Note: Unlike the other chapters, this one doesn't have any specific times. Honestly, they were a little distracting, and I would've been forced to be more specific with them here, so I just didn't use them.

Chapter 6

Shego was perfectly aware that people like her rarely got happy endings. Still, she was amazed at how much damage the supposed do-gooders were doing her in their attempts to help out.

First, there had been Kim and Ron, who had sworn to testify that Shego had killed Galgo in self-defense. As far as Kim was concerned, that was the honest truth. Neither of them had counted on the prosecuting attorney making them out to be immature vigilantes that created more problems for the justice system than they helped. Kim's own public service record was even compared to Galgo's, and because Galgo had always worked within a team (albeit one that obeyed all of her commands), hers was obviously more impressive, especially since Team Go had made a point of helping rich and powerful people almost exclusively in the past few years.

Then, there was Dr. Drakken. During the final encounter with Galgo, he had actually hid under his desk until it was all over. So, feeling more than a little guilty, he'd turned himself in, and told Global Justice just about everything he knew, in the hopes that it would help Shego's case. It didn't. In fact, Drakken ended up telling them so much, there was precious little information Shego could offer that he hadn't already given up freely. And no one was interested in cutting her a deal, anyway, since more and more people were becoming convinced that Shego had killed not only Galgo in cold blood, but Michelle as well.

Finally, her brothers had sealed Shego's fate. Hego, for whatever reason, disbanded the team. He didn't show up at her trial, which was damning in itself. Mego and the twins were there every single day, but it just didn't carry as much weight as the whole family being there would have.

There was only so much Dr. Director could do. Actually, there was only so much Dr. Director was willing to do. While she was ready to believe nearly anything Kim said in private, she was still convinced that Shego needed to pay, both for her past crimes, and any criminal role she'd played in the two deaths. Despite Kim's insistence that Shego hadn't done anything wrong this time, Dr. Director thought it best to let the justice system do its job. Which was another way of saying she wasn't about to do squat for Shego.

Shego had her day in court. Months in court, actually. By the time she actually got to say anything, everyone had made up their minds. Seeing as how she had so little to lose, Shego told her version of the truth. She explained how she'd always been an outcast, even within her family. She told how she'd become a thief, and how she'd never, until recently, used her powers to kill anyone. She even revealed how happy she'd been when Michelle had walked into her life. And, against her better judgment, she'd ended by saying that no punishment a judge could think up would hurt her worse than Michelle's death had. While she didn't actually say so, Shego didn't really care what happened to her now.

That was probably a good thing, since she was found guilty of all her crimes, real and imagined. The only one that really stung was Michelle's murder. It seemed that Galgo's plan had worked itself out, after all. At some point, Shego stopped insisting that she was innocent of that charge. No one outside of Kim, Ron, Wade, and Team Go even believed that Galgo was evil, so there was little point. Shego got a life sentence for each death, and still another for the totality of her years as a thief. And Shego figured that between comet power and not having to run from the law anymore, she would probably live to serve every year of her sentence.

If there was any satisfaction to be found in any of this for Shego, it was that she still blamed Kim for Michelle's death. It wasn't even that Shego wanted to hate Kim, so much as she needed to blame someone else for the loss of her niece. Besides, as many times as Shego had heard people say she was the killer, she might've started to believe it herself, and she couldn't have lived with something like that on her conscience.

Kim wasn't quite as understanding, or at least she didn't see it that way Shego did. At every turn, she practically begged Shego to forgive her, to the point where it was clearly humiliating. She honestly thought that Shego really hated her, and did everything in her power to change the woman's mind. Finally, Shego got sick of Kim's pleading, and flat out told her that she never wanted to speak to her again. She really only did it because she wanted a break from the begging, but again, Kim took her at her word.

"Shego."

"Stoppable. Where's Kimmie?"

"You told her not to come back. Or did you forget?"

"Guess I did. What do you want?"

"I want you to call Kim, and tell her that you forgive her."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't."

"Shego, you know she had no control over what happened!"

"I'm aware."

"You know it's not fair to blame Kim for what Galgo did!"

"Of course it isn't. But I'm blaming her, anyway. Otherwise, I'd blame myself."

"Then at least tell Kim that! You don't know what she's been like since you started holding this over her head!"

"I'm sure you're going to tell me, though."

"She's a wreck. We haven't been on a mission in three months. The last time, Kim nearly got killed. And to this day, I don't know if she slipped up, or if she did it on purpose. Do you understand what I'm saying, Shego? I can't trust Kim to take care of herself anymore. You have to let her know that Michelle's death isn't her fault!"

"I don't have to do anything for you two, Stoppable. All I have to do is stay here and rot. That's why you let them put me here, right? Well, Kimmie can just rot her life away, too, for all I care. Nobody she loved died that night. She can do anything, so let's see her get over this on her own."

"I don't even know why I bothered to come here."

"We both know the answer to that. Kimmie made you come, on the off chance that I might forgive her. And she'll keep sending you, no matter how bad I piss you off. So you better get used to our little chats, Stoppable. You're the only one on my approved visitors list."

Ron understood that on some level, Shego was suffering worse than Kim. She would probably always be haunted by memories of Michelle, and even if she had a choice, she wouldn't have given them up for anything. But Kim was getting worse, and it seemed like only Shego's forgiveness would make her better.

Kim had always been fairly slim, but now the weight just fell off of her. She clearly wasn't eating enough, and she hardly got any sleep at all. She'd been in and out of the hospital, but there was little improvement. Kim just didn't seem to have the will to go on.

Ron had gotten desperate by the fifth month of this. Early one night, he carried Kim up to her room, and asked her to think back to the first day of Pre-K. It took some effort, but Kim remembered, and was asleep in moments.

Ron didn't like tricking Kim like that, but she'd left him no choice. He hadn't told anyone about how the bug bite had never completely healed, or the strange sensations he got from being around people who were constantly afraid. All he knew was that he was the only one that could get Kim to sleep, and he would continue to do so, either until the dark gift left him, or Kim didn't need his help anymore.

"Don't beg. It's not an attractive quality."

"I'm here to tell you something. Kim is getting married."

"Finally broke her down, huh? Took you long enough."

"I...I never said it was me."

"Heh. Chicken."

"He's good for her. He can take care of her."

"Yeah, and that's why you have to close your eyes when you say that."

"I'm not going to be pulled into another argument with you. Kim wants to know if you'll come."

"Hell, no. Got her a present, though."

"This...what is this?"

"Action figure."

"It's a Britina doll with red hair. And the eyes are X'ed out. I'm not giving her this!"

"Fine. But you be sure to tell Kimmie what happened to MY present for her on her wedding day. And bring me back some cake!"

Shego's life in prison was harder than she thought it would be. Not because of anything anyone else did, though. In truth, most prisoners were too afraid that Shego was looking to increase her body count, and kept their distance. The few that had dared to confront her found out, quite painfully, that she didn't need plasma to make a grown man bawl like a baby.

No, it was Michelle that made life imprisonment harder. More than ever now, Shego understood the girl's need to be free of Go Tower and all it stood for. There were even days when Shego woke up feeling exceptionally warm, as if a child-sized body had been pressed against her recently. But she knew it was only her imagination, and the only way to make these hauntings stop was to get out of prison.

Shego was in no real hurry, though. Let them think she was tired of running. Let them think she had resigned herself to her fate. Then, when they finally let down their guard, she'd be gone before they were fully aware of what had happened. She even made a promise to herself: if she ever got out of prison, she would never go back. If they came after her, she would run or fight until she couldn't do either. Better to die free than in a cage.

The world moved on without Shego. But the only real news she received came through Ron, and all his news was at least indirectly related to Kim (though he may have been doing that on purpose). All indications pointed to Kim having grown out of the shadow of guilt that Shego had cast on her. Kim had gotten married, popped out a kid, and was apparently doing fine. Ron failed to mention if she was still doing her 'job,' however, which was both suspicious and telling.

Part of Shego wanted Kim to remember, for the rest of her life, the high price of her mistake. Maybe it didn't rule everything she did, but Kim would at least think twice about certain things she wouldn't have otherwise. So long as Michelle's death really meant something to Kim, Shego was willing to forgive her role in it. But, not having spoken to Kim in years, Shego wasn't looking forward to their next conversation. Looking back, she had been pretty hard on Kim, but then she'd wanted the lesson to stick, and it was an important one.

Ron's visits also allowed Shego to see the changes in him. He wore his heart on his sleeve less and less around her, and increasingly walked in with his game face intact. Shego was almost proud of him. Her unwillingness to forgive Kim (for now, anyway) was always a sore point between them, and eventually, Ron stopped asking about it, since he realized it was one of many things Shego regularly considered during her stay. Despite her surroundings, or maybe because of them, Shego remained stubborn about anything she had a strong opinion on.

So when Shego suddenly took Ron off of her approved visitors list (and indeed got rid of the list entirely), there was no point in arguing with her. She gave him a week's notice, and that was the best Ron could've hoped for from her. Shego wouldn't say why she was doing it, only that she was, and that there was nothing he could do about it. Once, Ron would've done just about anything to prove her wrong, including putting in a call to Dr. Director herself. Now, though, he just let it go, and said goodbye.

Shego didn't have a date in mind, but the plan had been forming since the day she'd walked into the prison. It was then just a matter of picking her moments.

As it turned out, Shego didn't have to pick.

Michelle did it for her.

Or so Shego would've liked to believe. She just assumed that waking up to find a vision of her niece standing before her, smiling, was a sign that it was time to leave. It was different enough from all the other times, somehow, and Shego wasn't about to ignore it.

Sure enough, everything seemed to fall into place. The guards were used to Shego being fairly calm, and didn't expect any trouble. They'd even put a rookie on the shift today, thinking he'd be fine. Shego estimated he would be, so long as he didn't take the loss of a couple of teeth personally.

"KP, we got trouble."

"We had better, at three o'clock in the morning, Ron. What is it?"

"Shego."

There was a long pause.

"Is she okay? Did something happen to her?"

"Well, I'm guessing she got a bit bored, because she broke out of prison today, in broad daylight. How do you want to handle this?"

"I don't know if we should."

"Sorry, I must have a bad connection. I thought you said-"

"Ron. She's been in prison since...well, since we were in high school. I think that's more than long enough, especially for an innocent woman. Maybe we should just leave her alone. She's suffered enough."

"Kim, if this is about-"

"It isn't. It's about what's right. If she starts any trouble, I'll catch her myself. But, if she just wants to be left alone, like I think she does, then that's what we'll do."

Shego did not recognize the face in the mirror. But that was a good thing, because anyone looking for her here would feel the same way. Rather than work against her pale skin, Shego had opted to go pale all over. She now looked like a fit, somewhat threatening albino. She'd even reluctantly cut her hair, so it would be easier to dye white.

Luckily, she wasn't the first albino the locals had seen, and nobody made a big deal out of it. Sure, some of the kids whispered and pointed, but all Shego had to do was growl or sneeze loudly (as if contagious) to get rid of them.

She had stumbled upon this town completely by accident. It didn't show up on any map, probably because there were only ever about forty or so people living there at a time. The people were friendly enough, but private. No one thought it odd that she only emerged from her home to get food and supplies, they all just assumed she was sensitive about her condition.

There was really no point in stealing. The town wasn't poor exactly, but it wasn't a place Shego would've targeted for even a minor heist. Aside from that, Shego didn't want or need large amounts of money that would attract attention. Instead, she settled for selling figurines, made from various materials, on the street. It was easy, honest work, and it kept her mind off of...other things. Customers were wary of her at first, but with patience and persistence, she soon became something of a local attraction. She even found herself being commissioned to make certain figurines, and business was good.

It was probably inevitable that she would hit a snag.

This one came in the form of a kid. Skinny, with huge green eyes, and short, brown hair. He didn't say or do anything, really. He wandered by her booth a few times, staring at her display items longingly, but finally wandering off, his finger in his mouth the whole time. If he was trying to become a thief, he at least had the cute thing going for him, but until he actually worked up the nerve to take something, it would just be wasted.

It wasn't so much that Shego was suspicious of people with green eyes, more of a...feeling the kid gave her. A feeling that she needed to leave in a hurry. She closed up shop early and walked home at a brisk pace, wondering where she could go next. For the first time in her life, she was running low on contingency plans. She'd really hoped that this would turn out to be the place she died in, but her chances of that were fading fast.

Any fledgling plans Shego had been forming in her mind died as she turned the final corner on the road home, only to spot a woman standing in front of her house.

A woman whose red hair ran down her back in a long braid, with startling green eyes, and a worried frown on her face as her hands clasped and unclasped anxiously in front of her.

A woman who hadn't seen her yet.

The one overriding instinct remaining in Shego's mind was to run. But even as she considered it, the desire to do so was fading. If Kim had found her here, in the place she'd finally started thinking of as home, there was nowhere left to run. She would never admit it aloud, but she was too old for this crap, and she imagined Kim would say the same thing to herself in a few years.

Her mind made up, Shego started down the street.

Kim was clearly distracted. Their eyes met briefly as Shego passed, but then Kim was looking at the door again, as if trying to figure out what she would say to the woman she suspected was inside.

Shego made it to the other end of the street, paused, and looked back.

Kim was staring at her, hard.

Again the thought of running popped up, but Shego brushed it aside. She watched Kim's eyes widen in realization. She watched as Kim calmly walked towards her, the expected look of satisfaction on her face. She watched as Kim stopped in front of her, stared into her red contact lenses, and pursed her lips.

"Why'd you stop?" Kim asked finally.

"I was starting to feel as old as I look, just looking at you," Shego replied.

Kim almost laughed. "And here I was thinking I feel as old as you look. You don't know how glad I am that you didn't make me chase you."

"I'm not going back, Kim," Shego said. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"I know you didn't, Shego," Kim agreed, her face softening as she reached out to squeeze Shego's arm. "That's not why I'm here."

Shego spotted the wedding band on her finger, but decided it could wait. "I guess the polite thing to do would be to invite you in for coffee."

"I'd rather just talk inside, actually."

"Where's your pet blonde?"

"I asked him not to get involved. This is just between us, isn't it?"

Shego nodded slightly. "Yeah. It is."

Kim wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. It had been many years since she'd last seen Shego. Perhaps she'd been hoping for a fight. It would've been difficult, since her moves, polished as they were, just weren't delivered with as much speed or strength as she'd once been capable of. In truth, she'd forced herself through an intense workout at a Global Justice training facility for a week before setting out after Shego. Even after that, Kim had known that she wouldn't last long, if Shego were truly desperate.

She was more than a little surprised to find that Shego had aged as well. Maybe not as much or as noticeably as Kim herself, but the signs were there. Overall, Shego just seemed to move slower in everything she did, displaying a patience that Kim had never seen in her before. Nor did Shego remove her disguise, and she'd always taken pride in how she looked.

Shego's home didn't reflect the woman Kim had come to know, either. Almost every space that wasn't reserved for walking or sitting was taken up by one of many figurines. The subjects varied, but Kim noticed a great deal of stars in the mix.

"They're for sale, if you want one," Shego pointed out suddenly.

"Oh...um, maybe later," Kim said quickly.

"I assume you just want to get this over with. Tell me what you want to know."

Kim decided to start with what she assumed was the easiest question. "Why did you break out of prison?"

"Why did I do it at all, or why did I wait to do it?"

"Both."

"The short answer is that I decided I'd paid my debt. When I thought about the fact that I could die in prison, well...I reviewed my options, and it seemed like escaping was the best choice."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Exactly what I've been doing." Shego gestured at the figurines on the table.

"For the rest of your life?" Kim asked in disbelief.

"It's probably not as long as you might think, Kimmie."

"Even if it's not, I can't imagine you doing this...at all, much less for-"

"I've changed," Shego said simply, the look on her face suggesting that Kim should leave it at that.

It took a few moments for Kim to think up her next question. "Why didn't you attack me?"

"I wasn't trying to be found. Why would I give you another reason to keep chasing me?"

"But the last time I saw you, you were angry with me."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Well, I only had years to calm down. If I was going to beat you up now, it'd either be over something recent or something big. Neither of which applies currently."

Kim opened her mouth, then closed it uncertainly. At first, she thought that Shego was simply avoiding the big issue. Then, she realized that it simply wasn't a big issue for Shego anymore. At least, not in the sense that they were going to argue about it.

"So tell me about this family you've made for yourself," Shego urged, almost sounding casual about it.

Kim slid a wallet-sized photo across the table. Shego's only reaction was to grunt softly before she slid it back.

"I knew there was something about that kid in the market. Had your eyes."

Kim wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"He got a name?" Shego asked shortly.

"Benjy," Kim replied at once. "I mean, Benjamin," she corrected herself. "Benjamin Mitchell Reynolds."

Shego seemed to stiffen slightly in her chair.

"I, um...guess that's it," Kim murmured. "You'll stay out of trouble?"

Shego blinked and rolled her eyes. "I'm not five, Princess. But yeah, I'll stay below the radar. Kinda the point."

"Okay." Kim slowly stood up.

"Sit," Shego stated.

Kim didn't move.

Shego sighed loudly. "Please."

Kim sat. "What now?"

"Now, you're going to sit there, and wait, while I make you a proper wedding gift. Since I was, uh, a little grumpy at the time and missed out."

"If by 'a little grumpy' you mean stubborn as an ox and twice as disagreeable, then I agree."

Shego glared at her. "Do you want the present or not?"

"I admit to being a little curious."

"Then I hope you'll express that curiosity with a generous tip," Shego replied as she left the room.

Roughly twenty minutes later, Shego returned, a sparkling figurine in each hand.

"This one's yours," she said, placing the figurine in her left hand on the table. It was of a tiny, crystal woman caught in the act of apparently back flipping. There was even an odd, greenish tint to her that Kim found fascinating.

"It's beautiful," Kim breathed.

Shego either thought she was being kind or didn't care what Kim thought, as she placed the next figurine on the table, keeping her fingers closed around it. "You can have this other one on two conditions. One, you give it to Benny."

"Benjy," Kim corrected, frowning as she reached for the figurine.

"Yeah, him. Two, you have to tell him where his middle name came from."

Kim paused, raising her eyes to Shego's. "He knows."

"Everything?"

"Well, not-"

"Tell him everything, Kimmie. Everything. I want him to know what kind of a person Michi was...and how she died."

"I'll be sure to tell him."

Shego grunted. "Guess I'll have to take your word for it." She removed her hand, revealing a small, crystal star with orange tint radiating from its center.

Kim stared at the star for several seconds. Finally, she cleared her throat. "How much for it?"

Shego looked a little surprised, but recovered quickly. "No charge. But I'm pretty sure not tipping an old albino woman makes for bad karma."

"It must be worth more than I could ever pay," Kim said softly.

Sighing, Shego moved around the table and pulled Kim to her feet, grasping her face firmly. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen good. What happened to Michi...it was...bad, in some ways. But if I hadn't lost her that way, I never would've appreciated her, or what she meant to me, as much. I know throwing it in your face like that was a cheap shot, but you've obviously recovered from it. You never did know when to stay down."

"Was there an apology in there?"

Shego's hands dropped away from Kim's face. "Hell, no."

"Just thought I'd ask."

"Uh huh. Take your stuff and get out." Shego turned away, only to feel Kim's arms slipping around her waist from behind. "What are you doing?"

"I don't know why, but...I get the feeling this is the last time I'll ever see you," Kim murmured. "So if you're thinking about doing something drastic, then-"

"Michi taught me how to make them," Shego said abruptly. "She used to make them for herself, but Galgo always got rid of any she found. So Michi only made them for Mego and the twins. They've got tons hidden at the tower, but...I just make these for her. So she'll always have something to play with, if-"

Kim felt Shego tremble in her arms, and held the older woman tighter.

"God, I'm stupid," Shego whispered. "I keep thinking she's just going to come out of the clouds one day, and tell it me only took her this long to reform and find her way back to me."

"It's not stupid," Kim assured her. "Plenty of mothers think that, even the ones with regular kids. Losing a child is always hard."

"But Michi was my kid," Shego insisted. "Maybe not for long, but she was. I was supposed to take care of her. And all I could do was stand there and watch her die."

"Oh, Shego, don't tell me you've really been blaming yourself all these years? Michelle loved you. I only knew her for ten minutes and I could see that. She would never blame you for what happened to her."

Shego uttered a laugh that was surprisingly close to a sob. "Like I said, she was a kid. I never said she was smart. Michi wouldn't even blame me if it were my fault. She'd just go on thinking I was her favorite person in the world."

Kim could see now that Shego wasn't quite as strong as she had been. Clearly, this had been bothering her ever since that night, no matter how in control she'd seemed today.

"Shego. Would you consider coming with me? To my house?"

"Yeah, I'm sure GJ would never think to look for me there. And I bet your hubby would just love to house a convicted killer."

"He knows you didn't do it. I made sure that everyone who matters to me knew that. You leave GJ to me."

"No. I'm staying here."

"You're not well, Shego. And if you stay here by yourself, then-"

"What?"

"You'll die," Kim said simply. "Especially if you continue to live with all this on your conscience."

"I'm still waiting on your point."

Kim slowly released Shego. "You want to die. Is that it?"

"No. But there's nothing left to live for, either."

"I don't think Michelle would agree."

"Then she can tell me that herself."

Kim reached into her pocket and pulled out a plain-looking watch. She slid it onto Shego's arm as she spoke. "It scans for a pulse every few hours. If it detects nothing after three scans, I'll know about it."

"Funny. For someone who didn't want me to die, you seem pretty prepared for the eventuality," Shego observed.

"I figured I wouldn't be able to change your mind. At least this way, I can make sure nothing happens to Michelle's toys when you're gone."

"Thanks," Shego muttered.

"One more thing," Kim said as she moved to the door with her gifts in hand. "What should I tell Benjy when he asks about the nice lady who gave him this star?"

"Tell him she went looking for her own star," Shego answered dully.

Kim quietly closed the door behind her and sighed. She slipped the figurines into her pockets, her fingers lingering on the tiny, green woman before she slowly started down the street.

The End.

Author's Notes:

Not a happy ending, but then I never intended that for this story. A pre-reader of commented that it seemed like I created Michelle just for her to die. Well, that's true. It would've been great if she'd lived, but I created her with her death fully formed in my mind. I like to think she was important enough while she lived, and even after she died, for that matter.