Confessions and Groundings.
Shego waited, took a drink of water and an aspirin. There was at least a minor hope that her headache was simply related to her seizures, and not the fact of Cally's stunt. Cally opened the door and walked down, with far less energy then Shego had previously seen.
"Cally, I told you to go to-" Izumi's voice. "What? What?" Then there was nothing and the next thing Shego saw was Izumi, in a fluffy pink robe, following her daughter into the room.
She didn't look happy. Izumi looked at Shego for a moment.
"Hello Shego."
"Hi, Izumi." Then, Izumi turned to her daughter.
"Cally… Did Shego call you?" The girl looked at the ground for a moment. "Cally…." Izumi said again.
"No." Izumi nodded.
"Did you misunderstand that you were not to call anyone?"
"But Shego's my…"
"Cally, did you misunderstand?"
"No."
"I didn't think so, because if you had asked me, I would have said yes. But you tried to go behind my back, and I bet you wouldn't have told Shego this if she hadn't asked." Now Cally was staring at her feet. "Cally, look at me." Cally's face was dragged up to face her mother, unwillingly.
"Good. Now, you can talk to Shego before we go on your week's computer and phone suspension."
"But it was only the weekend…." Outraged indignation.
"That was before this little stunt. Do you want to try for two weeks?" Indignation faded. Shego didn't smile, but evidently Cally was very aware of how far she could push her mother.
"No." But she did look upset. Very, upset, even if she wasn't crying, and that led to an unfamiliar pang in Shego's chest.
"So." Shego said, breaking in. "Your grounding?" Cally glared.
"I got in a fight at school, because someone was telling lies about you!" She didn't glare at Izumi. "And nobody seems to care that he was, they just wanted to ground me for trying to bury him!"
"Cally…" Shego paused. "Um…what lies was he telling about me?"
"That you walk around naked on the beach!" Obviously, that was, in Cally's mind, somewhat worse than eating babies.
Shego couldn't help it. She started to laugh. Of all the things…
"Shego?" Cally asked her, "What's so funny?"
"Um…" Shego calmed down, and then started laughing again before she stifled her giggles. "Cally….he wasn't lying."
"What? But…but…" Shego looked at Cally and sighed. Probably it was time to explain.
"Cally, a lot of beaches in Europe and other places are… nude beaches. You don't have to wear clothes if you don't want to."
"But that's…."
"The way things are done in some places, Cally." Izumi said.
"Everyone can." Shego commented. "Kids, teenagers, old people, fat people…even people like…" she dredged up a name. "Ms. Slocum."
"Ew." Cally said and Shego caught a quick flash of agreement in Izumi's eyes.
Maybe I conjured an image that didn't need to be conjured.
"But anyway, Cally, it's… pretty normal in some places, and I guess someone took some pictures." Shego shrugged, "I'm sorry that you got into trouble for it…." She sighed, thinking hard.
Do you really want to do this? In front of Izumi?
You would have to sometime… anyway, you're the deadly mercenary, who knows no fear.
OK, so why would I really want a seizure to hit right now.
"Cally… I think we need to talk about this. Was this the only fight you got into because of me?"
"No…"
"Well, the most dramatic." Izumi said. "But there have been a few."
Great. Cally told everyone. Shego sighed.
"Cally… I wasn't.. I mean I'm not… the nicest person."
"But you're an international mercenary—you fought Kim but then you saved her, so everything's ok, right?"
Oh to be a kid.
"Cally, I didn't just fight Kim—I've done some things that were pretty nasty—and not in the 'take over the world' kind of way."
"Like what?" Cally's eyes were glowing.
"Well, I was at a beach and…" For some reason Shego was feeling a tightness in her chest. "A kid accidentally hit me with his ball, so I popped it. Made him cry." Because I wanted him to.
"Oh… but it was his fault, wasn't it?" That tight feeling was getting stronger by the moment, but Shego couldn't identify it.
"No." Shego said, with difficulty. "It wasn't…so when his mom came up to me I…" She paused, and blinked once. Cally's green eyes were curious.
"You got into a fight?"
"No! She was angry and trying to defend her son so I grabbed her and put her arm behind her back, smashed her face first into the sand and dug my knee into her cheek pinning her down, and slowly made her beg me, crying, to not break her arm in front of her son." Shego said, in a slow manner. Now she was remembering what that tight feeling was. It'd been a long, long time since she'd felt it.
Shame.
"But she could have fought back, right?" Cally asked, looking a little desperate.
"No Cally…she was a by-just a normal mom… I'm an "international mercenary", I knew more ways of fighting than she could imagine, not to mention being able to light my hands on fire and move faster than normal people…it wasn't a fight… I knew it would never be a fight I just wanted humiliate her in front of her kid ."
"But that's…" Cally didn't want to finish the sentence, but Shego did.
"What a bully would do? Yeah, Cally, it was." She paused. "So if that kid showed up and said things about me, would you be so ready to fight?"
"…"
"Cally?"
"No…" The voice was low, and Cally didn't meet Shego's eyes. Then, she started talking again. "But you wouldn't do that anymore would you?"
"I…" Shego was about to say she didn't know, but suddenly Izumi, standing behind Cally, looked at Shego and gave a very tiny shake of her head. "No." Shego finished, and Izumi nodded slightly, evidently satisfied.
"Oh…so it's OK." Cally said.
"Um… not really, it's just that if you go fight every time someone says bad things about me, you'll be spending most of your time in your room, and really, a lot of the not-nice things are true…"
"So I shouldn't fight them?"
"No… Cally, remember when I said I was just working on how to be good before being a hero?"
"Yeah?"
"This is part of it. We're learning together."
"Oh."
"And with that, young lady, you go to the guest room, so I can talk to Shego…" Izumi paused, "And tomorrow your father and I will have another talk with you."
"Ok…" Cally said, looking distracted. "Shego?"
"Yeah.?"
"Good night…um, Love you." Shego blinked.
"'Night Cally…and… Love you too." As Cally left, Izumi sat down on her bed and looked at Shego.
"Interesting and true story…but why?"
"She…" Shego looked down, "She seemed like she was… I don't know…"
"A little too quick to defend your honor?" Izumi said, "Cally's young, Shego—you've moved from evil mutant warrior to friend of Kim's to her birth mom, and now I think she was at the point that you were the cool mercenary who doesn't follow any rules."
"What am I now? Beater of housewives?"
"Person who doesn't fit into the neat little pigeonholes kids like to keep…including teenagers I bet." Izumi finished and Shego nodded, thinking of how Kim sometimes looked a little…confused when she let Shego into her house.
"Not Ron though." Shego said.
"He strikes me as someone who thrives on weirdness."
"He'd have to be." Shego grinned. "He refuses to take anything, including himself, seriously…" A pause, "Well, with one exception. He takes Kim very seriously…so he's serious at not letting her take herself seriously." She sighed. "I really wish I hadn't told Cally…"
"But?" Shego shook her head.
"Secrets kinda got me into this whole mess, so I don't think it's a good idea… Cally needs to know about me…all about me."
"Not all. Not yet." Izumi cautioned. "She's young, Shego—and don't go all the way to the other end of the pendulum and fall on your own sword."
"That's surprising." Shego said, "I mean, you must hear a lot of 'sorry,' and 'I know better now.' In your day job."
"I do. Especially now." Izumi said, and suddenly grinned, "But you see, you didn't have the first part."
"First part?"
"Michael says if you put it in the bible, all would believe…or at least say they would—just as long as you have the first part." Shego was getting intrigued.
"What first part?"
"'Your Honor, we the Jury find the defendant guilty on all counts…'" She smiled, "That, for some reason seems to trigger a deep need to show their sorrow in front of the judge."
"Does it work?"
"Given that up until that point they had claimed they had done nothing wrong? Not really." Izumi shrugged, "But Shego, you showed up before that—you didn't have to, and honestly, you're not exactly in your comfort zone right now, are you?"
"Not even." Izumi made a gesture.
"So, you are going out of your way to try and…what?" She said quietly.
"I don't know…really…." Shego said, with a frustrated look, "I don't know."
"Which answers your question." Izumi said. "Whatever you're doing, it's not trying to just 'get out of trouble'… and that's something I see all too little of." She laughed softly, "Especially since you started by giving up… well, the paperwork arrived yesterday." Shego nodded. She and the Possible's family lawyer had spent several days over that, coming up with an ironclad legal document ceding any future claim on Cally Shego might have.
"And for that I thank you…" Izumi said, softly. "One drawback of being a lawyer is you can see legal nightmares coming, even if you don't know how to get out of them."
"Ah, C'mon, you know that wouldn't happen—one look at me and the Judge would toss the case so fast…" Izumi was shaking her head.
"Maybe not—there are some judges who take fraud in adoption cases, very, very seriously…and some DA's, like me, for example." She sighed. "That letter saved me from a nasty conflict between my oaths and my fears." Izumi paused and started up again. "And speaking of fears—what about your seizures? Have they figured out what is causing them?"
"Oh yes." Shego said, "And I think that I've discovered a new form of sadist—all of Dr. Possible's helpers." She paused, "They've figured out how to trigger them and were so happy they just had to keep pushing the button to watch me froth."
"Sounds like some of the doctors I've had, alright."
"It wouldn't be so bad if they weren't so excited about this new opportunity to push back science…they're like mini-Drakken's in training."
"Well, if they're working on a cure…"
"I don't think they can find one—at least according to Dr. Possible—the best I can hope for is, well, like an insulin shot, now and then."
"Better than the alternative…"
"Yeah, but it kinda limits what I can do—bounty hunter, or bodyguard, even a chance of a frothing fit, well…"
"Don't tell me you need to work!"
"Nah, I don't… but none of that money is, well…you know." Clean, Shego filled in for herself. "So I'd really like a job—and in any case, do you know how boring doing nothing gets?"
"Sometimes I'd like boring… from what I've heard on the news, you could always babysit Kim's brothers."
"I want to avoid boredom, not go stark raving insane…those two will one day put Dr. Demontor, Drakken and every other evil genius to shame…probably before they enter high school." Shego shuddered, "If you had any idea of what they were like…"
"So let them babysit Cally."
"And risk her picking up some of their habits…" Shego shuddered again, more elaborately, and then found herself catching a yawn. Izumi looked at her closely.
"Those sessions really do take a lot out of you." Shego nodded at that.
"Oh yeah…" Shego paused, feeling her eyes get heavy. "Izumi."
"Yes? If that lady came and charged me, what would you do?"
"Mm… Well, first of all, it wouldn't be in my jurisdiction—if it was, because of Cally I'd have to excuse myself from the case, and leave it to someone else." She paused, "It sounds a bit like a simple assault, but the fact that the woman came and confronted you would count in your favor—the fact that you were so much more skilled then she was would count against, as well as the fact that you initiated the confrontation with her child, and how you kept going even after it was plain that she couldn't fight back." Izumi shrugged, "Call it a slam dunk misdemeanor, and a very, very iffy felony, since you never lit your hands up, and any good defense attorney could make a lot out of that." In a different tone, she continued, "Of course, if it's still in the statute of limitations, it'd be a complete route in a civil case—there they could bring up the fact that you didn't have to do that, and it's a lot easier to get a jury to find against you when it's only money."
"And you?" Shego asked.
"And me…" Izumi sighed, "You're different…but yeah, I bet you don't need anyone to tell you that you've put on a lot of baggage that is going to come to haunt you…"
"Yeah." Maybe including big guns—I just didn't piss off housewives. Izumi was looking pensive.
"Shego."
"Yeah?" Izumi thought about it.
"Some advice—I've seen gang members who went straight—really went straight, and they tend to do a few things, that you might want to keep in mind."
"Yeah?"
"They focus on the here and now—I'm not saying that they forget about what they did, or that they may have some karmic balance coming due, but the first objective is to live—one day at a time, if need be."
"Sounds easier than it is." Shego said, a tiny snark entering her voice.
"It always is." Izumi said. "But it's important." She laughed, lightly. "and if Michael hears me talking like this he'll have me at church."
"To preach?"
"To talk to the finance committee." Shego laughed at that one, unexpectedly. Izumi blinked.
"What?"
"It's just… so odd—the way thing have kept flipping back and forth between normal, and…weird. I'm not used to it."
"I think you'll get used to it." Izumi said, and then, Shego found herself yawning again, unable to control it.
"Sorry."
"don't be—I think you need to get some sleep—how would your doctors feel if you fell asleep on them?"
"Probably happy—I don't threaten as much when I'm asleep." Shego said, but nodded. "Night Izumi."
"Goodnight Shego—and I'll talk to Cally tomorrow, if she has any questions."
"Thanks."
Later, Shego was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling, when she rolled over and grabbed something that Cally had sent her. A picture of Cally, riding a horse. Shego sighed, looked at it, held it for a moment, and put it back on the table next to the bed. Moments later, she was sleeping, peacefully.
TBC