Kim happily sighed to herself as she landed in the hanger of the Canadian lair. Today was looking to be another solid day.

A few days ago they had a breakthrough. They finally got Drew to stand his ground in a push-comes-to-shove argument. True, it was a rather superficial debate on Space Passage, but it was something!

Things were looking pretty great!

Soon he would be fine. Once they got him through the mental blocks and such which she was certain they were close to breaking, changing him back physically would be a breeze. There were several scientists that owed her. Of course they could fix him.

Sure, nothing had happened until that breakthrough. And there was still work to be done. Him debating was the only thing that was different. He still did whatever anyone asked, and he still cringed and flinched whenever he thought he made someone upset with him.

But it would be easy! They got the ball rolling. She was certain in a few weeks he would be back to normal.

Kim had fallen behind. She just-.. Drew had to be better. Once he was better, she could start getting better. Catch up on her schoolwork and extracurriculars after the next couple of weeks would be no big. Learn some new martial arts, get some upgrades to her battlesuit. Figure out a few new tricks. She needed to catch up to Ron.

A flash of melancholy hit her as she thought back to the conversation the two of them had. He just didn't understand. How could he? This was all on her. He had already reached his potential. She had become complacent. It was her fault this all happened.

She had to make it better.

Kim made her way from the hanger down to the main living area. That was normally where she found Shego and Drew. It was big enough that if he had an outburst the two of them could dodge out of his way until he got himself back under control. They'd initially tried it in a more secure room. Kim could still remember the bruises from getting tossed into the wall. He hadn't meant to. Not at all. They just… It got too intense, and he panicked at the idea of Gemini walking in on them…

It had just been a small road bump. Nothing too bad. Soon they wouldn't need to even worry about it!

As expected, Shego was there, waiting for her. But to Kim's surprise-..

"Mom?" Kim stared, trying to understand why both her mothers were here. And… "Where's Drew?"

"Your dads are having a bit of a pow-wow," Shego said with a shrug of her shoulders.

A rush of apprehension flitted through her. "Is that even safe?! I mean, Drew doesn't have the best control, and-.."

"It's a risk," Anne agreed, "but we needed to have a talk with you that Drew simply couldn't handle, and your father volunteered to watch him."

Kim gaped. "What kind of talk would warrant something so dangerous? Dad isn't… If Drew loses control…"

"Things will work out fine," the older redhead said. She then motioned to the couch, a smaller dark green affair. "How about we sit down and start talking?"

"I…" Kim hesitated. This was very Not Normal. And talk? Again, she couldn't think of anything that would need such drastic action. If they thought it was important enough, though…

Obediently Kim walked over and sat on the couch, near the middle. Her mothers proceeded to sit on either side of her, almost like a pincer maneuver.

For some reason a shot of panic hit her. Whatever they wanted to talk about, it clearly wouldn't be pleasant. It lasted only a moment. They were her mothers. Whatever it was wouldn't be world-shattering. It was just important.

"Now then, Kimmie…" Shego shared a look with Anne, then started bluntly, "You haven't been going to class. Or doing world-saving stuff. Or anything. What's up?"

Kim blinked, confused. Wasn't it obvious? "I've been trying to help Drew."

"Ronald talked to me about your discussion," Anne said carefully. "About the helplessness."

A spark of offense along with a hint of betrayal ignited in Kim. Defensively Kim said, "It felt like a struggle. But we're making progress! He full-on argues now!"

Shego sighed, shoulders drooping for a moment before she straightened back up. Clearly frustrated, she asked, "Why have you put your entire life on hold? You need to focus on-.."

"I'm helping," Kim insisted. "Drew'll get better. He'll be back to normal in no time. Then it'll be a breeze catching up on everything. Really, it's no big."

The conversation so far was strange. They were acting like helping her dad wasn't important, or that it was impossible. Dedicating her time to helping him get back on his feet only made sense. Especially when they finally got the ball rolling! Everything after that would be easy.

"Cupcake, you're acting like this is easy," Shego said, apparently reading Kim's mind. "Do you even understand exactly how messed up Drew is? You have been paying attention to the therapy sessions we've been having, right?"

"Well, yeah… But we're close!" Kim's brows came together as she continued, "We had a breakthrough! Cracked the wall. We just have to, to keep going!"

"More like inconveniently chipped it," Shego snarked.

"Kimmie…" Anne looked at Kim sadly. "It's not that easy. Drew… He'll be sick for a long time."

"A really long time," Shego interjected. "We're talking years here, Pumpkin. And we're just talking about the mental stuff. Physically? He'll probably never be fully human again."

No.

No, they were wrong.

Drew would be fine! He just-.. It was just taking a while was all. It would just be a few more weeks! Just a little longer!

"Kimmie…" Shego put an arm around Kim's shoulders which, to the younger redhead's surprise, were shaking. "Even if… When… He recovers, he won't be normal. Not like how he was."

"You…" The word was wavering, almost not making it out of her mouth. She needed to tell them! They were wrong! Her dad would get better and it would all be better. They would all go back to their regular lives, with Drew embarrassing her at her competitions! As hard as she tried, though, her throat closed up, not letting her tell them the truth.

"He's sick, and he'll never be fully better again." Anne sounded so calm about this, almost like she didn't even care. Why did she lie to Kim just now? "He's scarred, physically and mentally. No matter how well we rehabilitate him, he'll still have problems."

"You're wrong!" she finally managed to cry out, trying and failing to shake Shego's arm off her shoulders. Her voice was thick, and tears were, for some reason, dripping from her eyes. "Drew will be fine! He'll get better. Things will be better. Things will be normal again, and we'll all be a family again, and-.. And-.."

"We're still a family," her redheaded mom said. "Just… Things won't be like how they were before. Not completely." Anne pulled Kim's hands into her own. "Things will get better. But not back to normal. Things can't be the same again."

A flash in Kim's mind, back to the weeks before the first breakthrough. The struggle of getting nowhere, of no scrap of hope beyond her own determination...

Something clicked.

Her mom was right. Both of her moms were right.

Drew wasn't going to get better. Not like how she was thinking, hoping.

A hitched sniffle escaped her lips.

Then she exploded.

She began to wail, tears bursting from her eyes and falling in large globs as she shrank into herself. Her hands pulled free of Anne's and curled tightly against her face. Gasping breaths tore through her as Kim tried to grasp onto a thought, any thought, to make the ache in her heart stop. Make the truth go away. Make her earlier thoughts real.

But she couldn't.

Her thoughts were jumbled, nonsensical. She didn't know how long she was like that, screaming her grief and practically losing her mind. Eventually she started coming back to her senses.

Snot dripped from her nose, joining the tears streaming down her face. If she had been more with it she would've been mortified. But she was far too consumed with grief to think beyond the truth.

Things would never be normal again.

Things would never be normal again.

The Drew that excitedly showing her his inventions. The dad that came to several of her meets and was the most embarrassing parent there. The man that planned out several vacations that they could take to make up for lost family time.

He might never come back. And if he did, it wouldn't be completely the same.

They had just started to-.. To be family. To be together like they should have been. Her excited dorky dad that showed how much he cared about her in overly energetic ways.

It was so good. It made her happy. They were all happy.

And now it was all gone. Ripped from their grasp all over again.

It hurt…

Her crying settled down some, mostly due to not having the energy to carry on. Belatedly she realized both of her mothers were hugging her, each offering a shoulder to cry into. Kim shoved her face into them, shuddering and trying to catch her breath as her tears soaked into their clothes.

"It's okay, Cupcake," Shego murmured. "I get how messed-up and horrible this all is… Trust me, I know it all too well. But…" she stroked Kim's head, her fingers tangling slightly "...at least we all still have each other. And Doc'll get better. Not all the way better, but to a different kind of normal."

"Shego's right," Anne said soothingly. "Drew will be better eventually…"

Yeah. They were right. Things would… They would get better. But…

"It's all my fault," Kim choked out before letting out a couple more body-wracking sobs.

"What?!" Shego recoiled and gave Kim the evil eye. "Okay, time out. How is any of this your fault?"

Kim leaned against Anne as she explained, "I-.. I should have been there, when Gemini showed up. I should've known Gemini had escaped. I…" She swallowed, her mouth sticking together from dryness. She finished lamely, "I just, I should've been better."

"Ugh… It's like me and Drew all over again…" Shego grumbled. She sat there, staring at Kim for a moment.

Then she smacked the back of Kim's head.

"Ouch!" The younger redhead rubbed at the spot where Shego had hit her. She then asked heatedly, "What was that for?!"

"Because you're being an idiot," Shego deadpanned. Kim opened her mouth to protest, but was cut off as Shego continued, "This entire thing? It's not on any of us. Not you, not me… Especially not Doc. Ohhhh no." Her nostrils flared as she snarled, "This is all Gemini's fault. That monster… Can't keep his psychoness in check."

Kim's eyes crinkled, tears threatening to start flowing again. "But-.."

"Bubble-butt…" Anne gently pulled Kim's face to look her in the eyes. "This isn't your fault." She cupped Kim's face. "Repeat after me: this isn't my fault."

Kim's mouth moved wordlessly a few times before she managed to squeak out, "This… Isn't my fault."

It felt like the Centurion project all over again. The lie…

"This isn't my fault," her redheaded mother repeated.

"This isn't my fault," Kim said, a little louder this time.

"With conviction, Kimmie! It's true!" Shego settled an arm on Kim's shoulder. "Do you really think we'd lie about something like this?"

A deep part of Kim did believe they could. ...but it didn't believe it now.

They were being honest. They had been honest, the entire time.

She just… The guilt was there. It wouldn't be shaken away just by saying that it wasn't her fault. Yet, somehow, it really was making her feel a bit better.

"It's not my fault," Kim said again, this time without Anne's coaxing. "I just…" She shook her head. "It's going to take some time."

"That's fine," the oldest woman soothed, stroking Kim's hair now. "No one's expecting things to be back to how they were with all of us. But we can get through it. As a family."

Yeah, that's right. They were a family. Not alone. It wasn't her fault, there was nothing different she could have done. They were all together, a team.

They could face it.

Together.

That thought brought her back to Ron and their discussion. Her attempt to avoid a meltdown around him. Her, pushing him away.

Kim still felt behind. Ron was better than her now. She really did have to get better, improve her skills. It had been a while since she'd put effort into improving on the fighting/world-saving front. And she had the nerve to accuse Ron of coasting in the years before…?

...it didn't warrant her reaction. She was… She lashed out at him. Didn't want to listen to the truth. He didn't deserve it.

They needed to talk again. And… And she had to be honest. About everything.

"I…" Kim bit her lip. "I just…"

"We all agree, helping Drew is important…" Shego scruffed Kim's hair. "But that doesn't mean you should wreck and derail your entire life for it!"

"Get back to your life, Bubble-Butt," her redheaded mother urged.

Kim sighed, a few loose tears streaming down her face. "I just… I want to help."

"You have," Shego reassured her. "But even Drew, as dopey as he is, has noticed how often you're over. Starting to connect dots. He won't admit it, but it's stressing him out some."

The heroine didn't want that. She didn't want that at all.

"Heck, even I plan on doing stuff outside of helping Drew!" the green woman pinched Kim's cheek. "Gotta get into college and show up my precious lil' Princess!"

"Agh!" Kim pulled away from her, rubbing at her now sore cheek.

"Anyway…" Anne patted her daughter's shoulder. "We all want you to start life back up. Go on missions. Do class work. Participate in student government." She gave Kim a big hug. "And make up with Ronald."

"Yeah…" Kim wiped away the last remaining tears. "I… Yeah. I will."

"Great! Good talk. Glad we broke through that wall of denial." Shego gave Kim a quick hug before hopping up from her seat. "Now, how 'bout we go check on the boys? Gotta admit, I'm pretty worried about that geezer of a husband of yours, Anne."

"James can handle himself," her other mother said, also getting up from the couch. "I'm just not sure what those two could've gotten up to while we were talking…"

"Probably something stupid, like board games," Shego said with a roll of her eyes.

"If they are, we can always join them," Kim noted as she tried and failed at a teasing tone.

"Very true!" Anne agreed enthusiastically.

"Ugh. You're both dorks." Shego carefully wiped a hand down her face. Sighing, she allowed, "Maybe if it's Cartel I'd be game. Doc's easy to beat in that, and his reactions are hilarious to watch."

"Well then…" Her redheaded mom began walking away, down the hallway that led to the lair's scheming room. "Let's go."

Kim swallowed as she automatically followed her mom, with Shego trailing behind. Drew wasn't stable most of the time. Add her other dad into it? It was just asking for trouble. What had her parents been thinking? Were they really that worried about her?

In almost no time they were just outside the villainous equivalent of a study. To Kim's worry, even from where they were she could hear the raised voice of Drew. Not quite to where she could hear what he was saying, but enough to tell he was angry.

Kim silently turned her head towards Shego, who had done the same to Kim. A moment passed before Shego gave a minute nod.

"Ya might wanna stand back, Anne…" Shego cautioned as she strode towards the door. "Sounds like Doc might be off his rocker."

Anne looked worried, but complied as she took a step back against the wall.

Kim sidled up to one side of the door, while Shego took post on the other side.

"Ready, Cupcake?" Shego murmured, her hand grabbing onto the handle.

"No worry. I'm just hoping my dad is okay," Kim replied.

Shego nodded, very slowly turning the handle. Then, almost as if they were one, they both rushed through the now-open door and took defensive positions.

"..-ling you, James, not everyone needs to be led around by the nose!" Drew stood over Kim's more normal father, snarling with wicked teeth and vines flailing in waves around him. He would've looked more terrifying if he hadn't been wearing an oversized dress, a turquoise affair that Drew begrudgingly accepted the week previous.

Yet even with the frightening intimidating man towering over him, James calmly sat in the leather chair positioned just so in front of a dead fireplace. The only sign that he was stressed at all was the pipe he was smoking.

Evenly James replied, "There is no such thing as 'subtext', Drew. There is no 'reading between the lines' on this. The captain and the science officer had nothing but friendship between them."

"You've always been so small-minded on these sorts of things. Not everything should be outright said," Drew insisted. "There's a tension between them, and you cannot tell me there was nothing in the mating ritual episode!"

"I-.." James' eye seemed to catch the two women in his periphery as he then turned to them and exclaimed, "Well hello there! Did everything get figured out?"

Drew also turned to look at them, albeit more nervously.

Kim blinked a couple of times before relaxing her stance, feeling almost silly with the pose she had taken. Shego had stealthily slid into one of her bored expressions, picking at her nails as if nothing was happening. The redhead couldn't help the flush of indignation at it. That sneaky…

Kim's thoughts were cut off when Shego said, "Yeah, I think we got everything figured out."

"For the most part…" The redhead looked at her biological father and swallowed. He… He was never going to be better. Not like how she was thinking. Tears bit at her eyes again, but she managed to squash it by suddenly taking interest in the fireplace. "I… I'm going to go back to school."

"That's a start," Drew lisped, nerves clear in his tone.

"It's fine, Drew. No one's upset at you," Shego said, rolling her eyes.

"I, erm…" Drew huffed a few times, then glowered at the floor.

"I didn't mean to make you guys worry," Kim said with scrunched eyes. "I just… Wanted to help."

"You're more important!" James and Drew said at once. They shared a look. James then laughed, while Drew crossed his arms and grumbled under his breath.

"Kimmie has something she needs to take care of," Anne said from behind Kim, almost making her jump. At Drew's questioning look, the older redhead supplied, "Ronald."

The mutated man stared. "...who?"

This time it was Kim who rolled her eyes. "My fiancé. The man I'm going to marry. The man…" Kim sighed "...that I was ferociously unfair to."

"He probably deserved it," Drew said both loudly and under his breath.

"Well?" Shego made a shooing motion at Kim. "You'd better hop to it."

The young redhead turned to leave, but was struck by a random thought. Turning back around, she asked, "What in the world are you four going to do now?"

A wicked smirk crossed Shego's face. "Oh, nothin' much. Just view a few of my memories. Like our dear little girl's first bath."

At the agreeing nods of the other three, Kim awkwardly muttered, "Ah."

It was so weird, but at least they all seemed happy about it.

"Okay. I'll see you guys later!" Kim forced more assurance into her voice than she felt as she walked out the door to head to the hanger.

Behind her she could hear Drew start, "Now James, we can get back to your atrocious understanding of storytelling…"

Eventually the sound of his voice faded. Kim stopped in the main living area and took a calming breath.

It… It wasn't fair. Everything. She was a good person, her family were, for the most part, good people… What had they done to deserve this? Life-destroying calamities, striking over and over. It wasn't right.

Drew didn't deserve this. Selfishly, Kim didn't deserve this. No one deserved this.

...but it was their reality. It would take a while, but eventually they would be able to scrape together some sense of normalcy from it all. Things would go back to a new normal.

She just hoped Ron could forgive her.

Kim sat, waiting in Ron's attic room for her fiancé to return. Where he was, she didn't know. Hopefully he wasn't doing anything rash like going on a crazy dangerous mission that would make him go all out with Spinning Tops of Doom and McHenry laser grids and-..

She cut her thoughts off. No. He wouldn't do that. If either of them would do that, it would be her. Trying to get lost in the rush to ignore things in her life that she didn't want to think about.

He was probably at Bueno Nacho. It would make sense. It was… Friday? She lost track of the days with the focus on helping her dad, but she was pretty sure it was Friday. Ron night. The night that was and had always been reserved for the two of them to hang out together.

Kim bit at her lip. She hadn't been around for the last few Ron nights either, with her obsessive focus on helping Drew recover. It was ferociously unfair of her to have done that to him. Then shut him out when he tried to help.

...no. Not just shut him out. Lash out at him, like it was somehow his fault.

She ran through the starting part of her apology for about the fifth time when she heard Rufus' excited chittering. Her heart skipped a beat. It was time. Time to face the music. Her mistakes. Hurting Ron.

"..-know, it's crazy awesome that they gave us extra, isn't it?" Ron's voice carried up to her from below. Then, with a few skipped steps he was in front of her, his back to her. To Kim's confusion he was in his Smarty Mart uniform. As expected in contrast he held a bag of Bueno Nacho in his hand.

"Mhm! Yum!" Rufus said, his little head nodding up and down. The naked mole rat skittered around on Ron's shoulder before apparently catching sight of Kim. He did a double-take, then nibbled at his claws. "Oh boy."

"Hm?" Ron caught on to his buddy's distress and said, head turning to where Rufus was staring at Kim, "What's got you worked u-.." He cut off the second he saw his fiancée. Nervously, a little flatly, he said, "Oh."

The speech she rehearsed in her head several times flew out the window when his warm brown eyes cooled at her. It was a sting, a deserved sting, to her heart.

Lamely she said, "Hi Ron."

He looked away. Then she looked away. Feet scuffed at the floor as they both seemed to struggle with what to say.

Finally Kim blurted, gaze again turning to stare at him, "Why are you wearing your Smarty Mart outfit?"

"What?" He looked down at himself, looking almost as surprised as her for a moment. "Oh! Right! Uhm, I picked up an extra shift tonight. 'cause, y'know, I didn't think…" The blond gestured between the two of them. "Kim night and all…"

"Right…" She turned her eyes away from him again, mind trying to scrabble onto the words that had been in her head mere moments ago.

There was only one sentence that she could remember.

"I'm sorry."

She took a quick glance at Ron. He was looking at her, surprise clear on his face. It prompted her to practically vomit out everything.

"I'm so sorry! I just-.. I was so worried and upset and needed to help Drew, and I was trying to ignore that he won't be the same, and I didn't want to think-.." Her throat closed up, and she was caught off guard by the fact that she was crying again.

She almost flinched when Ron was suddenly in her face, wrapping her into a tight hug. He began to soothingly rub her back, pulling her close enough to let her bury herself in his shoulder. She selfishly took it, rubbing hard into him with her face as she again began to cry out her grief. Her mouth tried to make words, but all that came out was muffled nonsense.

It was a good several minutes later - five, ten, Kim didn't know - that saw her finally calm down. The entire time Ron was uncomfortably crouched over, letting her hug him for all she was worth and wet up his uniform. Her Ron, great and weird and dependable…

"I don't deserve you," Kim mumbled into his neck.

"KP, are you kidding?!" Ron recoiled and nearly laughed. "You don't deserve me?! You do realize it's the other way, right?"

She shook her head. "No. It isn't." Her hands cupped his face. "You're far too good for me."

Ron's brow crinkled. "Kim…"

"I was trying to avoid the truth. That Drew… It won't, can't go back to how everything was. You tried to help me and I…" her head shook again "I took it out on you. You didn't deserve that. I am behind you. I do need to get better. But…" She sighed. "I'm wrong. With how I was acting. And I'm so, so sorry for it."

Ron was quiet for a moment.

"KP. I can't pretend the stuff you said didn't hurt. Some of it hurt. A lot." Kim winced, thinking on several of the things she'd said. "Like, it's stuff we're definitely gonna have to talk about. But…" he looked her clear in the eyes, the returned warmth making her heart quiver "...I forgive you. You're way beyond stressed, and are really obviously trying to do the overcompensating thing you tend to do."

"Overcompensating?" Kim said with a chuckle. "That's a bit of a five-dollar word."

"You like it? Totally been working on my armchair psychologist schtick." He hopped up and excitedly ran over to his desk. Proudly he picked up a book. To Kim's surprise, it was the same book she'd been reading back when she blew up on Ron. Shrugging, he said, "This is all really important to you. I want to help! So, I figured why not catch up on what you've been reading?"

Her throat tightened up, this time for a completely different reason. She choked out, "Ron…"

Then she hopped to her feet, closing the distance between them in the blink of an eye, and dipped him into the most intense kiss she had ever given him.

It was like fireworks. All the love and care and kindness and every last little wonderful emotion she had burst out in appreciation of her Ron. Her Ron. The Ron that always tried his best to make her happy, even when she made it practically impossible.

She caught a quick "Aww" from somewhere. It was probably Rufus, which was no big.

What felt like a forever later she pulled him back up. Flush with love and happiness, she murmured, "I love you."

He gave her his wonderful goofy smile and replied, "I love you too, KP!"

Relief rushed through her when she finally realized she hadn't completely screwed it up. Ron still loved her, neuroses and all, and was still her partner.

Partner. She'd been a terrible partner, in several meanings of the word. Her A-game was now more of a B-. It would take work, but she would get better.

They were together. Thick and thin, with now just being a big bump in their road. An unbeatable team. For forever and even after that.

A/N: Like I said in the previous chapter, this one and the previous one are heavily linked.

Don't forget that there's a tv tropes page for this to add to if you're bored. And don't forget about the Fannies!

This might be it for a while. Next chapter is gonna be a doozy for me. Going to try and balance comedy and drama. Wish me luck!