Kim slammed her taped fist into the heavy bag, sending it swinging from the impact, then leapt and lashed out with a crescent kick just as the bag swung back. The firm material crumpled, the bag visibly bending from the impact. The redhead dropped into a roll as she landed, going under the back and leaping to her feet at just the right moment to hammer the bag with another punch.

"Nice moves, Pumpkin." Shego's voice came from the door. The green women sauntered into the combination gymnasium-and-dojo. "A heavy bag? Very butch of you."

Kim reached out and stopped the bag, then wiped her hair back with a taped hand.

"No cheerleading in Paris. I had to do something to keep in shape, and one of these was about all that would fit into the apartment."

"They have gyms in France, Kimmie."

The redhead wrinkled her nose.

"Not my thing. Too many muscle freaks."

"The women-only ones are okay. Especially for window shopping." The green woman arched her eyebrows suggestively, then gave a smug chuckle as Kim rolled her eyes. "Actually, Princess, I have a bag just like this one at home. Well, not just like it ... mine's covered in that flame-retardant crap they use for firefighters' outfits. That and running are the main way I keep in shape."

Kim's eyes widened.

"Really? Me too. I used to go running along the Seine every morning."

"Well, I don't do anything that exotic." Shego smirked. "Just to the local doughnut store and back. They make killer cinnamon rolls."

The younger woman couldn't stop a surprised laugh.

"Well, I guess you were running off the calories on the way back. And I can't point fingers. Croissants were my weakness in Paris." The redhead admitted. "So, did you manage to talk to Junior and Falsetto?"

"Yeah. Thanks for getting Cruella away from Junior. That helped a lot."

Kim waved off the appreciation.

"No big. It was kinda fun."

Kim had trotted down the stairs, her lips still tingling from the kiss with Shego. Bad girl, she remonstrated with herself, still a little breathless that she had actually done it. That had nothing to do with Bonnie, and you know it.

"So worth it." She muttered to herself. "But I can't do it again." It's not fair to Shego to be stealing kisses under false pretenses. Not when she's said she's not interested.

The redhead made straight for the buffet table, targeting the end furthest from Senor Senior Junior, and keeping a watch on Bonnie out of the corner of her eye. Sure enough, the tanned ex-cheerleader immediately headed in her direction, a predatory gleam in her green-brown eyes. Kim sighed. There were things about Middleton she had missed while she was in Paris. Bonnie Rockwaller was not one of them.

"Hey there, Kim." The tanned girl smiled waspishly. "So sorry to hear you washed out of the competition."

Very deliberately, Kim picked up a mini burrito and popped it into her mouth, chewing thoroughly before deigning to give an answer. Not bad. Ron would have loved them.

"My principles were more important than the tournament." She shrugged at last.

"Your principles?" The other woman snorted. "At least you didn't say 'standards'. I thought you'd given up on those when you started dating Stoppable, but now you're with Slutzilla other there? That's desperate, even for a dyke. When did you go lezzie, anyway ... did Stoppable just turn you off men for all time, or have you been ogling me in the showers all these years?"

Kim merely smiled, slightly surprised by how little Bonnie's gibes meant to her.

"Ron had nothing to do with it. Sometimes, the people I like just happen to be women." She paused, in a moment of self-realization. "But I have to actually like them, before I like them." She gave Bonnie's toned body a dismissive glance. "So don't fret. I'm never going to be attracted to you."

"I hear you screwed up your parents' chances, too." Bonnie gamely attempted to go back on the offensive. Kim shrugged off the charge.

"They seemed fine with it. And, like principles, family means more than the tournament, as well ... but I guess that's something you wouldn't understand." As soon as she spoke the words, Kim knew she'd made a mistake. Damn. Didn't expect that to push her buttons so hard. Bonnie glared at her silently for a moment, then whirled and stormed toward Shego and Junior.

"Hope Shego had time to learn what she needed." The redhead muttered, as she glanced across at the green woman. Shego leaned in toward the younger Senor Senior, murmuring something that made Bonnie's back visibly stiffen, then gave the tanned ex-cheerleader a salacious smirk and sauntered in Kim's direction.

"Slap me." Shego muttered as she came within arm's reach. The redhead blinked.

"What?"

"Slap me, and storm out." The green woman flicked a glance in Bonnie's direction. "Your friend thinks I was flirting with her boy. I want to reinforce that opinion. I'll meet you at the dojo. I need to talk to Falsetto before I come after you."

"You're sure ..."

"Slap me, Cupcake."

Crack. Kim winced at the volume of the impact, feeling her palm sting. Damn it, I thought she'd lean away from it more. The redhead swallowed, forcing down the urge to apologize. That wouldn't do much for their charade. She gave the green woman what she imagined was a very lackluster glare, then ran up the stairs and out of the hall.

"I didn't hurt you with that slap, did I? I didn't mean to hit you that hard."

"We've done worse to each other." Shego shrugged it off. "Hell, for that matter I've had real girlfriends who've done worse to me." She smirked at Kim's wide-eyed look. "Never date a supervillain, Pumpkin. Break-up notes are delivered by death ray."

"I'll, uh, keep that in mind." Kim flushed a little as she spoke. Shego blinked. Wonder what that's about? "So ... what's the sitch? Is there something underhanded going on or not?"

Shego laughed.

"It's the King of Thieves tournament, Pumpkin. It's all underhanded."

Kim sighed and gave the older woman a half-hearted glare. Shego smirked, the continued speaking.

"Oh, you mean 'is someone cheating to help Junior and Bonnie win'? Unfortunately, it looks like things might be on the level."

"Really?"

"Really." Shego shrugged. "Just like us and your folks, they got assigned missions that targeted their weaknesses. Falsetto said he and Leon had twenty minutes to steal something from Smarty Mart."

Kim just looked at her.

"Hey, Princess, it's tougher than it sounds. Smarty Mart has excellent security. Reducing losses to shoplifting is part of how they keep their prices so low." The green woman caught the bemused expression on the redhead's face. "What?"

"You sounded just like Ron for a second, there."

"There's no need to be snippy. Besides, I'm speaking from experience. I had a bitch of a time stealing the Snowman Hank DVD from there."

"Snowman Hank? You?"

"It was for Dr D." Shego said defensively.

"You got Drakken a present?"

"Pumpkin, trust me. I had to put up with two months of Drakken's 'subtle hints' that he'd like a copy for Christmas. I did not need to put up with two months of pouting over the fact that I hadn't got it for him."

"And the idea of simply buying it ... ?"

"Would you spend money on Dr D?"

"Okay." The redhead had obviously decided to let the matter drop. "So they had to steal something from Smarty Mart. Good security or not, these aren't everyday shoplifters."

"No. But the fact that they had to get it from Smarty Mart was. Falsetto told me that Camille refused to even go into the store."

"What?" Kim blinked. "I mean, Ron always accused me of being a retail snob, but even I've been into Smarty Mart ... when it's the last and only alternative. And this is Camille Leon. She can look like anyone! No-one would know she'd ever been there!"

"I said that to Falsetto."

"What did he say?"

"He said he said that to Camille."

Kim gave the smirking Shego a mock glare.

"What did she say? No! Wait ..." She interrupted the green woman before Shego could even open her mouth. "What did he say that she said?"

"You're no fun, Kimmie." Shego tossed back her hair. "He said that she said she would know. Plus, I guess anyone who bought the DVD would know, too."

"Crap. I forgot about the DVDs." Kim raked a hand through her hair. "So Falsetto had to do the mission alone. Did he succeed?"

"No."

"No? Why not?"

"Because of what he had to steal."

"What was it? An elephant from the pet department, or something?"

Shego shook her head.

"Ultimax 5 Superthin Gull-Wing Sanitary Pads. In the travel pack size."

"... so? He could put those in his pocket and just walk out!"

"He's a guy, Kimmie. And he's been sent to find feminine hygiene products. In the world's largest feminine hygiene section."

"So?"

"So, imagine what would have happened if you'd asked Stoppable to pick up some pads or tampons for you."

Slowly, Kim's eyes widened.

"That's ... diabolical. Did they do something that twisted to Bonnie and Junior?"

"I dunno. I never particularly liked my siblings."

"... what?"

"Bitchy and Junior's task was to steal all of her sisters' jewelry. Junior said she found it pretty tough, but they did it ..." The green woman trailed off as she noticed the narrowed, almost snarling expression on Kim's face. "Princess? What is it?"

"It's all a set-up. It's all rigged."

"It is? How do you - ?"

"Shego ... Bonnie hates her sisters."

"You're sure? Junior seemed to think she was upset by it all."

"Really?" Kim sighed, obviously taking a moment to think about the possibility. Then she shook her head. "No, Shego. I admit I only met Connie and Lonnie a couple of times, but compared to them, Bonnie is the Cinderella of the family. This whole sitch stinks like Ron's old socks."

"Shit." Shego splayed her thumb and fingers over her eyes and rubbed them gently.

"Bonnie and Junior are the only people to finish their mission so far ... we have to find Sheela and Manx before they go on theirs!" Kim started for the door, then pulled up short as Shego called out to her.

"Kimmie ... we can't do that."

"What? Why not?"

"They've already headed out. Falsetto said he saw them leaving about ninety minutes ago."

"Damn it!" Kim punched the heavy bag with each vicious exclamation. "Damnit! Damn it! Damn it!"

"Pumpkin ... you gotta calm down."

"I don't want to calm down."

"Well you have to." The older woman stepped in front of Kim. "You keep hitting the bag like you are doing and you could bust up your hands."

"It's not fair." The teen hero snarled, looking down at her hands as she clenched and unclenched her fists. Then she turned her head up, staring at Shego with slightly reddened eyes. "It's not fair. This competition meant so much to y ... us. And we worked so hard! Junior and Bonnie had their entry bought and paid for, and now Senor Senior Senior is fixing the whole thing for them!"

"Sheela and Manx might still beat them." Shego offered. Kim simply looked at her, and she sighed. "Yeah, I know it's not likely. Triple S will have done his homework on them, too. He's really out-foxed us, this time. We can't even appeal the decision."

"I'm sorry." Kim said at last, dropping her gaze and taking a shuddering breath.

"Sorry? Why?"

"Because if you'd picked someone else to be your sidekick you might have taken the ruby."

"I'm not sorry." The green woman slipped a hand under Kim's chin and gently lifted the redhead's face so that their eyes met. "Because if I'd picked someone else to be my sidekick ... I might have taken the ruby."

Kim frowned, little furrows drawing together over the bridge of her nose.

"But ... this competition meant so much to you ..."

"It did. It does." Shego admitted, moving her hands from under the redhead's chin to rest on the shorter woman's shoulders. "But not at that price. I might be a criminal, but there are some lines I promised myself I would never cross."

"Why ..." Kim paused, then straightened her posture and met Shego's gaze more firmly. "Why did you become a criminal?"

The pale woman sucked in a breath as she felt her stomach tighten into a knot.

"I'm sure Hego told you all the sordid details." She forced her tone to stay light, but couldn't stop herself from releasing Kim's shoulders and folding her arms defensively over her chest.

"No." Kim shook her head. "He just said something about you becoming fascinated with villainy. I don't think he really understood, himself."

"Maybe he doesn't. Maybe he just doesn't want to." Shego fought to kept her voice neutral, but she could hear the anger and betrayal bleeding through. She felt a dizzying temptation to spill out the whole story. Maybe she'd believe me. No ... why should she, when no-one else has?

"You don't have to tell me about it if you don't want to." Kim rested a hand on Shego's tensed bicep, her eyes widening as she felt the rigid muscle. "But I ... I would like to hear the story."

"Why not get your pet nerd to dig into Go City's records and find out?"

Kim cocked her head to one side, a frown once more wrinkling her forehead. Shego felt a sudden, manic urge to stroke the lines way, and dug her fingers into her arms with bruising force to keep her hands from moving.

"How would they know why?" The redhead asked, reasonably. "Only you can tell me that. Only you can know what you were thinking ... feeling."

Shego forced a brittle veneer of bravado into her expression.

"Why would you believe what I told you?"

"Because you've never lied to me."

Six simple words, but they stole the very breath from Shego's voice. She ducked her head and swallowed, forcing moisture back into her dry mouth, before she finally forced out a reply.

"Kim, we've been enemies for years ..."

"Yeah, and we've fought dozens of times. You've punched me, kicked me, thrown plasma at me, dropped me in all kinds of weird traps, and called me every name under the sun ... but you've never lied to me." Kim ducked down a little to re-establish eye contact with the taller woman's downcast gaze. "So I know that if you choose to tell me, you'll tell me the truth. And if you choose not to tell me, I'll respect that. This isn't an inquisition, Shego, it's just a question."

The green woman sighed, forcing herself to meet the younger woman's gaze. Her breath caught once more as she saw something in Kim's eyes that she had never expected to find.

Trust.

"You really want to know?"

"No." The redhead's answer stunned the pale woman. She gave Kim a fierce look, but met only a supportive one in return. "It's not that I want to know. It's that I would like you to tell me."

Shego paused, and she silently turned to the gymnasium door and flicked a tiny puff of plasma at the lock. The metal bubbled and melted, fusing into the frame. Now no-one could enter the room without breaking in the door or smashing the lock. She didn't want anyone just walking in on them.

This is either the bravest thing I've ever done, or the stupidest.

Maybe both.

The green woman took a deep breath, and started to speak.

Author's Notes: Yes, I suck for ending it there. But I have good reasons for wanting to start the next chapter with Shego's "origin story", rather than ending this one with it. Honest :-)

I hope people enjoyed seeing Kim's perspective of the events we saw from Shego's point of view last chapter. I enjoyed writing that bit ... uber-bitch Bonnie is fun to work with!