Chapter 2

Three weeks later was a Saturday afternoon at the Possible home.

The Doctors Possible, Jim, Tim, Kim, Ron and Rufus were in the family room, watching "The Fearless Ferret" on TV Trash Heap. During commercials, Ron had everyone in stitches telling of his adventures as the Ferret 2.0.

As the closing credits played, there was a hesitant knock at the door.

"I'll get it," said Mr. Dr. Possible, getting up and going to the door.

On the porch he found a young woman with very pale, slightly green skin, long black hair and intensely green eyes.

"Can I help you?" he asked.

"Is- is Kimmie, uh, Kim here?" she asked.

"Yes, she is," replied Mr. Possible. His eyes narrowed. "You look familiar. Say, aren't you Drew's assistant?"

"I was," she replied, voice bitter.

"Well, we don't want any evil here," he said, starting to close the door.

"Please! I really have to talk to Kim! It's very important!" she said, desperation in her voice.

"Well..." he said, hesitating.

"Please..." she said.

"All right," he said, relenting and opening the door, "But I warn you, I'll tolerate no villainy in this house!"

Shego nodded. "I understand." She stepped inside.

She followed Mr. Possible to the family room.

"Kim, you have a visitor," he said, and moved aside.

"SHEGO!" Kim yelled, and jumped to her feet. She took a defensive position.

Rufus dived for Ron's pocket, while Jim, Tim, and Mrs. Possible stood up.

"Wow!" said Tim, "A real supervillian..."

"In our living room!" finished Jim.

"Cool!" they said together.

"What do you want, Shego?" asked Kim, her voice a growl.

Shego held up her hands. "I'm not looking for a fight, Kim. I need to talk to you."

It suddenly dawned on Kim that Shego wasn't wearing her usual jumpsuit. Instead, she was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a white t-shirt with, of all things, Rainbow Brite on it.

"Well, that's different, anyway," said Kim, relaxing slightly.

"Uh, Shego?" said Ron, staring at her, "Rainbow Brite?"

Shego shrugged. "I loved it when I was little."

"You wanted to talk, so talk," said Kim.

Two sets of emerald green eyes locked for a long minute. Kim noticed that the fire always so visible in her enemy's eyes was gone, replaced by... what? Shego broke first and looked down.

"This was a mistake. I shouldn't have come here. You hate me too much to listen. I'll go," said Shego, and turned toward the door.

She had taken two steps when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. Her instincts told her to lash out, to destroy the attacker, but her control was better than that. The touch was gentle; there was no attack in it. She stopped.

"Wait," said Mrs. Possible from just behind her, "This is obviously important to you. Please stay and tell us."

"Yes, please," added Mr. Possible.

"Yeah," added Jim and Tim.

"I want to hear," said Ron.

"Uh huh, uh huh!" said Rufus, peeking from Ron's pocket.

Kim said nothing.

Shego shook her head. "The one I need to talk to doesn't want to hear it," she said.

"Kim..." said Mrs. Possible.

Kim stood up from her defensive position. "Okay, okay, we'll talk..."

Shego turned back to the living room.

"...but it will be on MY terms," she finished. She turned to Ron and whispered something to him.

"On it, KP," he replied. He ran from the room, giving Shego a wide berth as he did, and disappeared up the stairs to Kim's room. A few seconds later he reappeared. "Here, Kim!" he said, and tossed her a set of handcuffs.

Shego's eyes widened, and, for just a moment, Kim saw the fire rekindled in them. Then it was gone again. Shego meekly held out her hands.

"No," said Kim, "Behind you."

"If I do this, will you listen?" asked Shego.

"Yes, she will," said Mrs. Possible forcefully, looking at Kim.

"Yes, I promise," said Kim.

Shego turned away, and offered her wrists behind her back.

Kim opened the cuffs, and warily approached Shego. She motioned her mom to step away, and with a nod, Mrs. Possible did. Kim deliberately touched Shego with the cuffs, and she flinched with the sudden cold metal against her bare skin. But she made no effort to avoid them. Kim held them against her for a few seconds, then pulled them away.

"No, I'm not going to cuff you," she said.

Shego looked over her shoulder at Kim, puzzlement on her face.

"If you're willing to let me do it, I'm willing to listen," said Kim.

Shego turned to her. "Thanks..." she said, almost a whisper.

"Come sit down," said Mrs. Possible, "Can I get you something to drink?"

"A glass of water would be nice," said Shego, as she sat on the couch. Kim sat down beside her, Ron behind Kim, Jim and Tim sat on the floor, and Mr. Possible sat back in his chair. Rufus crawled out of Ron's pocket, and turned off the TV.

Shego took a long drink of ice water, and with a sigh put the glass down. She looked around at them all, but said nothing.

The silence grew, and finally Mrs. Possible said, "Take your time, dear, we're all listening."

Shego looked down at her feet, and in a voice barely audible, said, "I have terminal cancer. I'm not expected to live more than another four or five months."