caused you to end the relationship, we would still be here for you. Kim would still be here for you. We just like you and, to us, you are part of our little clan. So, it's not like we think of you as 'Kimmie's girlfriend' or anything like that. We see you as Bonnie and we like Bonnie," Ann said with a smile.

"Ah, crap," Bonnie muttered as tears started to slide down her cheeks. She was so emotional lately, she thought as she started wiping her tears away.

"Don't cry," Ann implored the younger woman, even though she knew that those were not tears of sorrow. She went to Bonnie and lightly hugged her.

"Thank you all, so much," Bonnie said, wrapping her arms around Ann and giving her a tight squeeze.

"Thank you."

"Why thank me?"

"Because you're you."

Bonnie laughed. "You're amazing."

Ann waved it off and released Bonnie. The attorney retreated from the kitchen and went back upstairs. Ann quickly reached for the nearest phone, which happened to be her cell phone on the table by the papers that she needed. She made a fast call.

"Yes, Ann?" Isabel inquired as she answered her phone.

"You know, you sound rude even saying that simple phrase," the doctor teased.

"Now you know where Shego gets it from. Speaking of my fiery daughter, she didn't do something stupid, did she?" Isabel asked.

"Why do you ask that?"

"She called me last night, but she was so overwrought that she couldn't even explain whatever it was she was trying to say. Kim eventually got on the phone and said they'd call me back later on when everything settled down. Is everything all right?"

"They had a scare is all. Bonnie had a problem and she walked out on them last night. She stayed here last night and they came to get her about forty minutes ago. They're all together again now, patching things up in Kim's room. I'm sure they'll explain it to you in better detail when everything is settled," Ann reported.

"All right. So, then I guess that's not what you're calling about," Isabel commented.

"No. I wanted to talk to you about Bonnie," Ann answered.

"All right. Is she okay?"

"Physically speaking, Bonnie is fine. I was thinking she needs more familial support. Bonnie's the only one out of them that can't call her mother if something's amiss. She can't call a sibling to vent. Outside of Kim and Shego, Bonnie really has no family to speak of. Even with the few friends they have, they sort of share them, so it's hard to vent to their friends. So, I was thinking maybe both of our families could start doing more get-togethers with the girls, just to give Bonnie a feeling of belonging in our families. I mean, I know we see her as family and I've seen you and Kane with her, so I know how you feel. I just want Bonnie to start feeling it," Ann explained. Bonnie needed more than words now. She needed actions. Maybe she always needed actions, which was Kim was the ideal partner for her, and maybe why Shego was, too.

"Excellent idea. I am starting to see how it is you're a brain surgeon, although I can't for the life of me figure out why you married that husband of yours," Isabel remarked.

"I figure you would know better than anyone with your own husband," Ann countered.

"Touché. Kane, always a liability. Speaking of him, if you could tell my daughter that her dear daddy is surfing in California, it would be great. She worries about him, even though she never says so," Isabel requested.

"Does she really?" It was hard to picture Shego worrying about anyone except Kim and Bonnie.

"She tries to hide it. I'm sure you guessed that with the way she treats Kim."

"I get the feeling it's inherited," Ann remarked.

"Watch it, Possible. I might like you and your daughter, but I'm not below roughing you up," Isabel teased.

Ann chuckled a bit. It was easy to see where Shego got a lot of her personality, she thought. They bid each other farewell and disconnected the call after that. Ann could hear the trio mulling about upstairs, making their way to the stairs, and eventually to the foyer. Ann was not surprised when she heard them leave without anyone calling out a farewell. Just the sound of their footsteps let her know they were ladies on a mission.

-8-8-8-8-

The trio ignored odd stares as they entered the firm and marched right to Charlie Darrow's office. No one dared to say anything about Bonnie failing to call in and no one mentioned she was going to pretty much miss the whole day, nor did anyone say anything about her improper state of dress. Most of the people just gawked at the three, not sure what to make of them.

Shego led the way to the large double doors of Charlie Darrow's office and wasted no time kicking them in. He was actually with a client. They both jumped in shock and then turned to the door. Frowns were shown all around.

"Shego," Charlie growled.

"We need to talk, right now," Shego stated with grit in her tone.

"I'm with a client," Charlie pointed out while motioning to his client, a well-dressed businessman.

"I don't give a fuck. We need to talk, right now. So, Mister I-don't-give-two-fucks-what-your-name-is, make another appointment and get the fuck out. Me and my lawyer have to chitchat," Shego informed the man.

The glint in her eyes, as well as the same look in her companions' eyes, let the client know he needed to get out there while he had a chance. He said a hasty farewell to Charlie, explaining he just remembered he had another engagement and he would reschedule their meeting. He then rushed out of the room and Kim slammed the door shut behind him.

"Shego, you spoiled brat, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Charlie demanded as he rushed up from his seat.

"Sit the fuck down," Shego ordered in a tone that he had never heard before. She pointed at him.

The senior partner sat down before he even realized it. The three ladies stormed his desk like attacking warships. They flanked him on three sides with Shego standing in front of him, Kim to the left, and Bonnie to the right. All three of them glared, withering his soul from what he could feel.

"Now, there was an incident yesterday, a fucking criminal incident," Shego informed her attorney, jabbing the desk with her index finger. Her claw cut into the hard wood.

"Like what?" he demanded, but it was clear from his voice that he was skeptical.

"Last night, I was attacked," Bonnie reported, trying her best to sound normal. It worked for the most part, but some anger inched into her tone as well.

"Attacked?" he echoed, frowning. His face scrunched up some, not understanding. Why would someone attack Bonnie?

"Yes, attacked. Last night while I was working late in my office, Lyle barged in. He…" Bonnie had to pause and take a deep breath.

Charlie frowned deeper because of the pause. He knew Bonnie was not one for melodramatics, so the breath was sincere. He was loath to think of what she was about to say, especially considering the man she brought up.

"Take your time, babe," Kim said to Bonnie to help her continue the tale.

"I know." Bonnie took another breath. "I was working late last night. Lyle came into my office and refused to leave, no matter how many times I demanded that he do so. He backed me into my desk… he bent me over…" Hot, angry tears gathered in Bonnie's eyes and she clenched her fists together. Her hands shook and a tear rolled down her cheek, going over a bruise that had formed overnight.

Shego's hands shifted into fists without her brain's permission. Kim's body tensed while her heart quivered from nervousness and unfilled wrath. Charlie glanced between each woman as his teeth began to grind together. This story had better not end how it sounded it was going to end, his mind stated.

"I was able to fight him off, but he did try. He fucking tried," Bonnie reported as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, much like a child.

Charlie nodded for a moment while his eyes focused on nothing. A vein in his neck pulsed and another vein bulged from his forehead. He then grabbed the phone on his desk.

"Get Lyle in here right now," he demanded from his receptionist.

The trio did not say anything from his tense appearance or short order. It barely took a minute for Lyle to enter the office. He came in with his usual swagger and had the nerve to smile at the ladies.

Shego's arm began to tremble with desire, wanting nothing more than to wrap her hands around Lyle's throat and choke him until his head popped off of his shoulders. Kim was more interested in punching him repeatedly until he was unrecognizable. Because of those feelings, Kim made a conscious effort to keep her hands open, not trusting herself enough to have her hands balled up. Bonnie just made sure to keep eye contact with Lyle, letting him know she was not afraid of him.

"You called, Charlie?" Lyle asked in quite the familiar tone as he stood before the senior partner.

"Lyle, I called you in here because Miss Rockwaller has informed me that something happened between you two last night. I've heard her side, now I would like to hear your side," Charlie stated.

Charlie was quite shocked Shego and Bonnie stayed calm and quiet after he said that. Neither of them even shot him glares. It was as if they were not upset he was implying that he did not believe Bonnie or that she might not be telling the whole truth. He could not remember the last time that Shego was so calm around him. He glanced at Kim, having a feeling this was her influence.

"Oh, that little thing." Lyle let a light chuckle loose before continuing. "I went to check on her last night since she was in here so late and we had a little fun. What's wrong with that?" He shrugged and threw on his best boyish smiles.

"What do you mean when you say you 'had a little fun'?" Charlie inquired. His face and voice showed he did not share the blond man's sense of humor in the matter.

"What? We just had a little fun. You know how it is," Lyle answered, shrugging again. "I don't see how my personal life is an issue."

"You might want to make it an issue right now. Because you telling me 'we had a little fun' isn't working and telling me I know how it is definitely isn't getting you anywhere. Now, based on the fact that I know Miss Rockwaller wouldn't have 'a little fun' with you even if you were the last man on Earth and I know how you are, I'm starting to think that 'we had a little fun' was a case of your arrogant ass deciding you were going to straighten a little dyke out," Charlie growled in anger, paraphrasing what he thought was going through Lyle's mind last night with that last bit.

Lyle flinched a little. "Wha-what?" he sputtered. It would seem he was caught off-guard by the fact that the boss was not on his side.

"Lyle, you're fired," Charlie stated plainly, eye boring onto the now unemployed attorney.

"WHAT!" Lyle roared. His face was bright red from his sudden rage at the surprise.

"You're fired and you're getting off easy with that," Charlie repeated, just as plainly as before.

"You're firing me based on a lies spouted by this baby dyke?" Lyle demanded, pointing a finger at Bonnie. She did not flinch from the unwanted attention or harsh words.

"You just better hope to hell that she doesn't want to press charges because I damn sure would put all of my power behind her. Who the fuck do you think you are? You're going to come in here and try to rape a woman because she's not attracted to you? This is bullshit, Lyle. I don't give a fuck who you think you are or who your fucking uncle is. Get the fuck out. Don't even bother to clear out your office. We'll mail it to you," Charlie informed him.

"You can't just fire me!" Lyle raged.

"I just did," Charlie said.

"My uncle—"

"Will undoubtedly be disappointed when he hears about this, but I'm sure the Congressman will not want to put much effort behind defending an attempted rapist," Charlie replied.

"You haven't heard the last from me!" Lyle pointed out to the elder man before storming out of the office.

"I'm sure I haven't," Charlie sighed, shaking his head in sheer disgust. He then turned his attention back to the trio. "Bonnie, seriously, if you want to press charges, I will back you," he said in a dead serious tone.

"Thank you, sir. I wouldn't want to bring any negative press to the firm, though," Bonnie answered. Besides, she doubted they had much of a case since it was her word against Lyle's and apparently Lyle was related to a congressman, so it would not be easy.

"We represent the Go family. We already have negative press," Charlie remarked with a forced smirk.

"It's all right for now, sir. I would like to know why you fired him this time around. I mean, I know Shego's come in here complaining about how he behaved and everything, but you never said anything about it," Bonnie pointed out.

"Well, after Shego bitched to me about things, I did have a few people keep an eye on him. I didn't like what I was hearing. He's also got a bit of a track record with hitting on coworkers. This thing that you brought up, I've never heard him doing something like this, but I wouldn't put it past him. His ego probably couldn't take it," Charlie answered.

"There's more to it than that, isn't it?" Shego asked. She could see it in his demeanor, his odd tension. This latest issue was something more to him than when she had been in here complaining.

Charlie glanced away. He took a deep breath and then let it out in a sigh. He turned back to them and rubbed his chin roughly with one hand. Silence reigned over the room for a long moment and then Charlie surprised them all as he started talking.

"This doesn't leave this office," he warned them with a raised finger. "I have two daughters, one of whom is a lesbian. She was pretty young when she came out, still in high school. Some of the boys, they thought they could turn the pretty little gay girl straight by trying to sexually assault her," his voice was hard, his bottom lip trembling.

"Did they…?" Kim asked quietly.

He ran his hand over his mouth to halt the quiver in his lip. "They came damn close. Luckily enough for her, they had told a few too many people about their plans and some good guys showed up to help her. They did beat her rather badly, though. The nerve of those boys to think they could do such a thing to her and think that it was all right…" he trailed off and just shook his head.

"This hit close to home. Thank you for believing me," Bonnie said.

"You don't have to thank me for that. Just keep the job you've been doing, so I know it was wise to hire you," Charlie replied, already putting his emotions back where they belonged – out of view. Well, that was where they belonged in his opinion.

Bonnie nodded. She and Kim exited the office after that. Shego looked at Charlie for a moment and he waited for her to say something smart. He was stunned when she did not say anything. She merely left with her lovers.

"I can't believe that little bastard," Charlie snarled, thinking about that smartass Lyle. He knew he had not seen the last of Lyle, but he had reason to believe that Lyle was not going to be a danger to anyone. Not if Bonnie meant anything to Shego, anyway.

-8-8-8-8-

Shego was in the living room, sitting in the dark, in her pajamas of simple black shorts and a matching sports bra. She had the phone in one hand and was petting Cali with the other. The cat was curled up in her lap, sound asleep.

"Yeah, Mommy, the fucker's name is Lyle. Kim's already called in quite a few favors to get the ball rolling," Shego reported.

"Kim?" Isabel was shocked the little redheaded angel would be interested in totally ruining a man. But, then again, this was no ordinary man. This was the man who hurt Bonnie and tried to do even worse, so Isabel could understand how Kim could let her demon side out to play.

"Yes, Kim. The man tried to rape Bonnie," Shego hissed.

"I realize that and he will pay. I'll start doing my part. This is more than what we did to that little reporter. This is serious," Isabel said through gritted teeth. Her anger was trying to boil over. The only thing keeping it in check was the fact that she was going to hurting the asshole who touched Bonnie soon enough.

"Yeah, so the kid gloves are off. Also, make sure someone's watching him at all times. I don't want him going after another girl after everything starts falling apart around him."

"Of course. Let me know when you get started, so I know when I should turn up the heat," Isabel stated.

"Of course. Well, let me get to bed before Bonnie starts scolding me about not getting a good night's sleep."

Shego disconnected the call after that, knowing her mother was doing the same. Yes, they planned to do to Lyle what they had done to Tina Mallory. There was a distinct difference. While Tina had done what she did out of sheer greed and overzealousness, she had not been out to personally harm them. Lyle had intentionally targeted Bonnie for some serious harm, though. There was not going to be any apologizing for him. He was now going to be stuck in perpetual mystery until she, her mother, and Kim decided they had had enough of him. Until then, he was just going to be their plaything.

Shego picked herself up off of the couch. She put the phone down while keeping the cat in her arms. She walked to the bedroom, putting Cali down in a little pet bed by the foot of the bed, and then she climbed into bed.

Kim and Bonnie were already lying down. Bonnie was curled into Kim's form while Kim had protective arms wrapped around the brunette. Shego pressed herself into Bonnie and wrapped her arms around the lawyer. Bonnie's arms moved in her sleep and sought out Shego's warm form. Shego was able to fall asleep after moving her arm enough to where she was touching both of her girlfriends. They always got the best sleeps when they were all touching.

For the time being, all was right in their world. Tomorrow, it might be different, but they felt confidence in their ability to pull through whatever the universe decided to throw at them, especially after this ordeal. They were going to be together forever, they silently vowed.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Isabel comes around more often and Shego doesn't like it.