Alright, new day, new chapter.

I'd like to thank everyone for the favs and reviews. It feels nice to see people are enjoying the story so far. Hopefully that continues. I start getting a bit philosophical in this chapter, and I'm afraid that's probably going to continue to greater or lesser extents as the story goes on. This thing wrote itself, I was just along for the ride. So while all the Kim/Shego pet stories from years ago inspired this story, stories like "Never Cut Twice" by Shadowmaster62 and "Perception" by Cynchick, were big personal inspirations in my life and philosophical outlook over the years. The idea that "The people you're told are bad/evil are in fact just as human as you, the people you're told are good are often just as guilty of doing the same things that make the 'bad people' bad," is something that has stuck with me. I do encourage everyone to go read those stories, because they are very good outside of the philosophy stuff as well.

Anyways, no one cares about author notes, so let's get to the story. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

"The heck?"

The sound of Kim's shocked and annoyed voice pulled Shego out of pleasant dreams she couldn't quite remember. Sleepily, she twisted her head around to see the red headed teen glaring at her.

"Oh, hey KP, what's up?" Ron's sleepy voice sounded above her.

"What the heck are you two doing?" Kim asked, her teeth snapping at the end of her question.

"Taking a nap, princess," Shego said slyly, "Jealous?"

Kim's glare grew hotter and Shego couldn't help the smirk that grew in response. "No," the redhead snapped, "Though how Ron could sleep with you around I have no idea, Kermit."

Shego felt her smirk bleed of her face and started to get up, only to find Ron's hand gently holding her collar out of sight under her hair. There wasn't any pressure, not really, but the message was clear. 'Down girl.'

Her rising temper kept her from noticing the tiny thrill that sent through her. Mostly, anyways. But she chose not to fight the hand, and fought to bring back her smirk, though she knew it had an edge to it now.

"Why is it surprising?" Shego purred, "It's very well known that pet ownership is good for one's health and owners often fall asleep with their pets close to them. Or have you never had a loving pet that wanted to be around you?"

She felt Ron's hand tighten on the collar then, just as Kim's eyes blazed. "Why you..." the redhead started.

"Hey, KP!" Ron practically shouted, "Is that Bueno Nacho I smell?"

Kim jumped slightly at the interruption, but then sighed and held up a bag. "Yeah, I figured with your arm messed up you probably weren't cooking, so I decided I could bring some over for us to eat while I checked up on you." The girl said. She turned her gaze to Shego. "Think you can dish it up while I check on Ron?"

Shego felt herself bristle at the thought of Kim near her Ron. She sniffed before shifting to rest her head on his leg. "I'm a pet, not a slave," she said, inspecting her nails as she studiously ignored the redhead. She heard Kim huff.

"Fine," Kim said with a huff, "Ron, could you take off your shirt while I take care of the food? I want to check on your bruises."

"Uh, sure KP." Ron said. Shego felt him take his hand from her collar and shift around as he stripped, making small grunts of pain. She twisted her head around, giving him a worried look.

Ron returned the look with a gentle smile. "Sheila, I need you to be a good girl while Kim is here." He said softly, "So please behave." She nodded as she knelt up beside him on the sofa.

Rufus appeared, chittering happily as Kim set a plate down for him, one for herself, and one for Ron.

"Where's mine?" Shego asked as Kim started fussing over Ron's bruises.

"In your bowl," Kim said evenly, not looking at her. Shego went stiff. Rufus froze, looking slightly panicked as his gaze shifted between Kim and Shego. Even Ron went still.

"Excuse me," Shego said slowly, "I think I had something in my ears."

Kim met her gaze evenly. "I said it's in your bowl," the redhead replied. "After all, that's what pets eat from right?"

"KP..." Ron said softly.

"uh oh," Rufus chirped.

"What?" Kim said firmly, not looking away from Shego. "If she wants to make a big deal about being a pet, it's only fair that I play along right?"

Shego felt herself getting hot, her plasma wanting to burn freely, her breath getting harsher. The collar suddenly felt tight.

"KP." Ron said, his force firmer.

"What?" the redhead turned to Ron. "If she wants to justify laying around here doing nothing all day, then throwing herself all over your lap as 'being your pet' then it should be perfectly fine to play along with it."

"Kim..." Ron's voice was cool, and Shego thought she picked up an edge to it. The redhead was oblivious to it, however. "Given everything that's happened, I think you could be a little bit nicer to Shego. She doesn't deserve what's happened."

"Look, no one deserves what's happening to Shego," Kim said, annoyed, "But given everything she's done..."

"Given everything I've done, what?" Shego hissed, her voice like ice. "What, princess."

She felt Ron's hand on her knee as a warning, but didn't care as Kim's fiery gaze met her own.

"You're a criminal, Shego," Kim said, hotly. "And while you don't deserve to be listed as an animal or hunted and killed, you do belong in prison. Not living a comfy vacation in Ron's house!"

"Is that what you think this is?" Shego hissed. Rufus squeaked, practically seeing the steam where ice and fire were slamming into each other, and hid behind one of the extra large sodas.

"It's certainly better than you deserve," Kim said, her voice hard. "Frankly, I still think you should have stayed with me. I have no idea how I let myself be convinced Ron should be the one keeping you."

"Kim!" Ron said, horrified.

"At least with me you could be properly supervised and kept out of trouble," Kim continued, ignoring the young man. "Maybe even taught to be a productive member of society again rather than some criminal who constantly tries to take over the world."

Shego felt her heart freeze, even as plasma started to lick at her hands. Her breath stuck in her throat. Her ever instinct screamed that Kim was a danger that needed to be removed, now, before something horrible happened.

"Kim, that's enough!" Ron snapped, startling both women.

"Ron..." Kim started, turning towards him.

"No, KP!" He said.

Kim's temper flared. "Why are you defending her? The only reason you're hurt as bad as you are is because of her!"

"Wh-what?" Shego asked in a harsh whisper, looking at Ron with real concern. Had he gotten this hurt because of her? How?

Kim glared at her. "It's true. If he wasn't so tired from constantly being worried with you in the house, then he would have been able to pay more attention and Monkey Fist wouldn't have been able to hurt him!" The redhead snapped.

Shego blinked. That couldn't be true. Sure, she'd been teasing and tormenting him for a week before their...talk...but she'd also woken up several times since she started sleeping at his feet and he'd been out like a log.

If anything, she thought he'd been sleeping better since she started.

"And now he's all messed up like this. Frankly I think we should call this off and have you move in with me." Kim continued, "At least we know I can handle you."

Her plasma flared up, unbidden as she felt a snarl tear itself out from her very soul. "You think you can handle me, Princess!" she growled, her feet shifting, getting ready to jump the other woman.

"You're absolutely right!" Kim snapped, coiling up to spring at the raven haired woman.

"That's enough, both of you!" Ron yelled, suddenly between them. He turned towards Shego, his eyes meeting hers for a long moment. "Rufus, get Shego out of here," he said, his voice softening for the mole rat, "Please."

She was aware of the naked mole rat scampering up her to her shoulder, gently tugging on her hair. "Come, go!" He chirped. "Go, go!"

Every instinct screamed at Shego to attack, to get rid of Kim, to make it so she didn't have to go with the red head. But Ron's firm gaze made her back down. So she didn't say a word and kept glancing at Kim as she slowly backed away out of the living room, never turning her back on the red head. She did give Ron one last, pleading look before she left.

Rufus led her out to the back yard, and she shut the door behind her as loud voices started coming from the living room. She watched as the sun set and street lamps started coming on, the voices still. It reminded her of when she was a kid, and her parents would argue sometimes. Before the comet.

She curled up on the chair she'd been sunning herself on earlier and sighed. Most of the time the words were indistinct, and she heard Kim's voice a lot more than Ron's. She wasn't sure that was a good thing. Over the years she'd watched him follow the redhead like a puppy and knew he had a giant crush on her. Maybe even was in love.

Rufus did his best to stay close and much to her surprise, comfort her. He'd basically avoided her since she move in, not that she could blame him given their history. She wondered how he felt with her constantly being close to their owner, given they'd always seem inseparable before.

Kim's voice grew louder and Shego could make out that she was saying "I don't want her here," and "She should be at my place." Ice filled her veins again. Images of her being made to sleep in the crate, or actually eat from the pet bowls, or who knows what else Kim could come up with in the name of "rehabilitation" skittered through her mind, making her skin crawl.

The images got worse. The leash and collar going back to being a noose, hanging her over the abyss, leaving her struggling and strangling. Kim, using the shocks on her if she ever fought back, leaving her writhing on the ground. Shego always believed in her own strength, but she wasn't dumb enough to believe she could endure that forever without breaking. The image of her, crawling behind Kim, little more than a broken dog made her shiver in fear and to her horror she found she couldn't stop.

She was still shaking from that image when the backdoor slid open and Ron came out. "Shego?" he called softly.

She was on him in an instant, knees scraping on the back patio, face buried in his belly, clinging tightly too him. "Please," she begged, "please, please, please don't throw me out. Please don't make me go with her! Please! I'm sorry! I'm sorry I teased you, and was mean, and called you stupid, and I promise I'll be the best, perfect, most wonderful pet I can be! Just please don't make me go with her!" she sobbed, clinging to him. "I'll do anything, anything you want, please, just don't...don't..don't..."

"Shhhh, it's okay," Ron said softly, and she felt him petting her hair. "I'm not gonna do that."

She wriggled to look up at him. He'd turned the porch light on so she could see him well enough. "You promise?" she begged, sniffing.

"Yeah, I promise," Ron answered, brushing some hair out of her face. "Kim really, really wants you, but even I can see you two would be going at it within five minutes and I know that wouldn't end well no matter how it turned out."

Shego buried her face against him again, her body jerking slight as her breath hiccuped from her sobbing. The images of her, trapped and broken under Kim kept trying to force themselves on her, but she found his closeness was keeping them at bay. It was still enough to leave her shaking though.

"I-is she still here?" The question came out as a whimper, full of fear. It made her sick to be this weak, but there wasn't anything she could do about it.

"No," Ron said and she could feel him wincing. "After hours of yelling at me to try and get me to hand you over she left." His hand was warm, and gentle, and so very nice. "Honestly, I didn't know some of how she felt about you or this whole sitch, and while I admit being uncomfortable with this whole owning you thing, I don't think I could hand you over to her and ever feel right about it."

She struggled to keep her grip as he knelt down, but he forced her to kneel in front of him. When she refused to meet his gaze, he gently took her chin and forced her to look at him. "Shego," he said softly, "I promise I'm not send you away to Kim or anywhere else."

"Really?" She hated how weak and broken she sounded asking, but that abyss was under her feet, and she was slipping, and it was going to consume her, and the only think keeping her from falling was the leash. The leash that connected them. The one that made her his, and him hers. That one, silvery steel link. It was all she had to him, and she was rapidly realizing he was all she had left in this world.

"Really really," Ron said, giving her a kind smile.

He yelped in pain as she tackled him, burring her face in his neck, her sobs wracking both their bodies as she bawled, clinging to him with all her considerable might. It wasn't pretty crying, it was ugly, messy, disgusting crying, but she didn't care.

Ron didn't seem to care either. He just held her, gently rubbing her back as she let it out.

It was the better part of an hour before she pulled herself together, not that he pushed her. Slowly, she became aware of how warm his chest was, the chirping of insects, the soft sounds of Rufus snoring loudly from one of his pockets. His steady, even breathing rocked her gently on top of him.

"You feeling better?" He asked gently, his hand still stroking her back. She gave him a weak nod. She wanted to pull her self up, put on a smirk, and act like nothing had happened, but found she didn't have the energy for it. Or for anything, really. She just wanted to lay there. So she did.

"Kim really scares you that much?" He asked softly after a while of staring up at the moon. She stiffened, but under his soft touch she relaxed. He was her Master, and he was going to keep her safe in the face of his best friend. He didn't deserve lies.

"No," Shego said softly, "But what she might end up doing to me...making me...does."

"Kim isn't like that, you know?" Ron said softly, causing her to shift so she could look at him.

"Did she actually put food in my bowl?" Shego asked softly, making him shift and look uncomfortable. She took that as a yes. "Do you think if I fought her, and she had the bracelet to my collar, she wouldn't end up using the shocks?"

"No," Ron said.

"Even if she thought I was going to be a danger to her family?" She pressed. Ron stayed silent. "You heard what she said to my face. I'm nothing more than a criminal to her. One who is getting off far to easy for my crimes in her view." She watched as he stared up at the sky, a hint of uncertainty on his face.

"I don't know what she said to you in there, but it was loud. She's passionate about her view and what she think is right. She spent a couple hours trying to get you to hand me over." She said softly. "Do you think she'd just give me a guest room, free run of the house, or all the things you do? Much less let me tease, or do anything to keep my sanity or sense of self like you do?"

"Shego, Kim's a good person, you know that," Ron said, lifting his head to stare at her, looking upset. "She's not cruel or sadistic like that."

"You're right, she is a good person." Shego said, "But some of the most dangerous people are good people, especially those who know and believe themselves to be good."

Ron had the decency to look confused. "That doesn't make any sense," he said.

She sighed softly. "Sure it does. There's been dozens of studies over the years, especially after the second world war." She said. "I know you're Jewish, and I'm sure you along with a lot of people you know were like everyone else and asked "how could 'good people' like the Germans commit such horrible atrocities' right?" At his small nod she continued. "So people tried to figure it out. Milligram's pretty famous, but there's others. And they found that almost anyone, put into a position of authority, embraces it. Make someone a guard over a prisoner, and they're the good guy, and the prisoner is the bad guy. And bad people deserve to be punished. The more 'good' a person believes themselves to be, the more righteous their actions are by definition, because they're a good person, and they do good thing. And if a thing is good in small amounts, why wouldn't it be good in large amounts."

Ron was silent. "The Nazis believed your people did terrible things to them. Sold them out. Profited from the devastation of the war. Lived lives of comfort while Germans suffered." Ron started to protest him, but she placed a finger on his lips. "It doesn't matter if it wasn't true, it's what they believed. It was what they knew, and it was true them. They were good people, suffering under the hands of people who had betrayed them. So when they got power, they decided to do something about it. They believed they were good, and what they did was good. First it was taking back the profits of the betrayal. Then it was removing them and isolating them to where they couldn't hurt anyone. Then it was just getting rid of them so they could never hurt anyone."

"It doesn't always get that bad," she said, "of course. Prohibition is another great example of good people doing good things, that turns out horrible. But its true even on smaller scales. People believe all life is sacred, and that justifies abusing a woman going for an abortion. Or that one should be free to live and love as you please, and that justifies trying to destroy the life of someone who refuse to bake a cake, or arrange some flowers." She looked up at him, earnestly. "I'm not a good person. I'm a super villain and a criminal, and I will never deny that. But it's not just bad people who can hurt others, break them, destroy them. Good people can do it too. And while a bad person will hurt someone and laugh about it, gloat and feel pride about it, but they'll be honest and admit they're doing it for their own gain or pleasure. A good person will do just as bad, if not worse, and feel nothing but morally justified."

Ron looked conflicted and Shego worried she was asking too much of her simple, honest owner.

"And you think Kim would be like that?" He said, his voice a mix of emotions.

"Well," Shego said softly, "let's try a thought experiment." Ron looked skeptical, but nodded. "Okay, so Draken, and me and the henchmen are villains, right?" He nodded again. "And we're the villains because we want to take over the world, right?" Another nod. "And we use weapons of mass destruction, theft, and all sorts of other methods to do it." He nodded. "And we've hurt people, destroyed their homes, their property, yadda yadda."

He was looking even more uncomfortable and she wondered if it was too risky to remind him of what she was, but continued on. "Okay, so then it becomes a question, are we bad people because of who we are, or what we do?" At his confused look, sat up, straddling his waste. "It's a simple question, though people have people been debating it for ages. Is a person born bad, are people inherently evil, or is it our actions that make defines someone as bad." When he still looked confused, she rested her hands on his chest, leaning down to look at him. "Okay, I'm a bad guy. But if I had stayed in Go City with my brothers and never left and ended up working with Dr. D, would I be still be bad?"

"You're not a bad person, Sheila," Ron said softly, and she felt herself flush with happiness, "You've done bad things sure, but over the last month I've come to realize you're not a bad person. You're not evil."

She hoped the poor lighting didn't show how his words had affected her. "Okay, so I'm not inherently evil, I've just done bad things, right?" she said, drawing a slow nod from him. "Would it shock you to know that Dr. D or the henchmen aren't that different from me?" The expression on her face told him it did, or at least, that he'd never thought about it. 'Such a simple boy, my master,' she though, trying to draw some strength from touching him. "Dr. D loves coco moo, he cares about his mother, and while he is a bit cheap with his wages for the henchmen, he does try to make their jobs as safe as possible and if he ever actually took over the world they'd all be given pretty nice jobs. Most of them have families, a lot are ex-military, generally from armies whose nations lost wars or revolutions. A couple years ago we had one from Rhodesia. He was a gentleman, and a patriot, whose family lost everything despite their efforts to make a nation of their own after they became independent from the British Empire. They fled, rather than be murdered. He knew a lot of people who didn't make it. And the world not only refused to recognized his nation, they actively helped to destroy it and bring about all the tragedies that came after."

Ron was still, taking in her words. "History and public opinion is written by those who win," She said softly. "You and Kim have thwarted Dr. D dozens of times. You've blown up our bases. Hell, you've done it so many times I stopped keeping anything important at the lairs because the first couple of times I lost things that were irreplaceable. Thankfully no one has ever died when one of you've hit the self destruct, but anyone whose been in the gig long enough has lost something form some hero or GJ busting in and blowing everything up." Ron actually looked sorry for that, but she pushed on before he could apologize.

"Global Justice is supposed to be the good guys right?" she asked. "Mr. Policeman is your friend?"

"Yeah," Ron replied.

"But Global Justice thinks I'm an animal. They're the good guys, but none of them has done anything about me being stripped of my humanity or my rights." She felt her fists clench in his shirt. "Good people, who do nothing. It's said that the only thing for Evil to triumph in this world is for good people to do nothing, but what if those people think that evil is actually good? Do you think your average person out there who heard about me being declared an animal thought it was horrible, or do you think they just accepted it because a good person told them it was so?"

Ron was silent, and while she knew she could go on, she need to bring it back. To show him. "Kim is a good person, who believes she knows right and wrong. I am a criminal. The good thing to do is to reform criminals, to bring them back into society in some form. People have been championing that idea for centuries. And while I admit it's a lot better than cutting the hands off of thieves, it's still a flawed idea that can justify all kinds of things."

He looked up at her. He hadn't shut her up. Hopefully that was a good sign. "So lets say I live with her, and she wants to rehabilitate me. Doesn't matter what it is, or how she does it, I resist. I refuse to give up who I am and be what she wants, no matter how small a way. Well, she's a good person, trying to do the right thing, and I'm a bad person determined to do the wrong thing. Clearly I am not learning my lesson. Not only am I not learning, I am resisting. I am in a way, being even worse than I was because not only am I rejecting what is good, I am rejecting the chance at being saved from my sins."

"Okay," Ron said slowly.

"Do you think Kim would just give up, or do you think she would double down in that instance?" Shego asked gently. When he looked uncomfortable, she knew he saw her point even if he didn't want to admit it. "I've fought her for years. Every time I've knocked her down, she's gotten back up and come back twice as strong. I've admired her for it, that kind of determination is pretty rare. But while I can admire it in someone I'm fighting against, it terrifies me in a jailer. Any resistance, any small victory against them, and they come back twice as hard, with all the moral certainty of a crusader seeking to take Jerusalem and reclaim the holy land. 'Gott Mit Uns' they shout, charging back in."

Her voice grew soft and rough with admitting the next part. "And I'm strong. I wouldn't break easily. But I'd have a noose around my neck, and a yawning pit under my feet, and the person I'm fighting has the rope in one hand, and the lever that would drop me into the abyss in the other, and the moral certainty that they're absolutely right about how the world should be and what I should be in it." She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and whispered, "How long do you think anyone could live that without breaking and losing themselves?"

Ron was silent, but he sat up with her in his lap and pulled her into a tight hug. She sagged against him, resting her face in his neck.

"Okay," he said softly. "I don't know that I agree with you, but I can see where you're coming from and why you don't want to go with Kim." He gave her a squeeze and she felt him shudder in pain.

She pulled back, not bothering to hide the concern in her face. "Oh no, I hurt you didn't I?" she said softly.

"No, not really," Ron replied, "But the Tylenol faded out at least an hour ago and I'm feeling it.

Shego scrambled to her feet and helped him up, drawing a soft laugh as she snuggled up under his right arm and supported him into the house. "You know I can walk just fine, right?" he asked, chuckling.

"Stupid Master," she said gently, not looking at his face.

"Yeah," Ron said, and she could hear the smile in his voice. "Stupid Master."

That night, she made sure he was watching as she stripped down to her bra and panties, framed in the light from the window, hiding nothing from him. She felt how stiff he was as she crawled up the bed to him. She thrilled as he made a question of her name. The little voice pushed her to claim her Master, but she pushed it away. He deserved a reward for saving her, but that was pushing him way past what he was ready for, and she knew it.

She cupped his face in one hand, and placed a soft, loving, long kiss on his cheek. "You're the best Master a girl could have ever asked for," she whispered in his ear.

And with that she slid away from him to curl up at his feet like a good pet, and drifted off to sleep.