Author's Note: Two chapters in less than a week? I guess the winding down semester is good for creativity. Enjoy.

Chapter Thirteen: The Wound Festers

Betty snarled uncharacteristically as shew rewatched Kim, Shego, and Ann retreat and leave the hospital in a rush. Part of her wanted to yell in victory, but the strategist in her knew Kim and Shego would return. The new power she attained should be unbeatable and irresistible, but somehow, the green bitch managed to shrug off the power. Betty shook her head and focused her rage to a fine point. Finally, Betty verified the alpha and underling were alone.

The halls echoed with their hollow footsteps.

Then, the leader of Global Justice turned to her right hand and nodded to him. "Shego will come back; I only managed to anger her."

"Ma'am, if I may be so bold, why did you want to arrest the doctor?" Will Du stood a little straighter as he spoke. "Mrs. Possible only defended herself against one who she saw as an attacker," Will protested. "Right to self-defense has variation across the world but sees acceptance in all but the most totalitarian governments."

Betty sighed and waved her hand. "You will go back to headquarters, forget this conversation, and will oversee Global Justice until I return."

Will seemed to freeze, his pupils dilated, and he spoke in monotone. "I will go back to headquarters, forget this conversation, and will oversee Global Justice until you return." Without another word, the man turned and began ordering troops to retreat and return to base.

With him occupied, Betty dropped to her knees and gasped for breath. The woman's body shook with visible exertion. (Betty refused to admit to her fear of no control.) How could she shrug off my power so easily?! Betty raged internally even as her mind still rode along with the fading dopamine rush use of this strange ability always brought. She knows nothing!

Betty suddenly screamed and held her head as the mask sown into the back of her GJ dress uniform began to bleed from the stripes of red vertical around the eye holes. This fluid, seemingly born of nothing, began to drip along the bars, the blood-like acid bubbling through the inner lining of her coat in almost the blink of an eye and contacting bare skin beneath with a nearly audible hiss. Betty closed her eyes and meditated in the pain. The chemical sear on her back screamed out within what she knew now as The Force and opened the criminology doctorate's mind to receive a presence. YOU ARE THE IGNORANT FOOL, WORM!

Shaking and forced to her knees by the pain, Betty growled, What do you know, Master?

I know the one you call Shego is Draconian. The spirit within the mask assaulted Betty's mind. You, my apprentice, did not listen and take my cautions as law. In YOUR ARROGANCE… Betty silently screamed as she felt her life ebb slightly, agonizingly. …you did not heed me to wait and strike when the Dragon does not know of your attack!

Betty rose to her feet slowly, still shaking and sufficiently terrified, too shell-shocked by her master's ruthless punishment to notice the thick band of silver in her formerly pure brunette locks. "I shall not fail you again, Master."

Unaware of plotting and pain, Kim and Shego arrived at The Possible Home around sunset. Kim shook her head and banished thoughts of the terror as best as she could while she climbed off Shego's motorcycle. "Mom," Kim asked as she turned her gaze to the physician. "Why did Betty of all people come after you so aggressively?" Kim asked. "Any other people…"

Anne nodded at her daughter. "I can't tell you Kim." The elder redhead ran a hand through her hair. "It almost feels like Clan Blood Vendetta, but I never raised a blaster to another Mandalorian for the entire war."

Kim shivered and stopped before one last look at her mother. "This is so ferociously wrong!" The bounty hunter began pacing in the living room. "First, Doctor Director gets after Shego with excessive force." Kim couldn't help a small laugh in spite of the situation and felt a warmth rise in her core, spawned unknowingly from Veronica's end of the pair's Karadim. "Surely, Veronica can see…" Kim grinned suggestively. "…reason."

Everyone blinked and looked at the armored teen in confusion. Both Veronica and Anne knew Kim; the warrior was many things. Forward wasn't one of them: Shego sure but Kim not so much. Within a few seconds, the moment passed as quickly as it came. Kim continued as nothing happened.

"Then, Betty comes after my bounty when I was under the impression we had an unspoken agreement. Now, the cyclops tries to get Mom. It makes no sense and almost feels like a wacky supervillain plot."

Veronica raised a brow as a thought occurred to the young dragon. The woman shook her head and laughed, "Kimmie, what if Bets is…" Shego smirked and tried hard to hold in her laughter. "…'outsourcing'?"

The redhead raised an eyebrow and began to pace slightly faster as she tapped her chin in thought for a moment. "We're missing a large piece of the puzzle. I can feel it."

Veronica nodded, "Let's start with the fucking obvious," the thief growled. "By The Sisters, how does The Harpy know of or even have access to The Bog'shla?!" Night black smoke rolled from the woman's nose. "According to Amber and Nichole, Humans will not discover 'The Force' for thousands of years!"

Kim nodded and threw up her hands in exasperation as Veronica's frustration leaked through the Karadim slightly. Then, Kim stopped took a deep breath and willed her body to relax to a nigh meditative state. Eyes closed, the redhead smiled before she laughed.

"Alright, Kim;" Shego shook her head and stared at her girlfriend in shock and confusion. "What's running in that head of yours? I can see the smoke from here."

Join me, Firefly, Kim said with a mental pout. I am not going to Yggdrasil alone.

You better be glad I love you, Princess. Veronica shook her head and sat down with her tail curled around her feet, I HATE meditation!

With a light giggle, Kim gripped Veronica's hand and floated into Yggdrasilwith her.

The familiar lighted blackness of the training space greeted the pair. Kim looked around with a frown at the quiet of the space. "Nichole, Amber?" Kim kept herself calm, but she couldn't help feeling a bit like a lost child. "Are you here?"

Without warning, the pair of dragons flashed into existence in The Word Between Worlds with a moan from Amber and predatory grin from Nichole, both dragons noticeably devoid of cloaks. Kim's cheeks flared before she snapped an about face with Veronica's own cheeks like fire below her scales.

"Did you like the view, ladies?" Amber asked with a grin before a loud slap of a tail echoed through the void.

"Amber McGowen! Now is not the time!" Nichole growled in irritation at her wife. "Kim and Veronica need us."

"Yeah, boss!"

Nichole snorted and shook her head, "I apologize for Amber's behavior. It's nearing our people's Bellum Amoris." Nichole sighed. In another moment, the females stood behind Kim and Shego clad decently. "You can turn, children."

"Control is…difficult during this span of time for our kind." The white-gold dragon nodded to Shego, "You feel it. Do you not?"

Shego looked at Kim as the flash of want and desire back with Ann began to make sense. The pair blushed and found the floor intriguing. Unconsciously, Shego wrapped her tail comfortingly around Kim while also broadcasting a clear message in her almost casual action: MINE!

Before Kim could comment and ask about Shego's behavior, Nichole turned her attention back to her wife. "How many centuries must you do this and call me 'Boss'?"

"How many centuries has it been since Tony and Ziva parted?" Nichole only groaned in response which caused Amber to smirk, "You know you love it."

"You or…" Nichole's face fell at old memories, truly ancient from her point of view.

"You know what I mean."

Kim looked at the pair lost for a second before the Mandalorian shook her head. "Whatever, it's not important." Kim's eyes turned steely. "How can Doctor Director have access to The Bog'shla?!"

Nichole paled and looked at Amber. "Definitely unnatural use of The Bogan." Nichole shivered at the thought, obviously trained in the whole of The Bog'shla but discomforted by The Bogan just the same. With something remarkably close to fear, Nichole waited for her more knowledgeable wife, concerning The Bogan, to answer.

The Darith reluctantly opened her mouth, "Children always mess with powers they should never touch." Amber closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she turned to a path which terminated at a broken, spider-webbed window. "Watch."

A rainbow explosion ripped across the view in the atmosphere of a planet which made Kim's breath hitch. The warrior forced herself to continue to watch even as her mother seemed to be consumed in the fireball. As it cleared, a robed figure with a pasty, white mask with red stripes over the eyeholes.

"Aaaaaaxxxxxaaaaa!" The being hissed with a whisper of rage in its tone.

Kim watched in horror as the mask grew black with densely wrapped Bogan energies bound up in it. Around the mask, time moved on fast-forward while it passed from owner to owner. Then, a hyperspace rupture during routine transport to a museum on Coruscant sent the occupants and ship bearing the vile mask to The Unknown Regions, the ship breaking in two on Luna's surface.

An untold time later, the mask made its way to Earth only to be locked up in Area 51 and picked up by Betty Director after she personally investigated the wild report from agents of Rufus fighting a giant poodle in the area.

With the mask in hand, the woman seemed to look into the broken window in Yggdrasil and smile evilly for a moment before she seemed to snap back to herself. Then, Betty pushed a button on her earpiece. "Yes, Mr. Load; I am aware of the PDVI's theft and am coming to pick up Shego personally with appropriate support." Betty smiled, "Inform Miss Possible."

The shock yanked Kim out of Yggdrasil, "(Damn them to Chaos!)" With unquenchable fire in her eyes, Kim rose to her feet and stormed for her weapons locker in her room. A hand stopped her. Kim whirled on the person with a fury to melt tungsten. "(Do not stop me.)"

Shego frowned and framed Kim's face in her claws, "I'm not stopping ya, Xena." The dragon moved her hands and gently gripped her lover's, wordlessly willing Kim to calm down. "I just want you to stop and think like a cop for a moment."

Kim blinked as the fog of rage lifted at Veronica's urgent warning. "Betty wants me off balance and angry." Kim sighed and looked at the other woman. "If I go in angry, she wins."

"If you go in prepared and calm," Anne cut in with a nod and a serious expression. "You shall be hardened and difficult to defeat." The neurosurgeon then looked at her daughter. "That's for tomorrow after school, Kimmie Cub and no argument." The woman shivered, "I've faced both strategists and Jetii, and facing either at anything other than one's best sends you to death quickly."

Kim shivered and looked at Veronica. "Sleep will be hard tonight." The young warrior could feel Bellum Amoris much more strongly outside of Yggdrasil now band the intensity only grew with proximity to Veronica. With a long sigh, Kim retreated to her room and flopped down on the bed in a deeply rooted mix of fear. Kim's thoughts drifted into restless sleep with a final thought, Cold, so cold…

Veronica's instincts screamed in that moment when she felt the Bogan wrap it's grip around Kim. With a deep breath, Shego did her best to give off an outward calm to the matriarch of The Possible Clan. When the front door opened, Veronica leapt at the door and stared at the door as James Possible walked into the door.

"Ann, how was-" James walked into the kitchen and looked at Anne before she nodded and cocked her head towards Shego. James almost imperceptibly nodded before he turned and studied Shego quizzically. "Office now, Shego," James said with a kind but firm voice that left little room for argument. "I want to know why you're so on edge as to jump at me when I walk into my own home."

Anne sighed and walked over to the other two people in the room. "James, part of my past is coming back to haunt me, and it seems to be targeting Kim to get at me."

James nodded "That makes sense, but…"

Veronica sighed and felt the scales over her cheeks heated considerably, "I recently learned something uncomfortable about the Karadim and Draconian instincts."

James raised a brow. "These instincts…what do they mean?"

Shego shivered, "Close the door, please." Veronica laughed at the irony.

"Why all the precautions?" James questioned, even as he closed the door and sat back down.

"The Karadim is simultaneously a Dragon's greatest strength and his or her greatest weakness." Veronica looked at each of them in the eyes. "Before I go on, I need you to swear secrecy."

James and Anne looked at each other before the pair nodded. "The secret is safe, Veronica. Don't worry" Anne said with a smile and a gentle hands on her shoulder. "James handles classified projects all the time, and I am not at liberty to discuss the VIPs I've operated on in my career as a surgeon."

Veronica nodded, "Kim and I are bound in mind." The woman sighed. "We share emotions and thoughts, even dreams." The woman sighed, "It's the first part of my people's…marriage customs."

James looked at Veronica and waited for her to continue. "Go on."

Shego looked at the parents of her Sola Myn and braced for death. "It's intense time for Dragons right now, what Elders call Bellum Amoris." Shego shook her head. "During this,Dragons can legally challenge and…" A deadly growl rumbled in her throat. "…claim anyone who is unmarked or has an incomplete Mark or Sola Myn, that is betrothed, rather than full Sol Mythrin Bonded."

James nodded, "Your instincts are screaming at you to be with Kim and keep her safe until this 'mating season' ends?"

Shego bristled and glared at James, "That's a highly animalistic way to describe it. However, it's nonetheless true; my instincts are screaming at me to break down the doors between the two of us and comfort her right now." The thief focused her anger and shoved it to the back of her mind for the time being. "I said all that to say this: I can feel Kim tossing and turning in her bed right now, and with the Karadim in dangerous flux after the stress of today, she won't rest effectively without me."

Anne glared at Shego, "Any funny business…"

"I'll help Ann capture and skin you alive."

Shego smiled and nodded, "If only my parents had cared enough about us to act as you."

James nodded, "I'm glad we understand each other, Shego." The man then smiled, stepped aside, and opened the door to the room. "Go to her already."

Kim grit her teeth and shoved as she tried to ignore the chill in her bones and draw the blankets up to her nose in an attempt to counter the cold. As she breathed, vapor puffed into and out of existence in time with the rise and fall of her chest. Without warning, warmth flooded Kim's body and began to push back against the unearthly cold. "Shego…" Kim said with a tired smile.

"I'm here now, Kimmie." The woman climbed into the bed and wrapped her arms around the human without a moment of hesitation or any resistance from Kim herself. "Sleep well, my Karadim."

The next morning, Kim woke with a smile on her face. A stray hand found scales on the ridge between Shego's shoulders and began to kneed the area with a small, cute yawn. "Good morning, Veronica."

The young Dragon smiled and opened her eyes with a hushed moan as calming peace ran through her body from the works of her lover's hand. "I would let you do that all day, but I don't want your parents to be pissed any me; I'm already on thin ice with them as it is."

Kim raised a brow before she climbed out of bed and jumped in the shower to begin her routine and get ready for school. How did you even convince Mom and Dad to let you do that?

Bellum Amoris…

Kim facepalmed and shook her head even as hot water continued to run over her body. Do you realize how much damage control I am going to have to run in order to calm Mom and Dad down?!

Shego smirked, Relax, Kimmie. I told your folks enough to keep them from asking questions but not the whole truth. After Veronica thought enough time elapsed, she grinned. Do you want me to come in there and help?

Kim blushed and mentally slapped her lover, Control yourself, Kim commanded even as she toweled off and began to dress for the school day. Then, Kim walked out of the bathroom and glared at Veronica. "We don't want to piss off Mom and Dad."

"I told you to relax, Kimmie…" Veronica said with a smile. "I'll keep watch on Anne." Veronica grinned at the redhead. "You just focus on being Miss Perfect."

"Shego, be careful," the warrior looked at her in worry. "I don't think Betty's master will let her sit on her hands for long."

Veronica raised a brow. "Trust me."

With a deep sigh, Kim nodded and quickly made her way to the door. "Have a good day at work, Mom!" Kim said as she turned to walk out the door.

"You too, Bubblebutt!"

Kim sighed with a shake of head and a small smile at the familiar banter. Why do I feel like things can go to crap any second?

That's usually the point, Pumpkin, Veronica said with a grin over the Karadim. We villains thrive on creating uncertainty in heroes. It's a wonderful and fun strategy to take down naïve heroes.

So, I'm naïve; am I?

Before Kim could hear Shego's response, a voice broke into her mind. Kim grimaced and fought the urge to cover her ears at the sudden influx of unexpected stimulus. "Hey, KP!" Ron said as he walked up to her with a massive grin on his face. "Did you hear?"

In the back of her mind, Kim heard a sigh of relief. Saved by The Buffoon? I'll have to thank him later.

Kim shook her head with a smile and looked at her friend before Kim shook her head, "I've been a bit too busy recently for the usual high school drama."

Ron raised an eyebrow at his best friend since Pre-K, "Who are you, and what have you done with Kim Possible?" Even as he asked, the blonde noticed Kim's Mark and saw it was more full than the last time he saw it. "Oh, that…I forgot. You and Miss Death Hands…I still say she wants to just play with you."

Kim felt a growl rise in her throat, "Do not EVER insinuate something like that again, Ron!" Kim felt her eyes change. Then, she saw Ron back away in fear. "(It never pays to insult a Sola Myn.)"

Ron shivered, "Why are you growling at me?! Why did your eyes change?! Are you a monster now?!"

Kim hissed out a Draconian expletive. The young woman tried to focus as her mind jumped between Draconian and Mando'a, English or Galactic Basic completely lost in the shuffle. "(Ron, just go.)" Kim muttered in her mother tongue. "(I cannot handle you right now.)"

Though he looked lost and clearly didn't understand true words themselves, the tone carried the message well enough. The boy nodded with a hurt look in his eyes and walked to class. "Come talk to me when that Mark isn't frying your mind, Kim."

As Ron walked away, Kim's mind cleared. "I'm sorry you don't want to try and understand, Ron." Kim whispered as a tear slid down her cheek. "You do not know how bad I wish you could understand."

Please Read and Review. Kim and Ron's friendship is within a thread of snapping. Betty and her master want to end Kim and Shego. How can Kim suddenly speak Draconian and why did her eyes change when she was angry with Ron? Answer with theories in the reviews, please.