Chapter 6

Shego turned around to follow Kim's gaze towards Lynn's voice. Her blood went cold at the sight of the orange Glow surrounding her hands; cold, and then boiling hot. She let out an inarticulate scream of rage as her hands ignited with her green Glow. She rushed Lynn, who turned to flee in alarm.

"No! You won't get away with this, Lynn."

Shego lunged at Lynn, who dodged out of the way. She was more agile than Shego had expected, but then, she had made a living doing extreme stunts, and not all of them had been faked. Lynn bolted through the doorway and Shego ran after her.

The young woman was fast on her feet, but Shego caught up with her in the long workshop. She sent a bolt at Lynn with another angry yell. The woman turned at the sound and managed to dodge the bolt at the last moment. Lynn stretched her arms towards Shego, who tensed. She had no idea what the stolen power did.

The orange Glow left Lynn's right hand and flew towards Shego. It didn't fly as fast as Shego's bolts did, and she had no trouble dodging it. To her surprise the glowing sphere curved towards her. She managed to scramble out of the way again.

"Hah! Yes, dance for me Shego," Lynn said. "You're not the only one here with powers."

"You have no right to that Glow, thief," Shego said, as she moved to avoid the persistent missile. She noticed that only one of Lynn's hands was glowing.

"I don't get why you're so angry, Shego. It's not like it's your glow I stole."

"Yes it is. The Glow belongs to my family, and no-one else."

"You don't even like your freaky family. But have it your way."

Lynn sent another sphere after her. Shego noticed that the Glow actually left her hand completely to form the glowing missile. She didn't have time to observe much more, since all her concentration was required to dodge the two homing missiles. She wondered if they actually were homing, or if they were under Lynn's control.

"And why are you being so buddy-buddy with Kim frickin' Possible? I know that she sent you to prison, too. Why not join forces and get back at her right now?"

As if summoned, Kim burst through the doorway into the room. One of the spheres streaked towards her. She effortlessly dodged it and made a bee-line for Lynn. The sphere curved in the air towards Kim's back. Before Shego could warn her, the sphere struck.

The orange Glow impacted in the center of Kim's back and ricocheted harmlessly away, barely checking Kim's stride. Shego cursed herself for wasting time dodging the useless things. She should have realized Lynn would not know how to best use her powers a mere minute after getting them. She turned towards Lynn heedless of the other sphere, which hit her in the side.

It didn't bounce away. Shego screamed as pain exploded in her side, spreading around her body like her blood was on fire. The pain brought with it a certain clarity. Why was she fighting Lynn in the first place? She was right: she hated her brothers. Now there was somebody with a Glow she might get along with, someone who wouldn't self-righteously insist the Go Glow should only be used for good.

She remembered her lie about showing Lynn the ropes. She could actually do that. If the young woman was determined to embark on a life of crime, Shego could take her under her wing. The two of them could do great things together. She could tell Drakken to take a hike and form a partnership with Adrena. They could start right now, teaming up against Kim. There would never be a better time to get rid of her. Together they could end her, right now, and pin it on Jack Hench. He'd either go down for it, or do the cover-up for them.

Shego shook her head, angry at herself for even considering it. If Lynn had earned her Glow like she and her brothers had, in fire and pain and grief, maybe they could get along. But the useless coward had stolen it, looking for a leg-up for petty vengeance. Shego had told Kim the truth when she'd said she didn't want revenge for her prison stay. Tangling with crime-fighters like Kim and facing jail-time was an occupational hazard in her line of work. It wasn't personal, unlike Lynn disrespecting the worst day of Shego's life. Her anger boiled, this time directed at Lynn, and in a flash of green the pain left her.

For a moment, nobody in the room moved. Shego was lying on the floor, breathing hard. Kim was crouched at a workbench looking at Shego, concern plain on her face. Lynn stood at the end of the room and looked at both of them, nervous now. Abruptly she turned and ran. Shego wanted to go after her, but her limbs were strangely numb and she was panting like she'd run a marathon. Suddenly, and very inappropriately, it occurred to her that this was the second time in an hour she had felt this way.

"What are you doing standing around staring at me? I'm fine; go after her."

Kim gave her one last questioning glance, but turned to chase Lynn. Shego staggered to her feet. She wondered why the attack had affected her much more than Kim. Perhaps there was some interaction between their powers. That was certainly new. She took a step and, finding that her legs would carry her, started after Kim and Lynn.

Shego caught up with Kim in the entry corridor. Kim was fighting two of Hench's elite guards, big men dressed in body armor and dark visors and armed with stun batons. There was no sign of Adrena Lynn. With the way the operation had gone so far, Shego's reaction to the security detail ignoring Lynn in favor of engaging Kim was one of resignation.

As good as Kim was, she was having trouble with two opponents with superior reach. Shego wasted little time in moving to her aid, sending a green bolt in the face of one opponent and following through with a full-powered punch from her glowing fist. The punch cracked the henchman's armor and sent him staggering. Kim took advantage of the opportunity to drop him with a flying kick to the jaw. Shego switched targets to the remaining guard and destroyed his baton with one swipe from her clawed fingers. She finished with closed fists, one powered punch to the stomach and one to the jaw.

"Where's Lynn?" Shego said as the man was falling.

"I was just in time to see her exit through the door," Kim said, moving towards it. "I'm not sure why these idiots didn't stop her. Of course, they were more than happy to stop me, and I couldn't slip past them."

"Hench probably has standing orders regarding you. It's not surprising they'd prioritize you over a nobody."

They emerged from the door to find out the van was gone. They could hear the sound of an engine, receding fast. The man they'd left tied to a signpost was still there.

"Should have disabled the damn van," Shego said. Kim just grunted in response.

Shego looked at Kim. She could tell the redhead had questions, but didn't know how to ask them. That was all right, since Shego didn't know if she wanted to answer them. She wanted to blame Kim's interference for ruining things, but it probably would have gone the same way if she'd been here alone. She couldn't really blame anyone but herself. Herself, and Adrena Lynn, of course.

"I'm going to call the police," Kim said. "I don't think that Hench's people would do that."

"I hope you don't mind if I don't stick around," Shego said.

"You're okay with it?"

"I'm okay with anything that makes Jack's life harder."

"I'll stick around. I'm not sure what they'd do to the burglars if left alone," Kim said, nodding to the one they'd tied up.

"Okay. I, uh, I guess we'll see later."

"Yeah. Um, bye."

Shego walked away, feeling like she could have handled the parting more smoothly. She walked to the building she'd had her lookout in. It still didn't show any signs of life, despite the action nearby. She didn't have any critical equipment there, but she might as well collect it and not leave evidence of her presence behind. It was unlikely anyone would ever learn she'd been there, unless Kim told them, and she didn't think she would. She'd have to leave the cameras behind; with cops on the way it was too much of a risk to collect them. It wasn't a big loss. The cameras weren't that expensive, and were generic enough to not point towards her.

She made her way in through her accustomed route without any particular hurry. She closed the window and collected her gear, plus Kim's abandoned backpack. When she gathered the sleeping bag and stuffed it in the sleeve she couldn't help picturing the use they'd put it to not that long ago. It still smelled of that evocative combination of sweat and a muskier scent.

She wondered what she was going to do with Kim. She couldn't keep sleeping with the girl. It was obvious it would just encourage Kim, every repetition suggesting it might lead to something more. It might even, if they kept at it. The enemies with benefits thing sounded sexy as hell, but there was always a risk it would get complicated.

There was a reason Shego only did one-night stands and vacation flings. She couldn't afford romantic entanglements, so she took steps to avoid that happening. When she got lonely, or had an itch that needed scratching, she found someone attractive, but not too interesting, for some no-strings-attached fun, and then walked away.

The problem was that she couldn't really walk away from Kim. They would face each other again, and again. She thought she could keep things professional, but for all her skill Kim was still a hormonal teenager and didn't have the kind of discipline Shego had. She would likely keep flirting with her, more or less openly. If Shego was entirely honest with herself, which she rarely was, she wasn't sure she'd be able to resist the temptation indefinitely.

Relationship between them was clearly out of the question. She wasn't quite sure why Kim would even want to pursue such a thing. Apart from still being in the closet, Kim was a crime-fighting hero and she was a villain and quite happy with that. Any attempt at a romance between them could only end in tears, and possibly homicidal rage.

Shego felt annoyed with herself for even thinking about a relationship. Kim hadn't openly admitted what she wanted from Shego. She'd claimed she only wanted one night of hot lesbian sex. Asking for seconds wasn't unreasonable, but that was it. She'd given Kim what she'd wanted, they'd both enjoyed it and that was the end of the story. If the little minx asked for more, she'd just say no.

Shego walked up to the window to look at the situation at Hench's facility. One squad car had arrived, its lights cutting through the night. She was impressed by the response time. She fished her binoculars out of the bag and took a closer look at the scene. Kim was talking to an officer, looking calm and collected. With all her easy confidence and quiet authority it was very easy to forget how young Kim really was, and that this whole crime-fighting thing was just a hobby to her. She really was extraordinary.

Shego put the binoculars away again and risked a sweep with a flashlight to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything. She made her way out of the building and over to the parking lot. She couldn't see the entrance to the R&D building they'd used from over here, but judging by the number of colored lights reflected on the walls of nearby buildings, more units had arrived. She walked up to Kim's car and dropped the backpack next to the driver's side door. She concealed herself between bushes around the parking lot, not wanting to draw attention to herself with so much law enforcement personnel around, and sat down to wait.

Some ten minutes later Kim walked over to her car, alone. Shego had assumed the car would have some fancy alarm system, but Kim just walked over and opened the door. Conceivably the handle had some kind of biometric reader, or maybe she'd unlocked the car remotely when Shego wasn't looking. Surely it hadn't been unlocked all this time. Shego stood up, stretched her legs and walked up to knock on the window before Kim could drive away.

"Shego," Kim said after the window had rolled open. "I though you'd be gone by now."

"I figured you could give me a lift again," Shego said. She didn't wait for an answer, but rounded the car, got in, and stuffed her gear on the back seat.

"I'm not your chauffeur, Shego," Kim said, but pulled out of the parking lot anyway.

"You seemed happy enough to drive me around on Friday night, Kimmie. But don't expect a ride for a ride this time."

"We'll see," Kim said, giving Shego a teasing smile. "What about your car? Are you going to just leave it there?"

"Eh, somebody will notice it's stolen and it'll get returned to the owner," Shego said, guessing at the source of Kim's concern. "Don't worry about it." Kim didn't answer.

"You do realize I'm headed straight for Middleton, right?" Kim said.

"Works for me," Shego said as casually as she could. It had occurred to her that if Lynn really was after revenge on Kim, sticking close to her would give her the best chance for a rematch.

They both fell silent for a while. Outside the car the dimly lit streets of Upperton passed by as Kim made her way out of the city. Shego was unavoidably reminded of their last shared trip.

"What was that thing back there?" Kim said. "Was that what it looked like? Lynn got powers like yours."

"Cheap imitation stolen power," Shego said. "At least it seemed pretty useless. Did it even do anything to you?" She carefully neglected to mention its effect on her.

"Not much. There was a slight impact, a little like your power, only nowhere as strong."

"I suppose she might not have known how to use it," Shego said.

"Maybe. I seem to recall I figured out Hego's power pretty quick," Kim said.

Shego had almost forgotten that this wasn't the first time somebody other than her family had used the Glow. Shego looked at Kim from the corner of her eye. She had been standing next to Lynn when the device exploded, why couldn't she have been the one to end with the power? The thought of going against Kim with a Glow of her own was exhilarating. As long as it wasn't Hego's. A power so unfair on someone as skilled as Kim was more than Shego ever wanted to face.

"Shego, what was that device? Have they found a way to synthesize your glow?"

"No," Shego said. She didn't really want to explain it, but she knew how persistent Kim could be, and the cat was out of the bag anyway. "Hench's people found a glowing piece of a meteorite somewhere. Apparently they concluded it was a piece that broke off before the rest of it crashed into our yard."

"It seems like they were right."

"Yeah. Anyway. They thought it, too, could maybe give somebody superpowers, but, well, the only instance where that was known to happen wasn't exactly well-documented. So they could blow it up and hope for the best, but they wouldn't get a second chance."

"How did they even know that much?"

"Hego likes to give that 'destiny knocked hard' speech. It's no wonder somebody put two and two together. Anyway, Jack's a business man. He wanted to know if the piece could be used to give powers in a more controlled and—more importantly—repeatable manner. That gun device was used just for that."

"How's that work?"

"From what I heard, they bombard the meteorite with radiation and then focus the resulting energy release on a target. They get powers, but only temporarily. My intel on that is a little old, but apparently it only lasted a few minutes and they never really figured out what it does."

"So Lynn might have lost the power already?"

Shego closed her eyes with a pained expression. "I blew up the gun and the fragment inside in her face. That flash was... very much like what I remember. I think she has the powers for good." She'd made a bad mistake, and she should have known it beforehand.

"I'm sorry," Kim said.

"What? Why?"

"If I hadn't been there as a distraction, maybe..." Shego cut her off.

"I'd have done the same damn thing. I just wanted to get rid of it, I didn't stop to think what blasting it with my power might do. It's not your fault. Believe me, if I though it was, we wouldn't be talking."

"Okay." Kim said and, after a pause, asked, "How did you learn about this? How did Lynn learn about this?"

"From the same source. The facility came under scrutiny earlier, and Hench threw some of his people to the wolves to protect his image. One of them was a lab technician who ended up in the state prison with me and Lynn."

"Wait, when was this? If the place was compromised, why is it still there? Why was that device still there?"

"Jackie-boy can be pretty arrogant. He probably figured his lawyers would keep the law away. And relocating that whole thing wouldn't have been cheap. Anyway, Lynn and the nerd girl were an item, and..."

"Huh," Kim said. "I never figured Lynn was gay."

"Are you serious?" Shego turned to stare at Kim. "It never occurred to you that the short-haired extreme stunts tomboy might be a lesbian."

"You're stereotyping again. Hair aside, by that logic I'm a... uh, never mind."

"You know what? Fine; maybe she's not gay," Shego said. "Maybe it was just a prison thing. That happens, you know." Shego paused to wait for the inevitable question.

"Uh, have you ever..."

"No. I've never been inside for all that long," Shego said. "Or maybe she was just leading her on to get info out of her. The point is, she told Lynn everything about the device and the facility."

"Okay. How did you learn about it?"

"Apparently, when Lynn got paroled, she just dropped her like a sack of potatoes. I guess the little nerd had gotten a little attached and didn't take it too well. She complained about it, pretty loudly. Nobody really cared, until I overheard the bit about the Go Comet. Then I got the rest of it out of her. And no, I didn't sleep with her for it."

"I didn't think you did. You didn't beat her up, did you?"

"No. I didn't want to end up in solitary just when I very much wanted to escape, and I didn't need to. She was only too happy to vent. Most of it was boring stuff about her feelings, but I've gotten pretty good at tuning out pointless rants, working for Dr. D."

"That's cruel, Shego."

"I'm a mercenary, Kimmie, not a therapist."

"You know, I really don't get how Lynn is out on parole already," Kim said, switching topics. "She kidnapped a guy and almost killed her. You'd think that would get her twenty years rather than two."

"It probably helped she was a pretty white celebrity. I'm surprised she didn't get away with community service. Probably would have, too, if the case didn't involve a pretty white celebrity on the other side."

"Who are you talking about?" Kim said. Shego just gave her a flat stare.

"Wait, I'm not..."

"Which one of them are you going to refute, Princess? I'm curious."

"You think I'm pretty?" Kim said after a little pause.

"Of course you'd focus on that one." Shego rolled her eyes. "Look, we both know you're pretty, just like we both know I'm gorgeous."

"Yes, you are." Kim gave her a pretty successful roguish grin.

"How long till Middleton?" Shego could see the road signs just as well as Kim, but she wanted to distract her from this topic.

"A few minutes. Is there somewhere specific you want me to drop you at?"

"Aw, you're not taking me home?" Shego cursed inwardly. Hadn't she just tried to steer the conversation away from this?

"I don't think my parents would be too thrilled if I brought an escaped convict home." She was quiet for a moment. "I got into enough trouble over our... you know, the other night."

"Our sordid affair? I didn't think you'd tell your parents about it."

"I didn't, but Mom somehow figured out I had been sneaking out rather than on a real mission."

Shego wasn't surprised: like so many other teenagers, Kim seemed to overestimate her ability to hide things from adults, though she had to admit that before last weekend she hadn't even suspected the girl was crushing on her.

"I'm kind of semi-grounded at the moment. I only got out today when Wade vouched that I was really heading out on a mission rather than..." Kim glanced at Shego before continuing, "rather than to sleep with someone I shouldn't."

Shego laughed. "I'm so proud of you, Kimmie. We'll make a bad girl out of you yet."

Shego had a sudden vision of her and Kim taking on the world together. It was rather appealing. She'd always viewed Kim as a hopeless do-gooder, but given how readily she'd compromised her morals over the past couple of days, perhaps she wasn't incorruptible.

"So not happening, Shego." Kim's cheeks were tinted red. Shego had to wonder whether it was embarrassment or excitement.

"Well, never mind. There's a hostel I know I can get a bunk in."

"You stay in Middleton often?"

"More often than you might expect. It feels like half of Dr. D's plans seem to involve Middleton."

"Oh. Um, maybe look me up sometime if you're in the area?"

"Kimmie, if I am, it's because I'm on a mission you are trying to stop. You do understand conflict of interest, right? And I thought we both understood this was a one-time deal."

"Today makes two."

"And that's where it's going to stay. You can leave me off here."

Kim pulled to the side of the street and stopped the car. Shego reached behind her to retrieve her gear.

"You know, I've always wondered how a wanted criminal like you can move around so freely," Kim said.

"Kimmie, I work for a madman bent on taking over the world and I have superpowers. I'm a sexy, larger than life villainess with a very distinctive costume. People just don't expect me to stroll down a street in civvies. Even if they recognize me, nobody ever believes it's really me and not somebody that kind of looks like me."

"Really?"

"Really."

Shego was in the process of opening the passenger side door when Kim placed a hand on her arm. She froze at the contact. Though she was turned away from Kim, she did her best to keep her expression neutral. It was just a light contact, but she could distinctly feel the outline of Kim's hand, of individual fingers pressing against her arm, even through two layers of clothing. It was as if she was hypersensitive to Kim's touch and her touch alone. Goosebumps spread along her arm.

"Yes, Kim?" she asked, her voice carefully level.

"I... I just wanted to thank you. You know, for working with me tonight. I know you felt like I was intruding."

"It's okay. It made sense," Shego said. Finally Kim drew back her hand, but the sensation lingered. "Maybe we'll see each other again. I still want a piece of Lynn."

"Yeah, okay. Um. Goodnight, Shego."

"Goodnight, Kim," Shego said and slipped out of the car. She shouldered her burdens and started walking away, carefully not looking back. Her heart was beating too fast. She had time to walk two dozen paces before she heard Kim pull away. She could still feel a ghostly touch on her arm.

No, it was not possible. She had never had a romantic thought about the young hero in the two years she'd known her. Before last weekend, the very idea that there could be anything at all between them hadn't even occurred to her. Sure, the teen was cute, but she was so young, not to mention distinctly one of the good guys.

There was no way in hell she could be falling for Kim Possible.