Chapter 4
Up in her room that evening, Kim pulled out the Kimmunicator and called Wade.
"Wade, Shego has cancer, and will be staying with us for a while. But I'm still worried about what she might do."
"Cancer?" asked Wade, "Tell her I'm sorry to hear it."
"I will. Her doctor said she has about five months," said Kim.
"Ouch. That IS bad. What do you want me to do?" asked the boy supergenius.
"Set up the monitoring system so it will alert me if she leaves the guest room," answered Kim.
"Not a problem, Kim," said Wade, tapping on keys. "I guess your mom is going to try and help her?"
"Yeah. I know she's my nemesis, but I wouldn't wish that on anybody. I hope Mom will be able to do something," said Kim.
"Me too. Okay, it's set. Just leave the Kimmunicator where you can hear it when you go to bed," said Wade.
"Thanks, Wade, you rock hard," said Kim, grinning.
"Any time. 'night!" said Wade, and the screen went dark.
kpkpkp
At three in the morning, Kim was awakened by a steady beep-beep-beep. It took her a few seconds to realize the significance of it, then was awake and out of bed.
Quietly she crept downstairs and looked down the dark corridor, lit only by a nightlight. An obviously female form was walking along toward her. Suddenly Shego stopped and turned into a room. The door closed and the light came on. A couple of minutes later, the toilet flushed. The door opened and Shego stepped out, holding a cup of water.
Shego turned off the light, and turned back toward the guest room. Then she stopped, and looked over her shoulder. "It's open, Kimmie," she said with a smirk, and went back to her room.
kpkpkp
The next morning, Kim stumbled into the kitchen, still half-asleep, to find Shego sitting at the table, dressed in a green blouse and black pants. A glass of water sat in front of her.
"Uh... morning..." ventured Kim.
Shego grunted in reply, and took a drink of water.
Kim got a glass, and poured herself some orange juice. "Want some?" she asked, indicating the carton.
Shego shook her head. "Your mom wants to take me to the hospital and examine me this morning, and asked me to fast, and not do my exercises yet."
"I see," answered Kim.
"Speaking of that, is there someplace around here I can work out?" asked Shego.
"Oh, sure, I have a small gym in the basement," was the answer.
"That works," said Shego, and lapsed into silence.
Kim put away the carton, and stood still for a few seconds. She seemed to come to a decision, and sat down at the table, across from Shego.
"Can we talk?" she asked.
Shego eyed her. "Isn't that what you're doing?"
Kim sighed. "Without the banter and insults."
Shego shrugged. "Sure. I'm not up to it, anyway."
"Good," said Kim, taking a drink, "First of all, I'm really surprised you would accept help from me and my family."
Shego smiled. "Yeah, I guess that would be a bit difficult to understand. Well the truth is, I have nothing to lose, and maybe something to gain. At this point, I'll accept help from anybody who holds out the least bit of hope."
"Okay, I can understand that," said Kim, thoughtfully.
"Good," was the answer, and Shego took a drink of water.
"But I still don't want you doing anything evil while you're here," said Kim, forcefully.
"Kim, I've given up evil," answered Shego.
"Just like that?" said Kim, with a snap of her fingers. She looked skeptical.
"Just like that," answered Shego, snapping her fingers in turn. "When I was told the cancer was terminal, I took some time and thought about my life. I love being evil. I enjoy the thrill of being a thief. I like having nice things. I prefer living my life the way I want to, without needing anyone except on my terms."
She looked at her glass of water, now half-empty. "And what has it gotten me? There's no point in stealing any more; nice things won't save my life. I have a family I can't stand for more than five minutes; all the people I know are villains, and they are no help. They won't have anything to do with me. I have no friends..."
She looked up at Kim, and Kim could have sworn she saw tears in the ex-villianess' eyes. "And now, even the company of my worst enemy is better than no company at all."
"Shego..." said Kim.
Just at that moment, Mrs. Possible came in. "You ready to go?" she asked.
Shego stood up. "Yeah, let's do this."
"Should I come with?" asked Kim.
"It's going to take all day, and you'll just be bored," said Mrs. Possible.
"Still don't trust me, Kimmie?" asked Shego.
Kim opened her mouth to snap back a retort, but let it close. She just shook her head.
Shego snorted, and followed Mrs. Possible out of the room.