Chapter 3

"NOOO! I don't wanna!" Was the cry that echoed throughout the house as one little girl ran past the audience on the couch for the fifth time followed by her pursuer.
"It's not that bad! Come back here!"
"NO! You can't make me!" The three on the couch sighed and watched the madness unfold.
"So, how much longer do you think they'll be doing this?" Monique stated as they watched the other two make another lap through the living room.
"No clue, they're both as stubborn as the next," replied Felix as they saw Shego once again escape Kim's clutches and blow a raspberry at the older girl before she started running in the other direction.
"Ah, look out! They be coming this way, cap'n!" shouted Ron as he shielded himself with his arms. Shego leaped once she was a foot away and landed in Felix's lap. She clung closely to him and turned big pleading eyes up at the brown haired boy.
"Please don't let her do it, Felix. Pleeeeaseee!"
The poor boy was doomed from the moment those big emeralds gazed up at him. Kim then came skidding over, stopping right in front of Felix's chair. She rested her hands on her knees and quickly tried to catch her breath.
"Come on Shego, I have to do it!"
"NO!" Shego yelled with all the enthusiasm of a little kid. "I don't want my hair in pigtails!"
"But you need to have your hair up. It's too long and you like running around. It'll get dirty and tangled," Kim said frowning down at the little girl.
"But I don't want pigtails. I don't wanna look cute! Everyone always calls me cute and I hate it!" little Shego said sulkily as she sat in Felix's lap. Kim let out a sigh and saw from the corner of her eye Monique motioning to the side and pointing at her hair.
"Alright. How about just a regular ponytail? Would that be alright?" Kim said smiling down at Shego as she extended her hand. Those big green eyes stared back up at her as a glimmer of something flashed across them.
"Ok, I guess. Anything for you Kim." As the black haired girl said this and took Kim's hand, it felt a hot presence had reached into her chest and was squeezing her heart. Ignoring the feeling at the moment, Kim pulled Shego over to the chair near the couch and had her kneel down as she sat down and started brushing the girl's hair.
Finally putting it up into a single ponytail, she watched Shego leap out of her lap as soon as she was done. The little girl ran over to the chair where she had left Cocoa and snatched the dog right off. She hugged it close before she turned around and began playing with her stuffed friend.
Kim smiled warmly at the sight and there was a slight flutter in her stomach. Pushing the feeling away like she had all the others today, her attention was drawn back to her group of friends as Ron began speaking to her.
"So KP, what are you going to do now? We have no idea how long until Wade figures out a solution." The blond asked his friend, curious as to her response.
"I'm going to take care of her of course. If any of her enemies find out what happened to her they'll come after her." Kim stated looking at them with determination.
"That's just it Kim." The red head turned her emerald eyes over to the darker skinned girl as she began speaking. "Shego is your enemy. Have you forgotten?" Kim sat there in shock, her mouth moving but nothing coming out.
"It's true, KP. Have you forgotten all the times you've had to fight her, all the times she's stolen things for Dr. D, all the times they've hurt us? Have you?" Ron's brown eyes gazed into hers, seeming to pin her to the chair.
"I- I haven't forgotten," she said gently, meekly, as if thinking it over herself." But I can't just leave her to fend for herself and I can't just give her back to Drakken." Her voice became firmer with each word, confidence coming back and hovering around her. "Besides, it's not just that. Sure we fight all the time, but I enjoy it. It's like a thrill to me!" Kim's friends watched with wide eyes as she seemed to keep going now that she had started, unable to stop.
"It's like my body's near it's peak when I'm fighting her as well as my mind. She makes me think and use all my wit when battling her. And to tell the truth, she's never really hurt me. Sure scrapes and bruises, but nothing deadly. It's almost like she's holding back on me. Heh heh… isn't that weird?" Kim laughed nervously putting her hand on the back of her head. Looking at the slack jaws in front of her, she began to regret her unexpected speech. It increased as they finally closed the jaws only to start laughing.
"Kim- you…" Laughter.
"You- Shego snicker"
"Fine, fine. I get it. Stupid idea, stupid tell you my feelings." Kim shouted, sulking in the chair as she clutched a pillow to her.
"No, no, Kim," Felix told her managing to calm down his laughter. "That's not why we're laughing. We've already had talks of this and we're just laughing because you finally told us, and did it in a very amusing way."
"Oh… really?" Kim asked feeling the heat rise to her face.
"Yeah KP, even though people call me oblivious, even I noticed what you just said. After all, I am on those missions with you," Ron replied, still chuckling at his best friend.
"Uh huh, yeah!" Rufus piped up from Ron's pocket where he had been napping.
"Seriously girl, you have our support in you taking care of the lil girl. We just wanted to make sure you knew what you were doin'."
"Thanks guys!" Kim said, flashing them all a big smile.
"I think the only one who's oblivious at this point is Shego. Girl thinks she's fooling everybody holding back on you," Monique said chuckling good heartedly.
"But why would she do that though?" Felix questioned out loud.
"Well… maybe it's because Shego's smart enough to realize what life would be like if Drakken managed to take over the earth." Kim smirked at the shudders that ran through her friends. "And I'm probably the closest person to her skills so she's probably training me to get better while letting us foil Drakken's plan and still get paid." As Kim finished there was silence in the room until…
"You know… that has got to be one of the most arrogant sentences you've ever said KP. Oh, I'm the closest to the best around. I'm the best," Ron said mockingly.
"Well, uh…" Kim stammered.
"It's okay Kim, you're allowed some arrogance. Though it would be funny if Shego stopped holding back and brought you down a notch." Felix laughed as Kim began sulking.
"You guys are mean. Anyway, I need to get going." Kim started to rise out of her seat. "I'm going to take Shego home and explain the sitch to Mom and Dad."
"I need to be going too. Have to go to work at Club Banana. We're having a big sale today," Monique replied grabbing her purse and standing as well.
"Okay, you guys have fun," Felix said.
"Are you gonna ride home with me, Ron?" Kim asked her friend.
'Nah, you go on KP. I'm gonna hang out here for awhile," Ron answered her question.
"Okay, I'm gonna grab Shego then I'll see you guys around."
"Hey Kim, why don't you let me give you guys a ride on my way. A bike isn't exactly the greatest thing for a kid to be riding on."
"Sounds great, thanks Monique."

Monique had dropped the two off and Kim had introduced Lil Shego to Mom and Dad. Sending the little girl off to play with the tweebs, she had sat down to discuss the sitch with her parents. Surprisingly it ended up going rather well with them agreeing to the situation as long as Kim took full responsibility for the little girl.
Having finally gotten away, Kim leaned against the door and let out a sigh of relief.
'Well, that went pretty good I'd say,' Kim thought happily. With that she set off to find the green and black colored child and hoped the tweebs hadn't tormented her. Or her to them.
As the red head walked up the stairs, she heard excited, garbled voices coming from the tweebs room.
'I wonder what those three are up to?'
Kim opened the door to the tweebs room and promptly ducked as something rocketed over her head and flew off down the hall. There was a giant boom as whatever it had been crashed into a wall.
"Hicka bicka boo?"
"Hoosha."
Lifting herself off the ground, the red head glared down angrily at the three children that were standing there.
"Tweebs!"
"But Kim, it-" started Jim
"- wasn't us!" finished Tim.
"It was her!" The two chimed in unison as they pointed at the innocent looking Shego. Kim raised her eyebrow at this and turned to the black haired child.
"I didn't do it, Kim! Really!" Shego pleaded innocently as she looked up at Kim with big green eyes. Kim's eyes softened for a minute before they hardened again as she turned back to her brothers.
"You guys are so busted. And trying to blame it on Shego!" she scolded.
"JIM! TIM!" Dr. Possible yelled as he must have just inspected the damage.
"But--"
"We--"
"didn't do it!" the two boys whined.
"Whatever. You guys better go see dad." Kim instructed, pointing a finger out the door. The two began to walk out dejectedly and turned around to see Shego grinning wickedly at them from behind Kim.
"Kim!" they yelled.
"BOYS!" Dr. Possible yelled again, his patience running thin.
"Aww, man." They sulked, giving in and going off to their doom. Kim watched them leave. They turned to Shego, who once again had an innocent look on her face.
"Come on, Shego. Let's go up to my room," the teen hero stated as she began walking out the door.
"Coming Kim!" The little girl responded as she followed after the older girl. Upon reaching her room, Kim flopped herself down on the bed and let out a welcomed sigh. She then leaned her head on her hand as she watched the former villainess explore her room. The look of amazement on Shego's face filled her with pride and warmth.
That all changed when Lil Shego came across a giant blue teddy bear. Flying into a temper tantrum the little girl began to violently jump up and down on the bear. Kim watched on in shock at the sudden assault.
"Stupid…evil…blue…dummy head!" The black haired girl mumbled as she continued her jumping. Finally snapping out of her stupor, Kim got off her bed and grabbed a hold of the little girl mid-jump.
"Hey, hey! What's going on!" Kim yelled as she kept her grip on the struggling child.
"I hate blue. Stupid, doctor blueberry!" Shego yelled as she continued her struggle in the teen girl's arms.
"Calm down! If you calm down I promise to put you down," the red head told the child in her arms. Once the little girl in her arms had stopped thrashing and settled down, Kim set her down on her feet.
'I guess this is what Wade meant by her retaining some feelings from before.' Sitting down on her bed, Kim patted the surface night next to her breaking Shego's attention from glaring at the bear. Walking towards her slowly, like an animal, Shego warily approached and climbed up on the bed.
Turning towards her, Kim smiled at how meek Shego looked.
"You know, I think we need to work on that erratic jumping of yours," Kim said, laughter ringing in her voice. Bringing her head up, Shego smiled shyly at Kim. Winking at the little girl, the red head grabbed a hold of her and gave her a noogie. Letting out a squeal, Shego turned around and tried to tickle Kim. The two rolled around on the teen hero's bed laughing and tickling and having a good old time.
Finally, Kim layed back sprawled on her bed. "Okay, that's it. Uncle, I give."
"Yay, I win, I win!" Kim raised her head to see the little black haired girl dancing as she sang this.
"You're just a little ball of energy, aren't you?" The green eyed girl stated with a smile.
Shego leapt on Kim's stomach with her letting the little girl let out a sigh of contentment. Silence passed for a few seconds before the black haired girl spoke up again.
"I wuv you, Kim." Bells seemed to ring in Kim's ears as that sentence breached them. Her arms tightened slightly around the girl as a giant lump got stuck in her throat.
"Um… sleepy," Shego said, oblivious to the reaction her former sentence had caused.
"O-okay then. Why don't you take a nap up here. I'll get rid of the blue bear while you're sleeping," Kim told her, her words coming out kind of shaky.
"'Kay," Shego said as she rolled off Kim and snuggled into the bed. She was asleep in a minute. Rolling off the bed, Kim's mind was a jumble as she mindlessly took the bear and had it in her closet. She then stood there for a minute looking kinda lost as a million different thoughts raced through her head. Deciding to check up with Wade to see how progress was coming, she went to reach for the communicator in her pocket only to discover it missing.
Panicking for a minute, the teen hero searched in her mind for where she'd left it. Letting out a breath of air as she realized it was on the stand in Felix's room, she looked once at the little girl before she headed downstairs.