Two chapters in as many weeks, good times. Goood times. If you're enjoying it, let me know.

Also, if you're not opposed to Drakkim, Neo the Saiyan angel has written a badass interpretation of what Drakken was freaking out about in the last chapter. Check it out!

Anyways, one with the show ...

The GPS says that the trip to Ron's co-ordinates will take all of thirteen minutes. From what he remembers, that sounds about right.

Ron's stomach twists with the first few moments of the flight. It might be the most violent case of airsickness that he's had in several years. It's only when he looks over at Shego that it begins to abate. Since they've been flying, Shego's maniacal laughter has given way to a quieter contentment. Seated behind the control column, she looks assured and at peace with velocity they're traveling at. It hits Ron all at once. They aren't going to crash. Shego won't allow it. She might actually just be too stubborn. Ron finds himself loosening the death grip he's had on his seat without really meaning to.

But then, after a while – roughly four minutes – Shego's patience begins to wane. She prods him and begins to speculate about where they're going. She makes increasingly outlandish guesses about their final destination. One of her theories is close to the mark; several of them might not even physically possible. Ron hadn't known Shego could be so goofy.

Near the end of their journey – twelve minutes in – a river swings into view. Ron gnaws at the inside of his lip. He surreptitiously peers over at Shego, attempting to gauge her reaction. The river, a great roaring beast, has caught her attention. Her mouth is upturned at the edges, there's a glimmer of interest in her eyes. Ron exhales loudly, crumbling into his seat with great relief.

The place he's brought her to - Eldorado Canyon – has always been important to Ron. To date, it's the last place to host a Stoppable family vacation.

If he's honest with himself, Ron knows Eldorado Canyon will likely never surrender that particular accolade either. Empires will crumble before the Stoppable family finds enough time for another family vacation. Although he's made peace with his mom and dad's somewhat blasé style of parenting, Ron can't help himself. He dwells on his parents' inability to pull themselves away from work for his sake. Ron reflects on his parents and broods a little.

Shego lands her hovercraft with mechanical efficiency. The slight jolt when they land is enough to knock Ron out of his thoughts.

The canyon is huge. The cliffs surrounding Shego and himself are tall, dwarfing the outcropping of trees at their base. Their tops are jagged, just as Ron remembers. The river stampedes into the darkness. It's wide, just as Ron remembers, but less fierce sounding. Maybe he's just gotten older and more disaffected. Still, Ron's skin prickles with gooseflesh. It's been seven years since he's been here, but nothing much has changed. Eldorado is just a shard of land frozen in time. It's both reassuring and the slightest bit disconcerting. Ron takes a deep breath and looks over to Shego. Her green eyes are running over the scenery around them. Her expression is impassive, if uncharacteristically serene.

"So …" Shego leaves the word to hang in the air, arcing her eyebrows expectantly.

"So … uh, this is the place." Ron traces his eyes first over Shego, then over the wilderness that's everywhere. He means to sound exuberant, but ends up sounding more insecure than anything. "This is – I mean, c'mon this place is pretty great, isn't it? Like, I don't think there's a person within ten miles of us. No stupid frat parties, no obnoxious clubs. It's uh … I was hoping it'd be something you'd like."

Ron pins a hopeful smile to his face and upturns his palms. He sweeps his left hand over the river and then the cliffs. Shego follows his hand, green eyes as inscrutable as ever. From the safety of the city, bringing Shego here had seemed like such a good idea. It hadn't been real then. But now, sitting in Shego's hovercraft, it's real - too real. There isn't anything here for a worldly woman like Shego. It's just a relic from his childhood, overflowing with sentiment and -

"Yeah, it's okay." Shego admits, scything through Ron's internal freak out with blithe indifference. She glances over at Ron again, but this time her eyes are brighter. Her lips curve into an understated half smile and all the thoughts and feelings and paranoia inside of him grind to a halt. "You did good, sport."

Ron grins back at her like an idiot. The wild panic that had worked its way through him calms once more. It doesn't feel like somebody has let off the fourth of July inside of his veins. To Ron's relief, it feels like there is actual blood, white platelets and hemoglobin coursing through him. His mind clears enough to realize that - Moses and Jesus and Buda, Stoppable, calm down. It's fine. Shego's fine. You're fine.

"So, Stoppable … aside from chatting and you – uh, doing whatever that was." Shego casts her eyes over him again, making a vague gesture with her hand. Ron supposes that it's meant to convey the way he'd once again gotten all caught up in his thoughts. It shakes a small laugh out of him.

"Seriously Ron, what are we doing out here?" Shego rolls her eyes and punctuates her question with a soft exhale. Ron grins a little bit at the casual way that she's tossing his first name around. That she's able to do it once in a while, it's a step – another one – in their friendship.

"Uh." Ron grunts, still sort of strung up in his thoughts.

Ron scrapes his fingers through his hair. He pushes himself upright and purses his lips. Under the moon's pale gaze, he's forced to acknowledge his lack of a plan. At Guerrero's Last Stand, he'd been too anxious to bask in his triumph at having coming up with a destination. He'd just launched into convincing Shego that flying them to Eldorado – well, a set of co-ordinates to her at that time – would be a good idea. Now that they're here, well … it's dark and the water is just hypothermia waiting to happen. At least the stars are pretty, Ron guesses. Somehow, he thinks Shego will be less than amused.

"Well, that's the thing…" Ron mumbles, after what feels like centuries, but is probably only seconds.

"You haven't planned out anything, have you?" Shego deadpans. Her voice is flat; her eyes sardonic and half lidded. She's sort of belittling him, but Ron finds himself battling a smile. This banter – he's seen it between Shego and Drew before. He's felt it between Kim and himself.

Ron clears his throat. He dusts off an impression that's mostly been gathering dust since the Lorwardian invasion. "Shego, I'll have you know that I have a plan. A master plan. A masterfully insidious plan. A plan so complete in the way I have planned it that –"

Shego laughs. Actually, she just about explodes with laughter. Shego is the kind of person that never explodes with laughter. It startles Ron enough to look over at Shego, eyebrows raised. With her laughing like this, he's acutely aware of how pretty Shego is when she isn't darkly amused or relishing in her own malice.

"Buffoon." There's warmth in Shego's voice as she addresses Ron. It doesn't hit him like a blow to the gut as it used to. "I suppose I'll have to come up with something then."

Agreeable to her bailing him out, Ron nods and waits.

And waits.

"Man, I guess there is …" Shego trails off, whipping her head from left to right as she scans the area.

There's another long pause after that. Shego blinks slowly, an edge of frustration creeping into her expression. Ron swallows and hopes it's only annoyance at her present inability to out-think a buffoon. Shego grinds her teeth together and Ron attempts to force his brain into gear. If he comes up with something first, she'll probably grace him with mercy.

Alas …

Shego looks out into the night, seeming to spot something. A slow grin spreads across her lips, all white teeth and gleaming with intent. Ron blinks slow and steady, tilting his head and attempting to follow Shego's line of vision. He scans the terrain, the trees, the river; wondering what has inspired Shego.

"I don't feel like climbing those shaky looking cliffs or any trees. I suppose then … how about a midnight swim, Stoppable?" She suggests, eyes dancing like fire.

"It's – It's – Shego, it's January. Are you trying to kill me?" Ron cries with what he'd like to think is incredulity. More likely, he just sounds panicked.

Shego doesn't cave, but the viciousness in her smile fades. Her eyebrows furrow and her eyes stalk away from him for a stolen second. Wincing, Ron realizes that his choice of words could have been better. He hadn't intended to toss Shego's past back in her face, but it's what he's done. Ron opens and closes his mouth several times, attempting to force something reassuring past his lips. His tongue's too heavy though. Shego is the first to speak.

"Oh, so you don't trust me?" Shego smirks, seeming to recover. She arcs her eyebrow, just as she should. Her voice carries a tone of mocking, just as it should. Even still, guilt festers unabated in the pit of Ron's stomach.

"I … Shego, I'm going to trust you – I'm going to show you that I trust you. Lets go swimming." Fueled by his lingering guilt, Ron makes a quick leap to his feet. Before his lack of co-ordination can catch up, Ron hurdles over the side of the hovercraft. The ground comes up on him quickly, but he sticks the landing.

For once managing to look sort of cool, Ron turns on his heel to peer up at Shego. "Lets go swimming." He affirms, with barely a tremor in his voice.

Shego leans forward suddenly, hanging over the side of the hovercraft. Without a word, she vaults off the side, seeming to float toward Ron on the wind. Mouth all turned up in a smirk, Shego brushes past Ron and then lightly steps toward the river. "It won't be as bad as you're expecting." She says, without looking back.

"Um. Shego?"

"Yes Ron, what is it now?" Shego asks. Her voice is surprisingly amiable; a half note higher than Ron's used to. She takes a few more steps and then finally stops to regard Ron from over her shoulder. Again, her teeth glint a predatory white under the moonlight. Ron finds that his intended question gets all jumbled up amidst his climbing heartbeat.

"I don't … er, we don't have anything to swim in." Ron, ever articulate, manages to cough up.

"Speak for yourself, Stoppable." Shego drawls. She turns away from the river and back toward Ron. Without preamble, she lifts her hand and pushes it past the hemline of her shirt. Ron swallows hard as Shego tugs her bra strap into view.

The implication hits Ron like a blow to the gut. His mouth goes dry and his tongue sits paralyzed at the bottom of his mouth. Armed to the teeth with charm and table manners and innuendos, Shego's blindsided him tonight. Ron steps forward. It's mostly so that he has time to think, but also so that he doesn't have to yell his response to Shego. Trudging forward, Ron reminds himself that Shego isn't just an emerald nightmare brought to life anymore. She's the same person he's been picking up from clubs for months. She's somebody that he's been building a rapport with during that time. She's here because she actually wants to hang out together. She's lithe and gorgeous, but that isn't any reason to freak out.

Ron sucks in a deep breath and tries not to think about his Fearless Ferret boxers. "Alrighty. PG-13 underwear inclusive skinny dipping it is." He chirps, swinging his arm into an enthusiastic thumbs-up.

Shego laughs appreciatively at Ron's turn around in attitude. "That's the spirit." She retorts with false brightness, broadcasting a grin toward Ron that straddles insincerity and genuine amusement.

Somewhat on the same page again, Ron and Shego continue toward the outcropping of rocks at the edge of the river.

The river is pitch black and roiling. It's uninviting and stands stark against Ron's washed out memories. He tries really hard to remember whether or not the current had been so strong last time. It doesn't work out so well though. All he can really remember is laughing and splashing around with his parents. He guesses he should feel frustrated, but really, it just conjures a warm feeling in his chest.

When their feet are the ends of their respective rocks, Ron looks over at Shego. Her glittering eyes are focused on the river, just as Ron's had been. He casts a final, weary gaze at the river.

Then there's the sound of clothes rustling.

From the corner of his eye, Ron sees Shego's letterman jacket flutter to the ground. All of his thoughts grind to a halt and his jaw swings open. His heart thuds against his ribs like thunder. Cheeks bruised a deep purple, Ron bends to one knee and begins to untie his shoelaces. It's easier to be a gentleman this way.

"Alright, I'm jumping in first. Count to ten and then get in as well." Shego says, a lilt of amusement in her tone.

At the sound of her voice, Ron finds his eyes leaving his shoes to focus on Shego. Though the moon's disappeared behind a smattering of clouds, the shape of her body is unnervingly clear against the night. Ron's eyes go wide and he inhales sharply. Shego's smirk broadens. Despite his best attempts to watch an outcropping of rocks, Shego is inescapable. Ron is acutely aware of the gentle slope of Shego's hips and the curvature of her chest. Her raven hair dances in the wind, captivating him. Ron almost laughs at the situation he's found himself in. It's absurd, really, that he is feeling things for Shego.

Laughing – probably at the dopey look on Ron's face – Shego sweeps forward. Dazed, Ron watches her move toward the river. Absently, he yanks his shirt over his head and shimmies out of his jeans. His attention is solely on Shego and it feels like electricity is crackling in the air. From a distance, Ron watches as Shego squares her shoulders and lines up her dive.

Then she leaps. It can only be described as flawless, the way Shego hurls herself into the river. The image Ron's just seen – Shego in her underwear – rapidly tattoos itself against the insides of his eyelids. He feels as though his heart is going to burst. Stunned and rooted to the spot, Ron peers out at the churning water. He glances down at himself, guessing that he's as ready as he'll ever be. Forging toward the river, Ron counts with every step. In no time, he's at the edge of the water, perched on the same rock Shego had taken off from. Looking down, Ron can see a dim green glow in the water. Shego, he realizes, as the glow charges toward the surface.

"Yo Stoppable, come in. The water is fine." Shego exclaims with enthusiasm. She seems to be unaffected by the water's chill from the moment she breaks through the water.

Nodding at Shego, Ron flushes and shuffles his feet into a diving position. He squirms as Shego's eyes remain on him, as if appraising his form. Her thick eyebrows are languid above her bright eyes, her dark hair splayed across her cheekbones. She doesn't appear to be in the throes of hypothermia. Mostly she just looks amused at Ron's hesitation.

"I'm – Okay. Yeah, I'm coming." Ron says, satisfied that he'll probably survive the dive. Sucking in a few quick breaths, he charges toward the water and Shego.

"Yeah, I'll bet you are." Shego says provocatively, just as Ron's launching himself into a dive.

Fantastic.

Flustered as ever by Shego's innuendos, Ron loses his concentration. His left foot clips his right and then he's stumbling. He takes long, clumsy strides, scrambling to try and launch himself past the rocky outcropping. This situation would be embarrassing if Ron hadn't come to terms with his total lack of co-ordination over the course of his adolescence. As it is, Ron is just glad he makes it past the shore. He spirals toward the roiling water below with dispassionate frustration. Shego's laughter is the score to this, his latest disaster. At least he made it off the ship without incident.

The plunge itself is not so bad. It's short and painless, after that it's cold and very dark. The depths nip at Ron's fingers and toes, but a paralyzing jolt of cold doesn't rip through his organs. Something is wrong – the water should be much colder. His body should be in the throes of shock right now. Baffled, Ron straightens his limbs and begins to swim.

He abruptly crashes through the surface of the river several strokes later. The water is warmer than he'd expected, but Ron still feels fire in his lungs. He takes a moment to gather his bearings, peering toward the shore. There's a hovercraft and a raggedy band of trees either side of it, the spot where they'd landed. Which means ...

Shego is behind him.

Shego is behind him. The first thing Ron feels is Shego's hands as she clasps his fairly underwhelming shoulder muscles. Her fingers drum his skin and a tendril of fear coils around Ron's throat. Shego slides closer, and that tendril becomes a noose. With a strangled yelp and a wave of water, Ron jerks away. He pirouettes in the water, turning to face Shego.

"So … it's not as cold as I was expecting." Ron mumbles, shuffling the conversation along and stumbling back into realization. His teeth should probably be chattering right now; he wonders why they aren't. He looks at Shego and he wonders some more. Shego regards his furrowed brow with the kind of vague amusement he's come to expect. "Um … so, the temperature. You wouldn't happen to …"

"Geez, what are you – a Labradoodle or some shit?" Shego asks, loudly cutting Ron off. She looks annoyed at first, but then faintly apologetic.

"Uh …"

"My body temperature is high, the comet powers, I can control it a bit. Whatever. It makes it easy to heat things if I have to. I'm a human pool heater, whoopee." Shego states in a clipped tone. Her voice seems to make a dull slap against the water. Her expression projects boredom, but Ron can't help but wonder if she's smothering insecurity. Being able to heat icy waters is a fairly unusual power, after all.

Shego seems to take Ron's silence as confusion.

"Look." Shego's eyes flit down. There's a ripple in the water, then a putrid green glow. Ron blinks down at the orb engulfing Shego's hand. It seems to dance beneath the surface, pushed by the constant ebb of the water. The area around it immediately begins to heat up. It confirms to Ron that Shego is the reason for the water being so unseasonably warm.

Exhaling softly, Shego lets the glow fade. She leans back and lets the current take her. With her raven hair is fanned out over the water, Shego looks otherworldly as she floats past.

The decision to follow her is an easy one. Maybe it always has been. Ron meticulously rearranges himself so that he's floating on his back. Shego had made it look so easy. Ron knows that he'll sink like a stone if he isn't vigilant. They drift aimlessly for a while, the hovercraft becoming further and further away.

It's pleasant and in the silence, Ron gets all caught up in his thoughts again. He knows a little about absolute power, but not much. He hadn't coped well with loose morals and a massive intellect. Ron tells himself that he'd throw himself into doing good for the world and that he'd just be a more powerful ally to Kim. Only he isn't sure how deeply those convictions run. Maybe he'd just end up another sad story; the kind of sad story that makes up a part of Shego's life. Turning his eyes to Shego, Ron wonders how she copes with the constant buzz of power these days. There aren't any more conquests with Drew to drown it out. Out here, there isn't really anything to drown it out.

After a while, the gentle notion becomes an insistent one. Ron breaks the silence. "Hey Shego …"

"Yeah?" Shego looks over at him, some matted hair splayed across her cheek. For the moment, with the city's roar forgotten, there is peace in Shego's eyes. Her voice is a notch quieter than usual as well.

"You'd really rather be doing this than dancing at a club?"

Shego sighs, allowing her head to fall back against the surface of the river. Moving with the water, rather than struggling as Ron is, she looks up at the sky. Finding whatever she'd been looking for, Shego gracefully submerges her feet and turns to face him. She's treading water again, barely displacing the surface. Ron eventually thrashes his way in a similar position.

"Yeah. It's – Yeah, I like it here." Shego says, a light smile edging across her lips. The jolt centered on Ron's heart tells him that she means it. He feels dizzy and melodramatic, like somebody has taken his heartstrings and pulled them taut.

Ron's mind whirrs, attempting to compile just the right series of words. Whatever he's planning to say, brilliant or otherwise, never has the chance to jump off his tongue and into existence.

"And you?" Shego prompts, waving her hand. The machinations inside of Ron's head grind to an abrupt halt. "You'd really rather be here, doing this? Shouldn't you be at a frat house or something?"

It's easy to speak this time. The words are pouring through Ron's lips before he's even really processed the question.

"Parties on campus tend to suck." He admits, paddling deliberately. "It's mostly just … like, people vomiting on themselves or trying to hook up. The free beer is cool and all, but it isn't really worth the hassle, y'know?"

Shego makes a vague noise that sounds like agreement. She doesn't bother to fight the smile pinching the corner of her mouth. Ron's caught between feeling happy and out of habit, unnerved that Shego is reciprocating. That little voice though, the one telling him to run, is growing more distant.

"Kind of like the clubs, I suppose." She muses, lightly shaking her head. "Now that I think about it, I think that's why this place is okay. It's isolated, no morons bumping into me or saying stupid things." Shego gnaws at her bottom lip, pausing. "People make me angry." She concludes.

Shego's face is twisted with irritation, but she seems to want Ron to laugh. He obliges her with a chuckle. He wonders whether Shego's recalling a specific memory of somebody that's wronged her. Maybe it's a patchwork or things. He doesn't press her for an answer and she doesn't give one.

As Shego's glow is the only thing keeping the water warm, Ron finds himself tethered to her. He doesn't mind though. They're both content to putter around the part of the river they've claimed as their own. Sometimes Shego circles around Ron like an apathetic shark, cycling through a different swimming stroke with each rotation. The dulcet tones of nature lower Ron's defenses and as Shego innocuously swims around him, he shuts his eyes.

After an inordinate amount of time, the vaguely rhythmic sound of Shego's swimming slows and then stops. Wrapped in bliss and tranquility, it doesn't immediately occur to Ron that this could be a bad thing.

By the time it does, it's too late to move.

Shego's fingers dot down on Ron's shoulders. Her touch is gentle. Her smile is bright and disarming under the moonlight. Ron's heartbeat quickens, though it isn't precisely from fear. It's closer to a sense of anticipation – nervous fluttering in his chest. The feeling is difficult to describe, not quite like he's experienced with Kim or any other girl, though not entirely unpleasant either. Ron's working his way to an answer when Shego strikes.

All of a sudden, Shego's expression turns vicious and her eyes don't seem so bright. Her nails tighten and she slams her arms down. Everything goes dark for Ron as the river swallows him. Water floods his airway as he fights to shake himself free of Shego's grip. This whole night and the months leading up to it – had Shego been leading him to the slaughter this entire time?

In a word, no.

Shego's hands retract almost as suddenly as they'd forced him underwater. It had been a joke. Beneath the surface, where it's pitch black, the realization is stark. Ron's expression turns to stone as he kicks toward the surface. He breaks through the surface of the river with a leaden feeling in his chest and brushes sodden hair away from his eyes. Shego's head is thrown back, laughter flying through her lips and catching on the breeze. The leaden feeling in Ron's chest becomes something more akin to an anchor, threatening to sink him all over. He knows that he wouldn't have been so panicked if it had been Kim dunking him under the water.

"Couldn't resist." Shego drawls, lips curving into a roguish smile. "I'm sorry … sort of."

Ron shakes his head, making to physically throw of his misgivings about Shego. He can't just keep doing this. He won't be responsible for ruining whatever fragile peace Shego has found here.

"Oh yeah. Super sorry, I'm sure." Ron says, coaxing sarcasm into his tone. In the rare instances that he's been brave enough, Shego's enjoyed trading barbs with him. Shego flexes her lips, gliding forward again. Her gentle movements rip the self-satisfaction from Ron's lips.

"If you're not convinced …" Shego says, a silkiness in her voice that Ron has rarely heard. He gets the impression that she's being less than sincere. Whatever point she's rounding her way towards, it probably isn't anything benevolent. Nevertheless, held captive by her gaze, Ron remains still. He treads water, remaining in place. The distance between Shego and himself vanishes as she pushes forward. There slight is a dusting of freckles across Shego's cheekbones. Ron hadn't known this before, but he does now because she is so near. His pulse races as her soft lips part and -

"If you're not convinced, you can try and get me back."

Shego pulls back her hands and whips them along the surface of the river. The ensuing spray of water jets toward Ron's face, momentarily blinding him. By the time he's regained his vision, the water is beginning to cool. Blinking incredulously, Ron watches as Shego swiftly paddles away. He can't see, but Ron guesses that her lips are all caught up in a mad grin.

The decision to follow her is an easy one.