Chapter 8: Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?
Shego shrugged out of the harness of the glider pack she had stolen from the Valkyrie the year before. She balanced the ion powered flying device between two roots so it would not be sitting in the much. It may have been military issue from almost five hundred years in the future but she didn't want to take any chances. She looked up at Kim and took two steps back involuntarily. She knew white hot rage when she saw it.
"You left him." Kim hissed through teeth clenched so tight Shego was sure they would splinter.
"Oh, thank you Shego for pulling my skinny ass out of the fire back there." The older woman mocked, instantly regretting doing so.
"YOU LEFT HIM!" Kim screamed at the top of her lungs.
"How about a little louder there, Princess. I don't think they heard you in Colum…oomph!" the wind went out of her as Kim's foot connected with her chest, slamming her against a cypress tree with enough force to make her wonder if the enraged teen was wearing her strength enhancing battlesuit under her artfully faded olive cargo pants. For the first time since reactivating her power when her home was attacked she was glad it was there. If it had been suppressed the impact would have put her down for the count.
Kim pressed her attack, putting Shego on the defensive, thinking how strange it was that the tables were now turned. Always before Kim had battled her aiming to subdue. Now re rage had taken over and her aim was to actually hurt her, or worse. It was too dark in the filter moonlight to see her opponent's eyes, but she could see the expression on her face. The rage, the pain, the despair. She recognized it and the sight wrenched her gut into knots. Somehow, even though this younger woman was her sworn enemy, she couldn't bear exposing her to that fate.
"Kim! Stop this!"
She wouldn't stop. So grim was her determination to harm Shego that she didn't even bother with her usual banter. It was frightening, even to an experienced fighter like Shego. Finally she screamed as she hurled her fists at her as fast as she could throw them. "You left him to die!"
"Kim! Listen to me! KIM!" She was hoping that using her actual name rather than one of her snide pet names would get through to her. It didn't seem to be working.
"Ron is my whole world!" Kim raged on. "Now you've killed him!" She screamed, tears running down her face. For the first time Shego saw a frightened young woman, not the enemy she had known for so long. That didn't stem her own rage and frustration.
Green fire burst from Shego's hands for the first time since Kim attacked her. It exploded with such ferocity that it ran up her arms, fire dripping to the ground like water from a fountain. "HOW DO YOU THINK I FEEL ABOUT NEIL!" she screamed with unhinged rage.
Kim hesitated, Shego's words finally reaching past her fury.
"Listen to me carefully, Kim. He…is…not…dead!"
"He was shot!" Rage was starting to turn to despair. "We needed to get him away from there. They were trying to kill us and they got him!"
Shego knew Kim still wasn't thinking clearly. "Do you remember what their team leader said to you right before I grabbed you? He said you were under arrest."
"The why did they shoot Ron?"
"Because you attacked them. They responded the way they were trained to. Look, they weren't sent to kill us, they were sent to bring us in. We're the ones who turned it into a fire fight."
Kim dropped to her knees, paying no heed to the muck that made up the ground. "How can you be sure about that?"
"If they wanted you dead we wouldn't be having this conversation right now. There wouldn't have been anything I could do when they got the drop on you. They wouldn't have wasted time telling you that you're under arrest, they'd have just pulled the trigger."
"But we left him!"
"Kim, get your head around this. He was hurt. Badly, yes…" Kim moaned slightly hearing that."…but his best chance was for them to take him in. I'm assuming those guys weren't GJ based on their combat style, so I just have to figure they were FBI or something. That means they are taking him to medical aid as we speak. He's in good hands and we are free to do something about it.
Kim was finally calming down enough to think straight, at least partially. "So, if they are Feds why don't I just turn myself in so all of this can be sorted out?"
"Because they probably think now you're working with me. Global Justice may be willing to look the other way where you and I are concerned but the feds are a whole other ball of wax. Plus Neil was working on something for GJ that involved a group in the FBI that was more than a little hinky. You turn yourself in, you may sort out things with you and Ron, but Neil, who doesn't have the benefit of being an international celebrity may just up and disappear!"
"Is that was he was doing that night?"
"Yes. He rescued some girl from a facility hidden somewhere between here and Hilton Head. It was something about them using her for illegal experiments." Shego grabbed the Gli-Pak by it's carrying handle. "Now that you've got that out of your system, we've got to keep moving. We can't afford to assume they can't still track us somehow, especially if they've gained access to Nerd-Boy's hardware."
"His name is Wade." Kim corrected petulantly.
"Well, sorry. I honestly didn't remember it. It's not my shtick, I've never met him after all. "That said, she started off in the direction of a growing rumble.
Several hours passed in near silence. Every so often they would pass a road or some old homes or even an isolated farm as the freight train made its way presumably toward Atlanta.
"I'm sorry, Shego."
"Like you say all the time, kid. No big. I know how you feel about corn-top."
"Yeah, it is big. I was all wrapped up worried about Ron and I never even stopped to consider your feelings about Neil." Kim slid closer to the other woman. "You are not the same woman I've been fighting with all these years, Shego. I'd have never expected this from you about a man. Plus, I kind of expected you had some feelings for, well, you-know-who."
"Doctor D?"
"Yeah. Didn't want to upset you bringing up his name."
"That's okay." She sniffed. "I'm not really being fair to him. It's just, it hurt me so much when he up and left me when his Valkyrie robots failed."
"Hurt you, or did it have something to do with Neil being there."
"Yeah, maybe. Something in me snapped and all I could do was blame it on Drew."
"Drew? I've never heard you call him by his real name before."
"I did it to irritate him, mostly. I was pretty good at irritating him. Anyway, yeah, I had some feeling for him. Hard not to work that closely with somebody that long, to put our lives in danger over and over without something coming out of it. Then that crap with the moodulator happened and I backed off. I mean WAY off."
"I realized after that happened I went after Ron because it amped up real feelings I had for him, though I subconsciously denied it for a long time afterwards."
"I think that's what scared me. See, Drakken's almost old enough to be my father. Plus, he's not much to look at. I mean, he's blue for heaven's sake."
"So says the green woman."
"I'm a hypocrite, I'll be the first to admit it." Shego stopped and looked at Kim. Thoughts flashed through her confused mind. Years of conditioning to hate the red-haired teenager were at the forefront, but there was also a question mark burning in her head.
Do you really hate her? Does she really hate you? They had each said that, on several occasions.
Did enemies have to hate each other?
If it were not for being on the opposite sides of the law, would they even be enemies. Drakken once asked her "What are you, her sister all of a sudden?"
Of course, the two of them had been trying to cause her demise at the time.
But, here they were, the two of them sitting side by side in a gently rocking railroad car, somewhere on the line between Savannah and Atlanta. Both of them were separated from the men they loved. Love? Yes, I guess if it really came down to it, she loved Neil. She would have to, wouldn't she? But she also loved Drakken. He was evil, ugly, blue, scarred and utterly repulsive but she somehow still loved him. Not the way she now realized she loved Neil, but the feelings really were there.
If she got out of this alive, she made a vow to find a way to visit Drakken. It wouldn't be easy, but she would find a way, green skin or no. Thinking of her appearance caused her mind to wander back to Neil again. Tears welled in her eyes. Dammit, why was she like this? She should be kicking ass and taking names, not crying like some lost little girl.
Suddenly she was aware that Kim was holding her tightly. Arms wrapped around her and held her close. Automatically, her arms closed around the younger woman. Both of them were now crying openly. Finally, Shego broke away.
"Now, that was something for all those weirdoes in the chat rooms would like." Shego half chuckled through her sobs.
"Huh?"
"You know, those people who think you'd ditch Stoppable for some Girl/Girl action."
"Ewwwwwwwwww! Remind me not to hug you again!" Kim shook her hands disgustedly.
"Hey, Princess, I don't swing that way…and…thanks. I needed that."
"Yeah, the two of us acting like two head-cases trying to work off a bad case of PMS." Kim smiled half-heartedly.
"Won't have to worry about PMS myself for a while yet."
"Huh?" Kim had to ask again.
"I'm about six weeks pregnant." Shego said, sobs coming back into her voice.
"Pre…pregnant? I thought the two of you weren't a couple."
"Officially? No, he hasn't said 'do you want to go steady with me' again. But, yeah, I have slept with him a couple times."
"Wow. I mean…huh."
"When he figured out he could change my appearance he, like, well, kind of had to touch me…all over. It wasn't supposed to be sensual but good lord, something about his power is so…well, sensual. We both kind of lost control."
"But you two have separate rooms. I mean, that seems a bit strange if you're going to be parents."
"Guess what the fearless criminal hasn't had the guts to do, Princess?"
"He doesn't know?"
"No. I've only known for a couple weeks. I guess I wasn't expecting it, until I was late. We really haven't talked about the last time we, you know, since. I think he's decided he's just a friend, with occasional benefits. At least you're smart enough."
"Smart? What are you talking…"
"I saw you taking your meds. Not many things come in those little compacts, you know."
Kim turned as red as her hair. "I'm, er, hey! It's not like that. Mom's had me taking those since I started high school."
"Whoa, hold the phone there! You've got a Daddy who threatens to send boys into orbit if they so much as bring you home late and your mother has you set up on birth control? Oh, this is rich."
"Shego! Look closely at me. Tell me what you see?"
"Huh? I don't get…what am I supposed to see?"
"That's it. Nothing. When I was fifteen I started to develop an acne problem. That particular brand is supposed to help with complexion problems, with the extra benefit that the pills regulate me. With all the travel, strange sleep hours and strange food my system needed something to even me out. She didn't give me those so I could jump in the sack with every boy I went out with!"
"Okay, chill, Princess. I've seen the commercials for that stuff, I get it. Just seems way convenient for you and Stoppable…"
"Can't you just call him Ron?"
"No, sounds weird when I say it."
"Any hew, that doesn't matter because we're waiting."
"Waiting? Waiting for what. If there ever was a perfect time for your 'first time' it was on this trip you're supposed to be on. You mean you had that poor boy in your bed and all you did was sleep?"
"Precisely."
"God, I thought I was the evil one. You do know you're killing him?"
"That is not killing him. Besides, we both agreed we would wait."
"Earth to Kimmie! What are you waiting for?"
"Until we're married."
Shego blinked, twice. "Same question, what are you waiting for?"
"Shego! In case you haven't noticed, we're eighteen. We've been going steady for just over a year. In a few weeks we're going to college. The last thing we need is to get married."
"Oh, so tell me, is it because you want to play the field? You two have been together WAY longer than a year. You two are picture perfect examples of 'old marrieds.' If you mean to spend your life with him, why not go off to college as man and wife?"
"Because, I don't know, because the way I was raised we're just too young. The way I figure it, we'll probably get married a year or so after we graduate."
"Just sounds to me, Princess, like you'd be going there advertising that you're 'with him' but not totally! There are a whole lot of girls out there who will fall all over themselves to get at a guy like Snapable…"
"Snapable? I think you're reaching now."
"Yeah, well, maybe. Anyway, he's not heinous or anything and now that he's getting properly tall and filling out a little, he's turning into a nice little hottie. Hmmm. Maybe since he's not permanently attached yet, think you'd like to share?"
"Over my dead body!"
"Hey, that can still be arranged." A tiny flame of brilliant green flickered at the end of Shego's finger.
"Anytime, Shego." Kim laughed.
"Well?" Starler asked as Oray left the cell.
"The bullet just got meat. He didn't lose too much blood, so he's not in any real danger. Got the slug out with no muss or fuss so he won't have to live with a scar. He's going to be out for at least the rest of the night, if not longer."
"That's what you said about Argus." Starler stated flatly.
"Well, there are always surprises, but I don't think we'll have too much from Stoppable. He's pretty well known and he's never demonstrated anything beyond some basic fighting skills he picked up from his girlfriend. I think this time we're dealing with a plain old garden variety human being."
"I hope you're right. How are your tests going with Argus?"
"He has an amazing tolerance for the drugs, but he still responds normally to the shock treatments. I think we'll be able to control him."
"And the girl?"
"I think that was a bust after all. Yes, she's one of them, but I don't think she's the one we thought. It seems we have reports the real Tess Harding met her demise in New Mexico when the base went up."
"The what is she? A clone?"
"I have the impression that every one of them are technically clones. This one was nowhere near as educated as the rest seem to be. She was living like a street person. Maybe she's a discarded backup copy of the originals. I don't have enough information and my access to her is rather limited at the moment."
"Don't worry, Doctor. We'll be getting her back soon enough, especially once we have some jurisdiction issues ironed out."
Oray smiled in agreement.
"You want to run that by me again?" Doctor Possible was sitting in the leather acceleration lounge of the starship, opposite Liz.
"Okay, these people are technically part of the FBI, but they're not. Almost three years ago they were officially disbanded by their leader when they were exposed for conducting illegal operations. Then they tried to first kidnap my friends, my husband and me. Finally they tried to assassinate us at our graduation." She stopped and frowned. "You are so not believing this."
"Well, this isn't any more strange than some of the things my daughter gets into. It's your being married that I can't get my head around. You don't even look like you're her age yet."
"I'm nineteen, and I've been married about eight months now."
James Possible just shook his head. Kids today! Just hope Kim doesn't want to rush into anything with Ronald!
"Wait a minute. Strange things your daughter tells you? You said your name was Doctor Possible? You're Kim Possible's father?"
"In the flesh. You follow her on the news?"
"That, and I used to chat with Wade all the time."
"I don't think he's ever mentioned…"
"Oh, he might not want to bore you with this stuff. We actually chatted on one of the computer geek IRC channels. He knows me as 'Killercat.'"
"You don't look like a killer cat."
"I know. I didn't even have a pet. My parents and I lived upstairs from our restaurant."
"Oh, which one? I went to several of the festivals in Roswell."
"The Crashdown. It's a diner."
"With the UFO sign! I remember that one! And the waitresses with antennas in their hair."
"That was probably me, or my girlfriend Maria. Anyway, we never had pets because we didn't want them getting into the restaurant and causing problems with the health department"
"Tell me about it." He was remembering the time Ron got shut down at the school because he pet Naked Mole Rat, Rufus, was serving the food. "So why were the two of you here?"
"I ran across a mention online that there was an actual, real space ship that was seen landing here in Middleton. We came to the Space Center to find some leads. Think we found a pretty big one? So, Doc? Do you think your daughter can help us?"
"That all depends."
"On what?"
"On whether the FBI catches her first."