3:45 PM - Drakken's Lair

Shego stared at the circle of bruised henchmen around her with a small smile. "Sloppy. You could've at least stacked them nice and neat."

"I don't like attacking people," Michelle sighed as the orange energy field around her now teenage body faded. "I wish you had attack drones like we do at Go Tower. It's better practice, because they're harder to punch through."

"Yeah, well, we're not exactly government funded around here, kiddo. We have henchmen, remember? Good guys don't use henchmen, except maybe for target practice."

"Which is pretty much what we just did," Michelle pointed out.

"Yeah, but my boss signs their checks. So no matter how much you want to twist it, we're still the bad guys here."

Michelle stared at her. "I don't believe that. Not about you, anyway."

Shego stared right back at her. "I don't know if anyone's told you, but I'm a thief. I steal things that don't belong to me, and I don't always need a reason, though it doesn't hurt to get paid for it. Face it, Michelle: I'm a thief, so I'm a bad person."

"You expect me to believe that being a thief makes you bad?" Michelle asked. "Are poor people who steal food to survive bad?"

"I'm not poor, kid. And I steal because I want to, I don't have to."

"What you do doesn't always define who you are."

"How would you know?"

Michelle glared at her. "Because Mom's a hero, and she's a bad person, that's how I know."

"She can't be that bad, or she wouldn't be on the team. Trust me, I know."

"Of course no one but us ever see her like that. She's good at hiding it in public. Though most people never look anywhere but her chest."

"Okay, I'll bite," Shego relented. "What's she done that's so bad?"

"One year for her birthday, I made her an enormous cake. It was the first thing I'd ever cooked, and it took me hours of work. Uncle Mego tasted it, and he said it couldn't have turned out better than if he'd made it himself. I just knew Mom would love it."

Michelle paused, taking several deep breaths. Shego waited in silence for her to finish.

"Only, she didn't. She barely even looked at it. She said it was a huge waste of food, and she threw it out. No, she made ME throw it out. She told me never to do anything so foolish again, right before she sent me to my room for a whole month."

Michelle turned away, but not before Shego saw tears rolling down her face.

"I just...I thought she'd be proud. I thought, for once in my life, she'd act like she loved me. No, I thought she really WOULD love me, and that it finally wouldn't be an act. But...no. It was a waste. Like she said. Just a waste...of time, effort, and love." She lowered her head, her shoulders shaking slightly. "She didn't even taste it."

Shego stood there for a few seconds, watching her niece cry in silence. Finally, she closed the distance between them and gently placed her hands on Michelle's shoulders.

She was more than a little surprised when Michelle whirled around and shoved her away.

"Get away from me!" Michelle cried, wiping futilely at her face. "I don't...I just wanted you to love me," she whimpered.

Shego shook her head. "I'm not your mother, Michelle."

As if hearing her voice for the first time, Michelle blinked and looked up at her. "Auntie Shego? What...I...oh. I'm s-sorry..."

"Yeah," Shego said quietly. "Me, too." She grabbed Michelle's arm and pulled her into a rough hug.

At first, Michelle squirmed and tried to pull away.

"I'm not your mother," Shego repeated in her ear. She had to keep repeating it, though, before Michelle would stop struggling, and then she clung to Shego desperately, emitting muffled sobs every few seconds.

"I'm not your mother," Shego said again, stroking Michelle's red hair.

"No," Michelle agreed, "but I wish you had been..."

Shego closed her eyes and held her niece tighter. She couldn't say the words, but she was starting to wish the exact same thing.

5:05 PM - Bueno Nacho, Middleton

Ron had just finished his last burrito when his cell phone began to vibrate in his pocket.

"Could you grab that for me, buddy?" he asked of his naked mole rat. "My fingers are kinda, um, cheesy at the moment..."

Rufus nodded and dove into Ron's pocket, gradually pushing the cell phone out, flipping it open with practiced ease, and mashing a button.

"Ron? I think we've got trouble."

Ron instantly recognized Wade's voice. "I'm listening."

"I was concerned when you guys told me how creepy Galgo was, so I did some digging. She's got a pretty good service record as a member of Team Go, and she'd never done anything noteworthy before then. But then I tried searching by her real name, Gabrielle. Didn't have a last name to go on, but I've narrowed down birth dates to anyone who could approximately be Galgo's current age. I think I know who she is, or who she used to be."

"Uh oh. Who?"

"Gabrielle Simmons. No criminal record, but there's one thing that caught my attention. When she was twelve or so, she went missing for a whole month. She was finally found in a forest, but get this: it was five miles from the original crash site of the meteor that gave Team Go their powers. And if my estimates are right, this happened a little more than a year after the crash."

"She was never tested?" Ron asked.

"That's the strange thing: she WAS. Nothing turned up in the official records. And the next time she shows up, she's marrying Hego."

"So do you know what her power is yet?"

"No. But because there's no record of her developing powers, I've got a guess. She might be able to somehow influence the minds of others, but to what extent I'm not sure. It would explain how suddenly she joined Team Go and married Hego. It was like she came out of nowhere."

"What does Kim think?"

"No idea. She's not answering her Kimmunicator, but I've tracked her location, and she's still at school. Ron, you need to warn her. Until I know more, both of you should stay away from Galgo. She might even be able to turn you against each other."

Ron shared a confused look with Rufus. "So, Shego's not the bad guy this time?"

"I don't know about that, but she may not be the worst this time. I'm starting to think Michelle was never kidnapped at all, and even if she was, maybe Shego had nothing to do with it. Granted, Shego would have access to Go Tower because of her Go Glow, but that and her criminal record just make her a convenient, convincing suspect. Almost no one would question her involvement. We didn't, at first."

"Wade, you keep trying to reach KP. I'm gonna try to catch her before she leaves school. With any luck, one of us will talk to her before she does anything."

"Do you think she would?"

"She said she was having bad dreams about Michelle. I think Kim might try to find her."

"I don't think that's a good idea, either. For all we know, this could be a setup."

"But who's getting set up, Wade: Kim or Shego?"

"I don't know. Maybe both of them at once. Which is all the more reason for Kim to keep her distance until I can find out something more definite."

"So you want me to find Kim...and tell her to do nothing but wait."

There was a long pause.

"There's some knockout gas from the last mission in your locker," Wade offered.

"And that gives me a, what, thirty percent chance of making this work?"

"I was thinking more like twenty, actually."

Ron sighed and shook his head. "Wade, dude, you have to learn to lie to me."

"Sorry."

5:15 PM - Middleton High, Parking Lot

Volunteering to file papers for Mr. Barkin had not been one of Kim's better ideas. The man was a meticulous note taker, and generally a single set of notes ran on for a good five pages, easy.

Still, Kim had done it not because she wanted to, but in order to suppress the strangely strong urge to drop everything and track down Michelle...alone. That really bothered her, that she would even think of doing something so dangerous without Ron. But she had just...wanted to. Needed to, almost.

It was pure luck that she'd run into Mr. Barkin while leaving her last class, because every student knew that if you started something for Mr. Barkin, you finished it. More often than not with him breathing down your neck the whole time, though he gave female students a bit more space for obvious reasons.

Of course, now that Mr. Barkin had dismissed her, the urge to find Michelle was stronger than ever. Kim wished she had asked Ron to wait for her; maybe he could've talked her out of this somehow over a Grande-Sized Naco.

But Ron wasn't there, which left Kim alone with her thoughts. Thoughts which were turning increasingly to Michelle, and all the damage she might do, WOULD do if she stayed with Shego any longer.

Five minutes and a phone call later, Kim found herself sitting beside Global Justice Agent Will Du in his personal transport. Normally, she would never have dreamed of calling in a favor from him, but normal for her had flown out of the window a long time ago.

"Understand that this is a one-time professional courtesy only, Possible," Agent Du said sternly. "GJ is not a taxicab service."

"Relax. I'll be sure to mention that my successful capture of Shego wouldn't have been possible without the assistance of a certain high-ranking GJ Agent. Satisfied?"

"Quite," Agent Du replied, casting a rather disapproving eye on Kim's school clothes.

Kim glared at him. "Contrary to what you may think, I'd rather catch Shego dressed like this, than waste time changing and risk letting her get away."

He cleared his throat loudly. "For your information, our ETA is fifteen minutes, and there should be at least one standard issue GJ field ops suit in the back that fits you."

"And do I want to know why you might have such a suit?"

"A good agent is prepared for any possibility, Possible. Especially an agent that has worked with you."

"You're all heart," Kim said dryly as she headed for the rear. "And no peeking!"

"Don't flatter yourself."

"I heard that! Don't forget your promise not to interfere!"

"As I said, this is not a GJ matter, Possible. Team Go decided not to inform us of their situation, and so we have chosen not to get involved."

"Dr. Director doesn't take being snubbed lightly, huh?"

"She most certainly does not. If Team Go thinks it can handle its own affairs, we are certainly willing to let them try. Unless, of course, Project: Brightstar becomes too unstable again."

Kim poked her head out of the back. "Let me guess. Michelle?"

"That is her common name, yes. There have been a series of unusual disturbances involving Team Go over the past few years. In one of the earliest incidents, an escaped felon received second-degree burns over most of his body. GJ had reason to believe Project: Brightstar was involved, and Team Go oh so graciously volunteered to confine her to Go Tower for an undetermined period, though we were led to believe it would be for the rest of her natural life. The incidents didn't stop, so much as they became limited to Go Tower itself. For some reason, Dr. Director hasn't taken any further actions against them. However, if I have reason to believe that Project: Brightstar has become unstable, I will have no choice but to inform her."

"Fair enough. But otherwise, keep your distance."

"As we agreed."